Looking to do some hiking / peak bagging this winter season in the Northeast...

Have done a bunch of summer hiking in the northeast and have cimbed Rainier and Baker, but never used snowshoes in my adventures.

Anyone have thoughts? I'm relatively new to the board. Much reading, little posting. Thanks!

PS - Accidently posted this under CA forum before, so apologies if it comes up twice

MSR Denali EVO Ascent

I like the MSR denali series - tough, great traction (even on side-slopes), and compact enough for use where the path (or bushwhack footing) is narrow. Plus the binding system is simple, quick, easy to use with gloves on, and water-resistant. The optional extenders mean you don't have to choose between shoes for those rare deep-powder days and shoes for those usual Northeastern not-so-powdery days.
Downsides are price, and the fact that they're noisy.

Any old snowshoe will keep you afloat - if you're not sure you'll stick with winter hiking, get a cheap pair, preferably used. My first pair (mail-order Redfeathers) still work fine, but last year I upgraded to MSR Denali Evo Ascents.

+1 on the MSR Denalis. Very simple to use and while I had my doubts when I first saw the binding, they didn't fail on me once during my whole week long trip in the Vosges.


What annoyed me a lot was the snow that sticked to your snowshoes, so that after a while there was 2 lbs of snow on my foot, which didn't exactly sped up my progress :p

But that's an issue with all snowshoes I guess...

Another +1 on the MSRs. IMO, their traction will take you up most any icy NE peak.

welle wrote:MSR Denali EVO Ascent

Add my vote also. These are great. Plus I got mine used right here on summitpost at half price.

welle wrote:MSR Denali EVO Ascent

thats right, don't even bother with anything else

Lots of hubbub about the new Tubbs Flex Alps over here:

http://www.rocksontop.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=6316

rasgoat wrote:

welle wrote:MSR Denali EVO Ascent

thats right, don't even bother with anything else

Everyone speaks truth, they just dropped 40$ in price off amazon too!

I prefer the MSR Lightening Ascents to the Denalis / Evos.

http://cascadedesigns.com/msr/snowshoes ... nt/product

The Lightenings are lightweight and have great traction, but spare you from the plastic "clap, clomp, clap" of the Denalis when on hard-pack or thin snow.

Cheers,

Sarah

Much appreciate all the reponses... Lots of leads to follow up on.

Thanks!

MSR Denali Evo Ascent:
Weight 4 lbs
Size 22"x8"
Load - up to 125 lbs (REI specs)

Northern Lites Elite http://www.northernlites.com/elite.php
Weight 2 lbs 4 oz!!!
Size 25x8"
Load - to 175lbs (mfr specs)

So, "light is right" matters no more? Northern Lite's Elite weigh less than many crampons. I know they probably don't work as well as Denalis on real steep and icy slopes but why would you need snowshoes for such slopes anyway?

I used that huge green Northern Lite's Tundra model (9.5"x32" - 3lbs!) on the Death Valley approach to Denali's West Rib and they worked extremely well. We then climbed the route and boy oh boy was I glad to have 2-3 lbs less weight in my backpack!

I now bought the smaller Elite model for my wife and guess what: Tundra and Elite together weigh less than a pair of "normal" snowshoes the size of Tundra.

Wow, many years ago, the argument for the Adirondacks was "bear paws vs. Michigan style"!

In the 1970s, I carried my snowshoes as often as I wore them in the "high peaks" of the Adirondacks. The trails to popular areas were well-packed much of the time. I went up Algonquin 4 times in winter (early 70s), and the trail was packed much of the way all times. I rarely broke trail till the upper reaches, and then it was often through unconsolidated powder.

My snowshoes were catgut on wood bear paws, varnished, with two 1" spikes for "crampons" at the hinge of the binding plate.

So after all this wordiness: I don't think it matters too much to have all the features designed for climbing steep snow chutes and so forth. Much of your travel will be on trails, and the travel off-trail will be through thick understory.[/b]

Catamount wrote:

MoapaPk wrote:So after all this wordiness: I don't think it matters too much to have all the features designed for climbing steep snow chutes and so forth. Much of your travel will be on trails, and the travel off-trail will be through thick understory.[/b]

Perhaps, but a good part of my concern is about my not-so-tiny self as well as the terrain. I weigh about 200 and carry a 20-30 pound winter pack. That's close to double the recommended load weight for the MSR Denalis. Throw in some trailbreaking and uneven terrain and that's asking a lot of those little plastic guys.

I have not tested them with such weight but I have beaten them and beaten them and they rule. Nothing comes close to the traction and in my opinion, durability of the MSR.

As far as the previous post of being able to use any crampon for summits, I disagree with this even more as I have been on trips where some of us had MSR and others had Tubbs. The MSR people summited and the Tubbs did not. The amount of effort that the Tubbs people had to put forth due to lack of traction put them out of the game come summit time. And as far as trails being broken, maybe on Algonquin but certainly not everywhere in the Dack's.

I really liked the Atlas 12 series for the Whites and Longfellows. Great flotation, durable, and easy to use (bulky gloves not an issue).

If you're gonna be hauling serious weight, go with the 30s, otherwise the 25 inch will do fine.