snowshoeing......

EdK · 02-28-2004

After a series of fairly powerful storms rolled through our area, I went snowshoeing for the second weekend. Got to the 7,000' trailhead @ about 7:00, temp about 23*. Got all my stuff together, put on the snowshoes and headed out. After about 1/4 mile I left the trail and just started wandering...about 10-12" of fresh snow on top of the 2' which had fallen the week before. I kind of equate snowshoeing with shoveling snow....lots of hard work that only takes a short time to work up a sweat. However, snowshoeing is much more rewarding

After about 5 hours of disturbing virgin snow, I got back to my truck....just think....in 3 months I'll be complaing about the heat!

Ed

brad nicholson · 02-29-2004

ed,

yes, i think of snowshoeing like running a marathon. lots of work but damned rewarding. i am heading this weekend for a snowshoe-mountaineering trip to the alps. looking forward to the solitude that snow and cold bring. will post pics when i return.

i would definitely like to make it out with you sometime. do you ever get to yosemite in the winter?

brad

EdK · 02-29-2004

Brad...I've been to Yosemite a number of times, most recently this past October with the Georgia gang when we did Half Dome, but oddly, only once have I been there in the winter. Seems I never have enough time off. And.......the Alps, heh?? try not to have toooooo much fun : ) Ed

wspokes · 03-01-2004

I went out yesterday, marking the 61st time out this winter skiing XC skiing. My girlfriend complained how much work XC is compared with Downhill...no really? but like snowshoeing....It is what I love. The work to go up and through the snow! It is what makes everything so enjoyable and fun! where's the pictures???

Jay H · 03-01-2004

Depending on the crampons on your snowshoes, I have had the pleasent experience of getting huge canteloupe sized snowballs form on the underside of my snowshoes before. Now if using snowshoes is like running a marathon, I think wet snow and snowshoes is like the Marathon des Sables....

Now I remember to use cookind spray as lube...

Jay

brad nicholson · 03-02-2004

still haven't discovered a good way to carry my 'shoes on my pack before i need them. any hints? i don'thave a shovel pocket. my bags are either a lowe alpine snowpeak 50 or lowe alpine kanga himal. any help? still experimenting with my first season on 'shoes.

Jay H · 03-02-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by brad nicholson

still haven't discovered a good way to carry my 'shoes on my pack before i need them. any hints? i don'thave a shovel pocket. my bags are either a lowe alpine snowpeak 50 or lowe alpine kanga himal. any help? still experimenting with my first season on 'shoes.

I looked at the Snowpeak 50 and it appears to have 2 sets of daisy chains? Is that right? What you can do is have some way to tie the snowshoes together (crampons facing ******d away from you) and then you could 'biner one side to one daisy chain and the other to the other daisy chain. And then perhaps for even more support, you can tie or biner the bottom just to keep the snowshoes from flapping.

Or what I've done before is put one snowshoe in the side pockets (skiiny tail of the snowshoe in the pocket and then wrap the compression straps around them or if that is not convienient, tie the tips together somehow either by a biner (if your pack is small enough so that the tips can come together-from the looks of it, it isn't) or via a bungee cord. Tie the biner or wrap the bungee cord around the pull handle on the backpack too too keep the snowshoes from slipping out of the pocket or falling off. That's what I do in my daypack, which is a Lowe Alpine Contour Runner 30. My real winter pack is a Dakine Guide which has ski and snowboard carriers of which I use the snowboard carrier. The Guide though is way bigger than my Lowe Alpine so I only use that for when I need to carry more gear or winter overnighters..

Jay

brad nicholson · 03-02-2004

i am currently binering them and tying them off to my ice axe loops but this is an issue if i need to put them on the pack when ascending, esp after an approach and before i need my axe or crampons. does anyone make a good pocket that can fasten on the back? i seem to recall one in mountain gear.

EdK · 03-02-2004

Brad....I happen to use a mid-sized LL Bean pack with a beavertail, so the snowshoes fit very nicely into the beavertail, then just cinch it up. However, before this, I used a pack that had twin daisy chains running down the front, so I made 2 long cinch straps from 1" nylon webbing and attached then to the daisy chains that way. This also worked well. Ed

MN Josh · 03-02-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay H

Depending on the crampons on your snowshoes, I have had the pleasent experience of getting huge canteloupe sized snowballs form on the underside of my snowshoes before. Now if using snowshoes is like running a marathon, I think wet snow and snowshoes is like the Marathon des Sables....

Now I remember to use cookind spray as lube...

Jay

Jay,

Try this for a more permanent solution. Cut up some 1/2 gallon milk containers for small anti-bott plates for the crampons. You can attach them with tiny zip ties and it will cut down on the problem.

Josh

Jay H · 03-03-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by MN Josh

Jay,

Try this for a more permanent solution. Cut up some 1/2 gallon milk containers for small anti-bott plates for the crampons. You can attach them with tiny zip ties and it will cut down on the problem.

Josh

Thanks, I may try that if I don't go ahead and get a pair of Northern Lites. My Sherpas are falling apart, I've fixed two rivets holding the binding in, and I've broken the lacing on the right one. I've had good luck with the Sherpa CS but I've been looking at the NLs ever since I've talked to another hiker who had them on when we crossed paths.

Jay