snow shoes

[squeezebox]

I was wondering about snowshoes for Feb, Mar, even Apr AT hikers, Sounds better than postholeing.
Kinda pricy $150 to $250, Kinda heavy 3.5 to 5.5 lbs, But just might save your life getting out of an otherwise dangerous situation.
So tell us about snowshoes, when, where how? size, wt, durability with spikes ,etc. ? What are heel lifts? any thing else?
Appropriate for other trails than just the AT?
And anything about micro spikes while you're at it.
Thanks!!

[kayak karl]

i did jan and febuary. never saw where snowshoes would of helped. snow never deep enough to be over rocks, logs and branches.

[saltysack]

South AT I've never need boots but spikes would be helpful some places


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Malto]

Microspikes not snowshoes.

[hikehunter]

I plan to carry some micro spikes for the icy/snow/refreeze zones when I start Feb. 2015. With the snow that dropped halloween 2014....I wander what the winter will bring....:confused::confused::-?:-?:cool::cool:

[rafe]

For winter hiking in the White mountains folks routinely carry three types of traction devices: microspikes, crampons, and ascent snowshoes. Heel lifters are useful for when you're doing steep terrain in the snowshoes.

Which type you'll need depends on all sorts of factors. If you're breaking trail after a fresh snowfall, the snowshoes are most useful. If the trail is well traveled so that the snow underfoot is all packed, you might get by with just the spikes. In between you have the situation where rain falls on packed snow and then freezes over again -- that's where the crampons come in.

For White Mtns. winter hiking, MSR Evo snowshoes and Hillsound trail crampons are popular.

[shelb]

If you're breaking trail after a fresh snowfall, the snowshoes are most useful. If the trail is well traveled so that the snow underfoot is all packed, you might get by with just the spikes.

Snowshoes can also be a pain...I like them only in fresh, deeper snow.

[Another Kevin]

For winter hiking in the White mountains folks routinely carry three types of traction devices: microspikes, crampons, and ascent snowshoes. Heel lifters are useful for when you're doing steep terrain in the snowshoes.

Which type you'll need depends on all sorts of factors. If you're breaking trail after a fresh snowfall, the snowshoes are most useful. If the trail is well traveled so that the snow underfoot is all packed, you might get by with just the spikes. In between you have the situation where rain falls on packed snow and then freezes over again -- that's where the crampons come in.

For White Mtns. winter hiking, MSR Evo snowshoes and Hillsound trail crampons are popular.

What Rafe said, except MSR Lightning snowshoes and Black Diamond Contact crampons. (Or Grivel G10s or G12s) :)

If you need crampons, you need an ice axe. A general mountaineering axe (the Black Diamond Raven is popular) is better than ice tools for this purpose. Tools are really for waterfall climbing.

The folks south of the Mason-Dixon line will be wondering what the Sam Hill we're talking about. ;)

[LIhikers]

If you plan to do trips in winter I'd say get yourself some snow shoes.
A couple of years ago my wife and I did a long weekend in NY's Catskill Mtns.
There was absolutely no snow at the trailhead so I left my snowshoes in the car but my wife carried hers.
By the time we were 1/2 way up the mountain I was sinking in mid-thigh deep.
By the time we set up camp I was exhausted.

[Sarcasm the elf]

For the Southern A.T.? Personally I wouldn't consider snowshoes. I would bring Katoolah Microspikes (http://www.rei.com/product/856702/kahtoola-microspikes-traction-system), but snowshoes are for long stretches of deep snow, not something generally needed for the average snow year in Georgia. If instead you were doing a winter section in New England, then yes.

[wormer]

Last winter I used snow shoes on a mile AT section by Flagstaff. I couldn't believe how they sapped the energy out of me compared to hiking on foot. You might want to try borrowing a pair and trying them out somewhere local, prior to a longer trek to get a feel for them. Unless the snow was real deep I would rather use cross country skis over snow shoes.

[rafe]

Last winter I used snow shoes on a mile AT section by Flagstaff. I couldn't believe how they sapped the energy out of me compared to hiking on foot. You might want to try borrowing a pair and trying them out somewhere local, prior to a longer trek to get a feel for them. Unless the snow was real deep I would rather use cross country skis over snow shoes.

XC skis will be of limited use on the AT. But to be honest I can't really imagine long-distance hiking in snow shoes. I'm sure it's done... somewhere.

[Another Kevin]

XC skis will be of limited use on the AT. But to be honest I can't really imagine long-distance hiking in snow shoes. I'm sure it's done... somewhere.

I think the Finns are crazy enough to do it, and some of the Canadians. But the way to go long distances across snow is to ski. Of course, that doesn't work on many of the narrow, twisty trails that we have here in the Northeast. I think that's why all the hikers around here seem to switch to peakbagging in the winter. Short miles, and often a day trip (very seldom longer than a long weekend).

[Another Kevin]

If you plan to do trips in winter I'd say get yourself some snow shoes.
A couple of years ago my wife and I did a long weekend in NY's Catskill Mtns.
There was absolutely no snow at the trailhead so I left my snowshoes in the car but my wife carried hers.
By the time we were 1/2 way up the mountain I was sinking in mid-thigh deep.
By the time we set up camp I was exhausted.

That's the Catskills for you. It must have been foggy, because usually in decent weather you can see where the snow line is on the drive up. On winter trips, you sometimes have to bring microspikes, snowshoes, poles, crampons, and ice axe, and switch between them several times a day as the snow conditions change.

I'm glad a ranger didn't spot you. The rule in New York's Forest Preserve is that you have to use snowshoes or skis whenever the snow is at least 8 inches deep. (If you have your snowshoes with you, but you're appropriately using crampons, they'll look the other way.) That's mostly for the safety of others. A badly postholed trail right next to a steep dropoff is deadly.

[Connie]

Deep snow is deadly. That is why so many snowshoe advocates use their snowshoes on a snowed over road. That's fun. i would like to "snowshoe" around the lake road, in winter. No cars. No people. Not too far from everything else.

I'd like to do cross-country skiing, however, we do not have prepared tracks around here. If I could have a prepared track, reasonably nearby, I would be skiing cross-country every chance I could get-away. It's great fun. It keeps you just warm enough, and, not too sweaty. The scenery is pristine.

I considered ski mountaineering, but not unless I previously marked the intended "trail" with snow poles.

I feel the same way about my MSR snow-walker "snowshoes" with under the foot cleats and heel risers.

I don't want to fall down in drifted snow and "I can't get up".

[Another Kevin]

I guess it depends on what you call deep snow. I can certainly recover from a fall in a six foot snowpack. I might need to use one shoe as a kneeling platform while redoing the other binding. I wouldn't want to handle a snowpack that deep without ascent snowshoes and a big group because recovering from a fall or breaking trail really is climbing - albeit out of your own hole. And you need a big group spelling each other because breaking trail is exhausting.

As far as marking trail goes, I find snowshoes most useful on bushwhacks. You can just go over the rocks and prickers. In any case, you need to be prepared to bushwhack, since winter is blowdown season.