Snowshoes and lightweight crampons

Snowshoeing is, if you’ll excuse the pun, the most pedestrian of winter outdoor activities. It’s a great way to enjoy the pristine beauty of a backcountry winter, and it is a terrific way to get a challenging workout when indoor options have long since lost their appeal. Snowshoeing also has the significant benefits of requiring no special skills and a modest cash investment ($100-$280) compared to most high-adrenaline winter sports such as downhill skiing, telemark, and ice climbing. Also, snowshoes may be the only way to approach a backcountry ice climb, mountaineering route, or a slope that you want to ’board. In fact, snowshoes should be in every outdoor enthusiast’s closet! For the purpose of this review, I won’t be dealing with the high-tech or specialized snowshoes designed for running and snowshoe races. Not being a runner/snowshoe racer, I don’t claim to understand the various nuances and trade-offs of the discipline.

The most important information to take with you into the store when you go looking for snowshoes is the intended use (trail hiking, multi-day backpacking, mountaineering, etc.) and your average weight. When we’re talking weight, we’re talking your winter weight with warm clothes and the heaviest pack that you’re likely to carry. Heavier loads need more flotation (bigger snowshoe), and trips far from the trailhead or up rugged or mountain terrain require heavy duty snowshoes with specialized features.

Most manufacturers make snowshoes in three sizes around 25, 30, and 35 inches in length for total (hiker with gear) loads up to approximately 150, 200, and 225+ pounds re­spec­­tive­ly. Of course, a lot also depends on consolidation of the snow. Packed trail hiking requires much less floatation (and hence length and area) than fresh powder (in which no shoe will hold you up unless you’re a real featherweight). To be safe, err toward a bigger shoe. A bigger shoe really isn’t that much more awkward, and it’s better to carry a little more weight than to wallow or posthole.

Aluminum is the frame material of choice for virtually all modern snowshoes. It’s good to know however, that all aluminum is not created equal. All snowshoes from “name” manufacturers these days are at least “aircraft grade aluminum,” which is quite strong indeed. If your tastes run to heavy loads or steep mountains though, you’ll want frames made of the much stronger aluminum alloys like Easton 6000 or 7000 series (preferably with the “T6” designation tacked on the end that means they were heat-treated for maximum strength). Welded frames are stronger than those that use a “plug” to connect the tubing together to make the frame loop, and the shoes designed for backpacking and mountaineering reflect this fact. Powder-coated or anodized frames add cosmetic appeal and, more importantly, often shed snow better.

Hypalon, widely used for river rafts, used to be the decking material of choice, but nowadays most manufacturers have their own trademarked “X%-stronger-than-hypalon” decking material. A few companies, most prominently MSR, have a frameless design; the shoe and deck are made of reinforced plastic that is light and strong.

Binding types and attachment systems can be a matter of personal preference. Fixed bindings result in a more natural stride, but kick snow up on your backside (or at the person behind you) with every step. In areas with heavy, wet snow, they can also accumulate quite a bit of snow on the tail as well. Pivot bindings, which allow the tail of the shoe to drop when you pick up your foot, work great for shedding snow off the tail with every step and for climbing up steep slopes, but can be real challenge when you have to back up or step over logs in your path. Attachment systems are discussed with each specific brand.

The following comments about different brands are based on my experience, that of my friends, and input kindly provided by Vance Bristow, manager of Snow Leopard Mountain Sports in Evergreen (www.thesnowleopard.com). Thanks to Greg Floyd, owner of Bent Gate Mountaineering in Golden, for referring me to Vance.

Designed by an aircraft engineer, Crescent Moon snowshoes are, well, bomber. A redundant design philosophy means you’ll still get home even if a rivet blows or you have some other mishap. Another unique feature is that the decking material is wrapped from the bottom, which allows less snow buildup under the shoe in sticky snow conditions. The fixed binding attachment system takes a bit more fiddling than some. Their tapered shape can result in face plants when going around a corner, as the tail fits nicely into the open space in the toe of the other shoe; this is, however, a perennial problem with all tapered or pointy tail designs.

Atlas uses a hybrid binding that pivots enough to shed snow and allow toeing-in on steep slopes, but not so much that you drag the tail up and down the trail. Atlas also gets my vote for responsive and continuous product improvement. Once a bit finicky, their binding attachment system has improved markedly. Traction bars beside the main crampon (adopted, I’d bet, from the MSR Denali design) that help enormously when traversing or side-hilling. They’ve also beefed up the decking material where it warps around the tail after having some durability problems there. One nit to pick: on their high-end series, they still use plastic ratcheting buckles; I don’t know if I fully trust those in the icy cold (though I have no horror stories to report).

When they introduced their Denali snowshoe five or six years ago, Mountain Safety Research (MSR) caused quite a sensation. Not only was it the first widely available frameless snowshoe, it also set new standards in terms of weight (under 4 pounds), performance (suitable for mountaineering) and price (around $100). The pivot style binding quickly attaches to any size boot with a strap and hook system, and the shoes pack flat for carrying on your pack when the snow isn’t deep. Some early users complained that these thermo-molded plastic snowshoes were noisy when in use, but I’ve never found this troubling. The Denali series has several significant advantages over traditional designs. Since the deck is molded rather than laced to an aluminum tube frame, the shoe has an “edge” that can be very useful when traversing a slope. This Aside hill” traction is further enhanced by serrated steel “traction” bars that run the length of the shoe on either side of your foot. This, combined with the aggressive crampon, gives excellent traction in pretty much any direction you want to go. The Denali can also be extended with 4-inch or 8-inch tails, so you always have just the flotation you need. Even when introduced, this was a very mature design; its continued success, despite minimal evolution, proves the maturity and robustness of the design. There are now two additional Denali models available: the Ascent with “fangs” added to the standard crampon and a collapsible heel-lift bar for steep ascents, and the Hiker for more casual snowshoeing. Always take a repair kit (some wire etc.) with you however (good advice no matter what shoes you have). The bindings can break under hard use, but MSR has excellent customer service if and when this happens (the early Ascent bindings had a particularly high failure rate, but MSR replaced the shoes and fixed the design). They’ve never let me down in four plus years of use, and I’m no lightweight.

Tubbs was one of the first manufacturers to develop the modern snowshoe design. They use a full pivot binding and a strap and side-release buckle attachment system. The attachment straps can be a bit challenging to adjust to a variety of boot sizes; something to consider if you snowshoe in plastic and leather boots or if you share the snowshoes with your spouse or children. On the positive side, they don’t have hard plastic mechanical ratchet systems that could freeze up or break.

All of the manufacturers listed have snowshoe series in various price ranges and for whatever type of showshoeing you have planned, so get a pair and I’ll see you out there!

P.S. For peaceful co-existence on the backcountry trails, stay out of the ski tracks.

Lightweight Crampons

For full-on alpine or waterfall ice climbing, or if your route combines a lot of on and off glacier and moraine travel, there’s no substitute for full-on 12 point steel crampons. My personal favorite for all-around use is the Grivel G-12. However, in much of Colorado most of the time, most folks just need a little extra traction now and then, and don’t want to carry a couple extra pounds of iron up the hill. Also, relatively few boots (and no running or approach shoes) have the toe or heel welts needed to attach traditional steel crampons. Two variations on a theme come to our rescue: the Stubai Ultralight Universal 10 point crampon and the Kahtoola Traction System (KTS). Similar in price (around $130) and weight (21 and 19 ounces respectively) these specialty tools nonetheless fill different needs and niches.

Like most residents of the Denver/Boulder area, I’ve spent my share of time slipping and sliding up and down the snow-packed Spring trails in the foothills. When I first saw the Kahtoola Traction System ‘crampons’, I frankly thought they were an elegant but somewhat pricey and, ironically, heavy solution to the problem. After trying other solutions and more fully considering the possible range of applications for the KTS, I have concluded that they are the solution to a wide range of snow travel needs. For many snow/ice travel situations (shallow snow, lightweight footwear), full length crampon points are not only unnecessary but even dangerous. Made of stainless steel and 7000 series aluminum, the Kahtoola Traction System shines in these situations. The points are short enough not to induce ankle-twisting torque and sharp enough to give good purchase on even icy terrain. The attachment system is simple to use and quickly adjusts to a variety of footwear. It is no wonder that these have become a favorite of adventure racers, and dedicated year-round trail runners would be wise to invest in a pair as well. As with any specialty item, there are a couple of shortcomings. In sticky snow conditions the short points may ball up quickly, although the flexible nature of the crampon and the footwear it is used with might mitigate this. Although made from a very strong aluminum alloy, they are not as durable as steel. Since the points are short to begin with, usable lifetime is unavoidably compromised (more a statement of fact than a criticism really; it is what it is). If you’re weight conscious and expect to travel non-technical frozen terrain, the KTS is for you.

At the other end of the technical spectrum, the Stubai Utralight Universal crampon weighs in at about half the mass of a pair of steel crampons. A plastic binding cage system will fit everything from plastic boots to approach shoes, and maybe even rock shoes. These crampons are the real deal when the snow gets deep, the terrain takes a turn toward the vertical, or you need to approach an alpine rock climb across a steep snowfield. When I first purchased these, I was concerned about the stories I’d read about aluminum crampons breaking easily. After wearing them to climb the North Face of Longs Peak in mixed conditions (rock, ice, snow), and lending them to a friend to climb the Disappointment Cleaver route on Rainier, I think I can say that Stubai has come up with a strong and durable lightweight crampon. Being aluminum, they aren’t strong or sharp enough for true vertical ice (they lack the requisite secondary points for this application anyway) or bulletproof alpine ice; but for everything up to and including French technique on steep neve’, they rock! They’re also light enough that you won’t agonize about whether to bring crampons along just in case you encounter snow. However, if your route is a long way from civilization, or if a broken crampon point would be more than an inconvenience, my advice would be to hedge your bets and pay the weight penalty of steel. There are a couple of nits: because of the plastic cage at front and rear, they don’t pack down very small; and if you have boots much bigger than about size 11.5 Koflach plastics, they won’t expand enough to fit. They do go down quite small though, at least to around women’s size 7 and maybe smaller. As always when buying crampons, take the boots/shoes you will wear them on to the store to make sure they’ll fit securely.

That’s about it for this issue. See you all next year. Have a fun and safe winter!

Kewl Tool of the Month

Black Diamond’s Supernova headlamp ($65). While a tad on the pricey side, this compact, lightweight package (7.8 oz with lithium batteries) offers three light levels from each of its included LED and Xenon bulbs. This greatly extends battery life by allowing you to use just the amount of light needed for the task at hand. The prismatic reflector provides a smooth light field (no dark bands), and a small backup battery powers the LED when the 4 AA batteries run dry. The high setting on the Xenon bulb is like having driving lights on your car; you can see a LONG way. This headlamp prevented me and my partners from spending an un-planned night out in RMNP this summer when we finished rapping off a technical route at dark and still had to bushwhack back to the trail.

Recall/Safety Notices:

MSR has recalled some of its stove fuel cans due to leaking. See their website (www.msrcorp.com) for details.

Black Diamond has recalled certain “ARage” ice tools and “AAndroid” ice tool leashes. Check with your dealer.

Petzl has issued safety updates regarding use of their Reverso belay/rappel device and their Pro Taxion and Mini-traxion pulleys. See their website (www.petzl.com) for details. P