Kick Steps?

[albee]

Hey Tom...

I don't want to hijack this thread, but to answer your question I was there about a year ago and I went west to east on the traditional route which does now reach the glacier further north. You're right - Hooker Hut is cut off but you could get to it if you really wanted to. To this date, that was the hairiest climbing I've ever done. Descending the glacier face, then the loose scree and then the steep moraine wall with a 50 lb pack on solo was quite an experience. Crampons and ice axe essential!

You're right about no runout... the glacier comes to a tiny saddle at the top of the ridge where Copland Shelter sits. At one point my Nalgene fell out and slid 500 meters and luckily came to rest just before the drop-off on either side of the saddle. Not that I needed to be reassured, but after that every step was taken with extreme caution... glissading was out of the question!

 

[Chip]

"Rotating Bindings pivot at the point where they attach to the decking--under the balls of the feet. This movement allows you to walk naturally and to climb hills. The amount that bindings pivot varies among models. Some bindings are attached with metal rods and pivot 90 degrees or more. This causes the ends of the snowshoes, called tails, to fall away as you step, shedding snow and reducing leg fatigue. Rotation also allows "tracking" or steering in deep snow and positions your boots for kicking steps into steep slopes.

Fixed Bindings are connected with heavy-duty rubber or neoprene bands and don't pivot as much. This type of binding brings the snowshoe tails up with each step, allowing a comfortable stride. This also makes stepping over obstacles and backing up easier.

There are pros and cons to both binding types. Fixed bindings can kick up snow on the backs of the legs, and rotating bindings can be awkward when climbing over logs or backing up."

I have Rotating Bindings on my snowshoes which makes a kick-step with the entire shoe difficult, I'm mostly compressing the snow and kicking in with my boot toe and crampon on steep, powdery ascents. If you have more of a fixed binding, then you can kick the entire shoe straight into the snow to make steps.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

everytime I hear of people beating up the trails here, I just have to laugh and think of the glissade chutes I have seen out west on the cascade volcanoes, glissade chutes with 2 foot walls for 100's of feet. they were so huge on shasta, you get in them and climb in them. like a freaking luge track.

Yes, sometimes you think you're at a water slide park.

A big difference between east and west, however - typically the glissade chutes are a ways off the climbing route since the slopes are so huge, so no one's messing up kick steps/whatever. Not a luxury you often have in the east, as often the same route is used for both ascent and descent.

As for whether one should glissade down the Hancocks (I said should, not could...) - I'll stick my neck out and offer this - before glissading down a really narrow trail, ask yourself this: by doing this will I make the trail dangerous for someone attempting to ascend this tomorrow? If the answer is yes, well ... each of has to make our own decision.