For a few years I had been very happy with a pair of 25 inch Sherpas with the Bill Prater step-in binding. When, owing to decreased fitness, I switched from plastic boots to Sorels for most of my hiking, I did not have ideal snowshoes.
Long ago, before I knew better, I had bought a pair of 30 inch Sherpas with the Alpine Binding ("potato peeler"), which is fine on flat trails but does not offer really good traction on steep packed snow. By then Sherpa had started making the same kind of snowshoes as their competitors and hence eventually went out of business.
I bough a pair of Tubbs Mountain Snowshoes with the Viper binding. The claw was great, but the binding, with its garbage plastic rachet, periodically would come loose. To my mind that is simply not acceptable.
Many of my friends had, over the years, taken their snowshoes to Burt at Moor and Mountain (in Andover, MA) for tuning, so I called him asking whether he could replace the Alpine Binding on my Sherpas with a Tucker binding. Alas, he was out of them
Someone (maybe Burt, I do not recall) suggested that I call The Mountaineer in Keene Valley, NY to see whether they had any in stock. They did not, but someone there had been examining the options and told me he had found a web site for IRL Supplies which offerred what seemed like an excellent imitation.
I checked their site and found that they offer the Arctic Trekker Snowshoes. They offer both complete snowshoes and the claws.
I ordered two pairs of Ice Claws (their equivalent of the Tucker Claw) and have recently received them. One pair was mounted (by Burt of Moor and Mountain) on my 30 inch Sherpas, the other on my 25 inch Tubbs (Ed Hawkins had told me that the claws have exactly the same dimensions and so can be interchanged).
Just looking at the claws showed that they were extremely well engineered. As a long time Sherpa lover I find it hard to admit, but they are emphatically better than the original. The claws are stainless steel, not aluminum. The hooks have been replaced by stainless steel D-rings, with the lacing already threaded through them. The lacing is twice as wide as the original.
Yesterday I gave the Sherpified Tubbs their first real workout, using them on the Hancock Loop Trail. All my companions wore crampons, I climbed the extremely steep north branch of the loop with my snowshoes. Being wider than crampons I had a few minor problems in tight spots, and it is impossible to use French technique on the steepest pitches, but apart from that my snowshoes performed as well as crampons.
Like Sherpas, they are quality products selling at a corresponding price. But for those who want real quality and are willing to pay for it they are emphatically worth a look.
Long ago, before I knew better, I had bought a pair of 30 inch Sherpas with the Alpine Binding ("potato peeler"), which is fine on flat trails but does not offer really good traction on steep packed snow. By then Sherpa had started making the same kind of snowshoes as their competitors and hence eventually went out of business.
I bough a pair of Tubbs Mountain Snowshoes with the Viper binding. The claw was great, but the binding, with its garbage plastic rachet, periodically would come loose. To my mind that is simply not acceptable.
Many of my friends had, over the years, taken their snowshoes to Burt at Moor and Mountain (in Andover, MA) for tuning, so I called him asking whether he could replace the Alpine Binding on my Sherpas with a Tucker binding. Alas, he was out of them
Someone (maybe Burt, I do not recall) suggested that I call The Mountaineer in Keene Valley, NY to see whether they had any in stock. They did not, but someone there had been examining the options and told me he had found a web site for IRL Supplies which offerred what seemed like an excellent imitation.
I checked their site and found that they offer the Arctic Trekker Snowshoes. They offer both complete snowshoes and the claws.
I ordered two pairs of Ice Claws (their equivalent of the Tucker Claw) and have recently received them. One pair was mounted (by Burt of Moor and Mountain) on my 30 inch Sherpas, the other on my 25 inch Tubbs (Ed Hawkins had told me that the claws have exactly the same dimensions and so can be interchanged).
Just looking at the claws showed that they were extremely well engineered. As a long time Sherpa lover I find it hard to admit, but they are emphatically better than the original. The claws are stainless steel, not aluminum. The hooks have been replaced by stainless steel D-rings, with the lacing already threaded through them. The lacing is twice as wide as the original.
Yesterday I gave the Sherpified Tubbs their first real workout, using them on the Hancock Loop Trail. All my companions wore crampons, I climbed the extremely steep north branch of the loop with my snowshoes. Being wider than crampons I had a few minor problems in tight spots, and it is impossible to use French technique on the steepest pitches, but apart from that my snowshoes performed as well as crampons.
Like Sherpas, they are quality products selling at a corresponding price. But for those who want real quality and are willing to pay for it they are emphatically worth a look.
