View Full Version : Northern Lites snowshoes?
We've been getting some great snow up on the plateau in AZ and I'm spending a month in Minnesota and U.P. Michigan over the break and have decided to replace my very dead and crappy Redfeathers with something nice. The main contender is the Northern Lite Backcountry:
http://www.northernlites.com/backcountry.php#backcountry
The weight is obviously the great appeal. They seem very well engineered, made of fairly high end materials, have a good history behind them and I'm about 95% sure about getting them. But before I shell out $250, has anyone used Northern Lite products? Ever broken anything and tried to get it warrantied, etc.? Thanks for any input.
The Northern Lights are really popular with the trail running set. I volunteered at a snowshoe race and they were the most popular snowshoe by far.
They are very high quality and seem to work well on packed down trails.
However, I do not know how they work on deeper powder. I have no first hand experience or knowledge in that case. >SHRUG<
I do know many people who do more of the deep powder snowshoeing, off trail, prefer MSR Denali's.
Guess if you could say what kind of conditions you will be going in, a suitable snowshoe could be suggested. (ie. Do the northern lites have the crampon type you need? Will you be mainly on packed trail? Icy snowy? Powdery snow? Etc.)
You can always get some touring skis too a (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ski_touring#Backcountry_Nordic)nd keep the snowshoes hung up in the gararge for the occasional snowshoe date. ;) (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=21504&highlight=snowshoe+date)
Not interested in any type of racing shoe. I typically use my snowshoes for long day hikes and the occasional multi day trip. I weigh 150 and with gear, food and water rarely exceed 185, but definitely like some extra float so the surface area of the Backcountry is just about perfect.
Terrain is a bit of everything, but generally pretty moderate woodsy type hiking with the occasional short but steep/icy section. Usually on non-technical trail but I want something that is light and agile enough for the occasional off-trail-climbing-over-blowndowns excursion.
I usually only snowshoe when it's pretty cold so am typically in powdery snow, but AZ has a lot of thaw/freeze cycles and there's often a top crust of hard icy stuff on top of the powder. I don't have a ton of snowshoeing experience and have only owned the Fedfeathers but it seems like the
Northern Lites will accomplish everything that I need. Thanks for your input.
Northern Lites will accomplish everything that I need. Thanks for your input.
I'd just ask what kind of crampon it has on the bottom. The Denali's have some serious climbing power. If you do steeper trails, you may want something with a bit more bite than the NL's (maybe). As I said, my only experience with the NL's are the lightweight racing ones. The backcountry ones may have a larger crampon...but, it does have to make up in the weight somewhere..so it may or may not have a large crampon.
Guess what I am trying to say, is if you do steep climbs on snow, make sure you have a large crampon. Otherwise, the NLs are probably a good choice.
Have fun! Winter does not mean staying in doors!