Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Snow shoes

Lurker here. am about to retire come January of 09. will have lots of time on my hands. reading recent postings I want to get out and do some hiking in the snow but am not much of a winter hiker. I will need some snow shoes but know nothing about them. need some help in selecting some snow shoes for hiking. will be asking Santa for a pair. any help will much appreciated.
Chris

I have the MSR Denali Evo Ascents. I have found them to be good on both cross country travel and uphill climbs.

Ditto on the Denalis.

Assess you needs...if you are trail walking on compacted snow, you not going to big honking snow shoes. If your goal is visiting the backcountry off-trail through powder you are going a larger shoe.

The best thing to do is rent first then buy.

The rule of thumb is 1 square inch of snowshoe for every pound of body and pack weight. A common snowshoe size is 8" x 25" accommodates 200 lbs.

I own a 10 year old pair of tricked out Tubbs Snowshoes, which suit my day hike needs.

Agreed w/ wbt: figure out what sort of hiking you're going to be doing, and in what areas. Tubbs work great for floatation on level surfaces or slight inclines. I like my MSR's because it has rows of teeth along both lateral borders, allowing for much improved traction while sidehilling or climbing up/down steeper areas. I also got a pair of short (22") MSR lightning ascents for general dayhikes in more consolidated conditions or to throw on the pack in case I might need them (aka: training weight ). (OK, I'll admit it: they were also on steepandcheap and they're orange...)

I'm also big, so the lighter style snowshoes do me no good. I think last winter the joke was that I needed the old style tennis-racket shoes to get any sort of floatation whatsoever, giant pack or not! With my winter pack I can easily push 250+# on the shoes, and I find the MSR's are really the only ones to handle it decently. And I've also accepted my role as the Posthole Queen...

Hope this helps,
-L

The only snowshoes I've ever owned is the MRS Denali Classic. It has been working for me on many mountains. If I were to spend a lot of money on one pair of snowshoes, I would get the MSR Denali Evo, like previously recommended. Just like the Denali Classic but with the heel lift which makes a big difference going up steep slopes.

my .02

Damn Laura, you must have as much crap as I do...a 2 page triple columned 10 pt. type gear list.

Mike told me once: "When you die, what the hell are we going to do with all your orange crap?"

As Kevin said, gear whore. You should see the shelving system...

Slacker...

While you're at it...any recommended snow shoe routes in the Lee Vining/Mammoth Lakes area? I have the book, but, was looking for some opinions. I'm planning on staying in Lee Vining for a few days over the Holidays and want to do some short snow shoe routes (if there's enough snow) with my dog (Great Pyrenees) -- she LOVES the snow. I will at least be heading up Lee Vining Canyon (I think that's what they call it) to scout some of the waterfall ice climbing up there.

If this it too far off topic, I apologize.

Brad

I haven't done it myself (it's on THE LIST for this winter) but I've heard good things about heading up from the Mammoth Main Lodge to the Minarets overlook and north along the ridge from there.

Parker Lake would be a reasonable destination from wherever you can park on the June Lake Loop.

Laura, the ridge route as you mentioned from Minaret summit/Overlook to Deadmans Pass and back will give you a nice trip with a view of the Minarets/Banner/Ritter most of the way.

uh..I once found out about the wind speeds over this exposed ridge. Harvey

THanks for the help!

Thanks guys and gals. I posted and was going to check for your replies and then I have to go and work our local running event. In December here in Ridgecrest we put on an Ultramarathon, 50k along with a 30k. I have been very busy with helping out and now just getting to the message board. Thanks for all of the suggestions. I have looked at the MSR models on the REI web site. And was also thinking of the Dion snowshoes. If I'm reading your posts correctly I may need two kinds of snowshoes?
I would just like a model that works for hiking in snow. But it appears I might need a couple of models depending on snow conditions. I like the suggestion on renting before I decide on a model. So any suggestions on where I might rent some. I live in Ridgecrest.
I really wanted to maybe pick something soon per your suggestions as I was going to ask Santa for a pair.
Thanks again,
Chris

That's about it. If you are trail walking in compacted conditions float is not an issue; it is when you and your load is 230#.

All you need to figure out your current needs...you can always ask Santa for another pair next year.

I'd not think there is any reason for more than one pair. I think the Denali Classic is sufficient for most uses, unless you are planning on doing a whole lot of significant angle uphill climbing. If you are (or might), the more advanced MSR's would be the ticket. The optional tails take care of the difference in load, for all practical purposes.

Absolutely any brand will work fine, if you are talking about walking on relatively level areas, such as a road or trail.

I dream of the day...

Denali Classic's it is. I will give these a try. I am not sure just what type of snow conditions I will be hiking in as I have never been out in snow. but looking forward to all types of snow as I want to go long distances on day hikes.
thanks again,
Chris

Technically, you are correct. However, I would not own a pair of Denalis because they are too stinking loud thus annoying on compacted snow.

So, I own a pair of 25" Tubbs with is flexible proprietary decking, which don't work all that well for backpacking in powder.