Snowshoes

TSL 217

Last winter (2002-2003) I discovered to my dismay that some of the best photographic subjects were unreachable on foot because of the deep snow. I thought that snowshoes might help, so I finally took the plunge and got a pair. But the decision process wasn't exactly easy, so I hope this page can provide some tips to anyone else in a similar situation.

Update 29 January 2006: I have now had the snowshoes for three winters and I have only used them a handful of times. The truth is, snowshoes quite simply aren't useful in Swedish winter conditions. When there is a lot of snow, it is usually so soft that you sink with or without showshoes. And if you choose to make use of the snowmobile trails (plenty of those here), then the snow is packed and carries you fine regardless of your footwear. Although I realise that my chosen snowshoes are on the small side, I doubt it would make any difference if I had chosen a bigger model. When the snow is soft, it's just simply too soft to carry you. So now I have added a pair of skis to the mix. They won't take me to soft snow either, but I get around faster on the trails!

The thing is that I don't know anything about snowshoes. Nada. Never ever seen a pair, let alone tried them. So the first thing I did was to head off to the Internet to look for information. I was disappointed to find out that there is not so much information available - not such information that I could have directly used anyway.

Snowshoes are more popular in North America than in Europe and the Nordic countries. The snow is different on the two continents and the North American snow quite simply is better suited for snowshoeing than European snow. When you start searching for information, the first thing that strikes you is in how many varieties showshoes come in - design, material, size and even bindings differ greatly, and I haven't even started to talk about quality.

The most important thing to find out is what size of snowshoe you need (obviously), and that depends on a world of variables again: weight, terrain, snow condition, activity, and even gender (and the continent, and age...). From site to site, the recommended shoe for me seemed to be from 20x64cm to 23x76cm - this is for soft snow for 75 kg (which I estimated would be my weight with winter clothing and full camera pack including tripod). I figured the oval shape would be best because it seemed to allow for a more natural gait, but that wasn't a make-or-break issue. I also wanted bindings that suit normal winter boots (as opposed to stiff skiing boots), and finally, I decided to buy from a Swedish shop in case I would need to return the shoes.

Now that I had the size and shape down, the options were greatly narrowed thanks to my self-imposed limitation of buying in Sweden. It was between Lundhags, MSR or TSL. I searched for user opinions for each, but as I said, there is not much information available, especially for Scandinavia. It's not a lack in my search technique.. and and I also searched in English, Swedish and Finnish! But the little I did find, the Lundhags were the first I dismissed because of the potential problems with the decking. What I got left was MSR Denali Classic and a few models (217, 225, 227) from TSL. I emailed the Swedish distributor of MSR and got a friendly reply which confirmed that the model would indeed by suitable for my needs. What didn't convince me though is that I would need to use their special flotation tails (a shoe extension), in effect this means that my snowshoes would come in two parts and I wasn't thrilled about that. What really tipped me over to TSL though is that with the price of the flotation tails added to the shoe, the MSR price got a bit too high to my liking, and the shoe would still be narrower than the TSL models.

In the end it was a decision between two TSL models, 217 and 225, which are available from Klätter & Högjäll. The 217 weighs 2kg with the Rando binding and is 21.7x65cm in size, and the 225 is a bit lighter at 1.8 kg and 22.5x61cm, with Rando or Adventure binding. I opted for the narrower shoe so I ordered myself a pair of TSL 217.

The first thing I noticed when I got the shoes was that they were smaller than I expected (I'm not very good at visualising sizes) and I got a bit concerned that I had chosen too small after all. It was before there was any snow on the ground, so I test walked with them indoors just to get a feel for them, and found out that there were no worries at all, in fact other than having 2 kg extra in my feet it wasn't much different than normal walking. The shoe is pretty much WYSIWYG, other than 8 steel spikes (crampons) at the bottom to provide good grip. There is also a 3-spike steel crampon at the toes.

Update 1: So far I have only used the shoes once in their real environment, for no other reason that we only got snow now but not enough to form a definitive opinion. But so far... the bindings are good and it's easy to put on the shoes even with a bit of snow stuck under the boots. Since your foot is tied from heel and toes, you get a firm feel and good control over the shoes and walking is not too complicated other than that the shoes weigh a kilo each and they work like shovels so that you lift about another kilo of snow with each step. This means that you get a really good workout in a short time! But the cons then. Well, I sunk almost as much as without snowshoes! Really, it was only a marginal benefit and I started wondering if my worst snowshoe fears had come true and I got the wrong shoes, ie. too small.

Update 2: I finally had a chance to try the snowshoes for real in January, in a foot or two of powder snow. Since it's dry snow this time, I wasn't as bothered by the extra weight as I was the first time. But I have to say, I do sink more than I wanted to so I think I definitely have bought myself a too small pair of snowshoes. I tried without the snowshoes and I sink twice as much so they do help, but at its worst I sank almost knee deep - with the snowshoes! The only positive point is that the snowshoes provide extra stability in the terrain. Without them you'd be at risk to sink in some holes in the terrain covered by the snow, but with the snowshoes you are pretty much protected from it and despite the deeper than hoped for step, I found the going quite comfortable and I was able to access those sceneries I missed last winter. In that respect I am happy!

As a last note, I just read a in discussion group that it would be better not to stare at the weight charts too much when buying snowshoes. It would be best to get the biggest pair... with hindsight, I think I agree. Maybe I wouldn't have gotten the biggest pair, but the TSL 227 which is 10 cm longer and 1 cm wider. It is also a bit heavier, but I consider the 217's be so light that 200 extra grams wouldn't be a problem.

Live and learn. Oh well.

Snowshoe sizing guides:
- Tubbs Snowshoes (a clever guide, but had I gone for their recommendation, I would have ended with an even smaller shoe than what I got)
- Michigan Snowshoe Center (simple chart, but gives you an indication)
- also check the specs that many shops and manufacturers provide, e.g. GV Snowshoes and Sherpa

FAQs and tips:
- Michigan Snowshoe Center FAQ
- Glacier Snowshoe Company FAQ
- Glacier Snowshoe Company tips

Manufacturers:
- Glacier (North America)
- GV (North America)
- Lundhags (Sweden. Although this was the first shoe I dismissed, it doesn't mean that the shoe is not good, in fact the Swedish army is using Lundhags!)
- MSR - Mountain Safety Research (North America)
- Sherpa (North America)
- TSL (France, the web page is in English but unfortunately some bits of the site is on available in French)
- Tubbs (North America)

All of the above manufacturers make good quality snowshoes. It is only a matter of finding a shoe that fits your needs and your wallet!

Online dealers:
- GetOut sell Lundhags (Sweden)
- Klätter & Högfjäll sell TSL (Sweden)
- Michigan Snowshoe Center (North America)
- GV Snowshoes (North America)
- Tubbs (North America)
- Glacier (North America)
- Caribou Cry Outdors (North America)
If you are interested in the MRS shoes in Sweden, you can ask your local sports dealer to get them in, or failing that, contact the MSR Swedish distributor directly