What size snowshoes to buy Snowshoes work by creating more surface area than your boots alone. Follow these steps to find your snowshoe size: 1.
Determine your fully loaded weight. Follow the snowshoe size chart The chart below provides general recommendations for sizing snowshoes. Good Okay lb. Good Good Okay lb. Okay Good Good lb. Okay Good Okay lb. Good Good lb. Okay Good lb. Good lb. Good 3. Shop kids' snowshoes. Thinner and tapered, tailored to a narrower stride. Made with narrower bindings with more arch support to fit smaller feet. Made with crampons and traction rails that are placed to suit smaller feet and narrower strides.
Shop women's snowshoes. Materials and bindings to choose from Snowshoe design has come a long way from the days of wood and rawhide. Metal and fabric vs. Snowshoe bindings There are many styles of snowshoe bindings that use buckles, straps or ratcheting closures.
There are two main types of bindings — hinged and floating: Hinged bindings : Attach to the deck with a pivot near the ball of your foot. Floating bindings : Attach to the frame with flexible webbing. This adds efficiency a good thing , but it can also fling snow on the back of your legs. Snowshoe add-ons and extras. Some of these features or snowshoe accessories can help: Heel lifts Wire bars that you flip up and rest your heels on. This style of snowshoe is lighter and quieter than plastic snowshoes.
There are a few different types of material for the decking, but in general, they are all super-durable and flexible synthetic fabrics. The outer frames are typically aluminum that is lightweight and flexes slightly when you walk, for a more natural stride.
However, the round bottoms of the tubes are slippery on hard-packed or icy snow, so some snowshoe brands like MSR have started making snowshoe frames out of flat aluminum with teeth on the bottom for better grip. I really prefer this style of frame snowshoes as I think they are a LOT safer.
However, I really believe that the flat-sided frames are a lot safer. My pick for the best metal frame snowshoes are the MSR Lighting snowshoes since they use a flat frame.
There are a seemingly infinite amount of snowshoe binding types out there. There are ones with buckles, ones with straps, ones with ratchets, ones with dials… the list goes on. Most bindings are designed to fit over hiking and winter boots, but some companies make bindings large enough for snowboard boots too.
The snowshoe binding you choose will depend on your personal preference and how the binding fits you. If possible, bring your snowshoeing boots to a store and try on a few pairs of snowshoes to get a feel for each type of binding.
Make sure you stand up and feel for pressure points. The way the snowshoes attach to bindings is also important. There are two types of attachment: fixed and hinged.
Fixed bindings attach to the deck with a flexible, elasticated strap. However, when the elastic springs back, it can spray snow on you. Atlas snowshoes use a fixed binding. Hinged bindings use a pivot to attach the binding to the deck near the ball of your foot.
The design is better for climbing over things or kicking steps up a slope, which makes hinged bindings better for backcountry snowshoeing. MSR snowshoes use a hinged binding.
It used to be the only binding style they offered, but they have a few more choices now. Thankfully modern snowshoes have the advantage of crampons and other traction.
These are metal spikes and teeth on the bottom of the snowshoe that bite into the snow. All snowshoes have toe crampons, attached under the toe of the binding so they can dig in as you walk.
This is the main source of traction. More aggressive snowshoes for the mountains will also have other traction aids such as V-shaped crampons under the heels. Plastic snowshoes and metal frame snowshoes with flat frames also have teeth along the sides. These are VERY important for off-trail and backcountry snowshoeing since they give you stability when traversing across the side of a slope.
Falls during traverses are one of the most common ways that snowshoers seriously injure themselves since most snowshoes provide NO side traction! MSR snowshoes have the best traction, hands down. They all have great toe crampons and side rail crampons. The lower-end models have a bit less traction than their higher-end ones. But compared to other snowshoe brands, they have waaay more traction overall. Basically, they are wire bars that you can flip up to rest your heels on.
It gives your calves a break and helps with traction. Last season, they got me up the hill on my first backcountry snowboard tour before obtaining my splitboard. And when I first moved to the Sierra Nevada, I even borrowed a pair from a friend to go on a first date!
This guide breaks down the different options when choosing the perfect pair of snowshoes and the right gear to accompany them. For proper snowshoe sizing, you need to consider both the maximum load on your snowshoes your body weight plus the gear you are carrying and the type of terrain you will be navigating. Check the specs of the snowshoes you are looking at. If you are only taking day trips, the max load should be around 20 pounds above your body weight.
For overnight trips or mountaineering, it would be pounds more than your bodyweight. For the length, a longer snowshoe makes it easier to travel through powder because there is a larger surface area. However, a longer snowshoe is more challenging to take up and down steep terrain. If you expect to travel on hard-packed snow in mostly flat terrain, a shorter snowshoe will do just fine.
When snowshoe bindings are challenging to get in and out of, or they do not stay tightened in place, a peaceful adventure can quickly turn into a frustrating experience.
Most snowshoe bindings are a rotating or floating model, meaning they move separately from the frame of your snowshoe. The three main strap materials are made of either nylon, rubber, or cable lace. They are formatted in a system of either straight straps, ratchet straps, pull webbing, or a BOA system.
I prefer a pull webbing that accommodates a wide range of shoe sizes. Thus, with larger foot sizes, the simpler the binding, the better. This binding is straightforward to use, even with thick winter gloves. The days of having only classic tubular aluminum frames are over. Instead, there are a few different options, as new snowshoes models have various designs and feature different frames. Tubular frames can increase surface area, but they can also cause snow to build on the snowshoe frame in deep snow if not done correctly.
These types of frames are commonly found on hiking or recreational snowshoe models, like the Tubbs Xplore. Some models offer frames that are serrated to offer increased traction. These snowshoes can be heavy depending on the frame materials, but the extra grip can be handy, especially when mountaineering.
Some snowshoes have a tubular frame or similar shape near the toe but a pointed tail in the back. These frames are often designed to help snow build up on the frame and increase maneuverability in deep snow. Photo: Redfeather. To produce lightweight snowshoes, manufacturers have started to make decking out of plastic or any other rigid material.
These snowshoes can often be very slippery, so tread carefully. Traditional snowshoes are often made of ash wood, which provides an incredibly quiet snowshoeing experience.
Being silent in the snow makes wooden snowshoes an excellent option when hunting or observing wildlife. These frames also can naturally withstand frigid temperatures up to 30 degrees below zero. In addition to the above frame materials, snowshoe frames and materials are continuing to evolve. For example, you can now find snowshoes with frames and decking made of recyclable and more environmentally-friendly materials, like the Crescent Moon Eva snowshoe.
The Eva Foam snowshoe is a unique snowshoe option made of environmentally-friendly materials. Another feature of snowshoes is the importance of traction, which is achieved via crampons or serrated edges. Recreational snowshoes typically have simple traction, whereas technical snowshoes tend to have advanced traction. The crampons are usually made out of steel or any of its composites and aluminum.
Steel crampons are stronger than aluminum, but aluminum is lighter than steel. Most snowshoes have two or three crampons at the toe. You may also find crampons underneath the ball of the foot, which is helpful for descending. The serrated frame mentioned above also helps the snowshoe provide traction. If you find that snow is building up on your snowshoes, you can always spray an environmentally friendly lubricant, such as ski wax, on your crampons to limit snow build-up. Speaking of snow build-up, the traction provided on snowshoes is best used in conditions that have snow.
Using your snowshoes on icy surfaces can cause unnecessary wear to the steel or aluminum crampons underneath the snowshoe.
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