Hope for lovers of Sherpa snowshoes

[TCD]

25 years ago, Sherpa was way ahead with the aluminum frame, the pivoting binding, and the claw. Then, they stood still and got bypassed by everyone.

I loved my sherpas, but they were too heavy for my wife, and the heel strap constantly fell off unless you modified it.

I still plan to try to mate my BD Contact Strap crampons to my Northern Lites Elite snowshoe decks this winter. I'll let you know how I make out.

 

[AOC-1]

Is it a simple switch to substitute the new bindings for the old Sherpas?
Thanks

Can anyone who made the switch address this question? I'd love to start using my old Sherpas again, but I'd like to keep the cost down by doing the retrofit myself. Thanks.

 

[erugs]

The other problem with Sherpas is that the heel strap can fall off. QUOTE]

We've gotten past that problem by getting a medium sized dog collar and looping it through the strap and around the ankle. Easy, inexpensive and effective. You can even choose collars that match your jacket or hat!

 

[snoshoovt]

IRL Claws

I bought the IRL claws with bindings early last winter, and though I was bummed to bend one of the fangs a bit early on, this was really the result of abuse on the rocks, and I straightened the thing. Since then I used them many times last winter and was satisfied, they are pretty near full crampons in gripping ability, and let me keep using my beloved Sherpa's. Maybe a few more ounces, but worth it. The binding wraps the foot more fully, so fits a bit differently, but for about 1/3 the price of new comparable shoes, if you've got a pair of Sherpas with good frame and decking, the IRL option is well worth considering!
-John

 

[hikerfast]

I have 2 pair of sherpas with tucker bindings, I did all my bushwacks of the hundred highest in winter with them. Great snowshoes. Seemed to be the perfect combination of traction and flotation in the days of unbroken trails, and still for bushwhacks. I bought some velcro and looped it around the strap in the back and my ankle, and the 'slipping off the heel' problem was gone. Nowadays so many trails are broken out and padded down all the time, myself and a lot of others just go with instep crampons on. Snowshoes are on the pack just in case though.

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Bump

I thought I would bump this up, in light of the recent thread on Sherpas with Bill Prater bindings. Also because this year I, for one, am using my snowshoes more than my StabilIcers

 

[sardog1]

I did a snowshoeing/winter camping talk last evening. Thought about bringing my 24 year old Sherpas but decided they were so rare in these parts that it would be unfair to show them to would-be 'shoers.

So I walk in the door and one of the audience members has a pair with him. And another guy has a pristine pair of rawhide-laced Maine-style 'shoes (albeit without the bindings.) I half expected to hear Jimi and Janis on the radio on the drive home . . .

 

[DougPaul]

I did a snowshoeing/winter camping talk last evening. Thought about bringing my 24 year old Sherpas but decided they were so rare in these parts that it would be unfair to show them to would-be 'shoers.

So I walk in the door and one of the audience members has a pair with him. And another guy has a pristine pair of rawhide-laced Maine-style 'shoes (albeit without the bindings.) I half expected to hear Jimi and Janis on the radio on the drive home . . .

Any Green Mountain Bearpaws or Alaskans?

(All I have is flat Bearpaws (wood and neopreme) and MSRs.)

Doug

 

[Rick]

Just curious, since I noticed the Sherpa "praters" online while I was listing my 9x30 Sherpas with Tucker binding on Ebay.
I am not expecting to get more than $125 for mine which are still in very good shape.... Should I just hang on to them as backups at this point? Save them for my son (7) to snowshoe with as he gets older. I bought a pair of Atlas 1236's at deep discount from EMS and I really like them.

I don't really "need" the money and have to sell the Sherpas, but then again I don't like a lot of old gear cluttering up my limitied gear basement.

I'd be open to any thoughts about this dilemma.

 

[spider solo]

keep em

I keep all my old snowshoes as "guest pairs"...put them to good use this year esp. during the holidays when we had good snow cover.

ok, so maybe I have 10 or more pair (not all sherpas) but there is this one pair I bought from a bush pilot who travelled the regions of northern Quebec...those are for "my feet only" and even then only on the most perfect of conditons.

yeah..didn't think I could go the whole season and not chirp in on at least on snowshoe thread now did you...?

I'm spoiled with snowshoes, but there is this one guy up on rte 16 who has snowshoes in numbers beyound my dreams.

(I was sadden to read "Baldy" passed on from old age...his was the place on the Kanc near the Saco Ranger Station..he had been making snowshoes for years )

 

[peakbagger]

Iverson bindings

Pardon the thread drift but I am asked every so often for a good retrofit binding for old style snowshoes. The Iverson binding is what I recomend. Iverson is long gone but the the URL listed below still makes them. They are very similiar to the old Sherpa design (without the front hook). Tubbs used to offer these as an option on their wooden shoes and LL Beans used to sell them at the retail store but they are getting harder to find. They will fit most any boot and are good for "guest" bindings. I have a pair of the magnesium Amry surplus shoes that had the unusuable bindings, switching over to these and they make a great powder shoe.

The URL is below for the Super A (Iverson)binding

http://www.snowshoecenter.com/Shop/index.cfm?fuseaction=product&ProductID=1362

 

[marty]

Which Sherpa binding is the one where you have to need to wrap around a bunch of white nylon strapping?

Never quite mastered that system (got my Sherpa snowshoes in the 1980's as a gift without the instruction manual). My boots would always eventually come loose. I have since moved on to other brands with more idiot-friendly bindings.

Thanks,
Marty

 

[sardog1]

Pardon the thread drift but I am asked every so often for a good retrofit binding for old style snowshoes. The Iverson binding is what I recomend. Iverson is long gone but the the URL listed below still makes them.

Actually, they're baaaacck, with a full line of 'shoes plus their bindings: Iversons Snowshoe & Furniture. Note that the URL includes a couple of "s"s and a hyphen that you might not expect: http://www.iversons-snowshoes.com.

 

[Cath]

Which Sherpa binding is the one where you have to need to wrap around a bunch of white nylon strapping?

Never quite mastered that system (got my Sherpa snowshoes in the 1980's as a gift without the instruction manual). My boots would always eventually come loose. I have since moved on to other brands with more idiot-friendly bindings.

Thanks,
Marty

Marty Steve Smith could show you how to use them in 2 seconds flat
OR, if I ever see you out & about, I could too. As is most anything, wicked easy if you only know how. We've all been there ~

 

[John H Swanson]

And even after using Sherpas for 20 years I'm still learning.

This season, I started tucking the tail of the webbing under the last wrap of the lace just before I pull it tight. This seems to keep the loose webbing tails contained better than the original velcro or even the larger piece of velcro I had sewn on the end of the tail for this purpose.