*** Snow Shoe Comparison *** Re: MSR Denali Llama Snowshoes Experience From: ci619@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Frank Boyaner), Date: Mon April 1st 1997 Could someone forward this posting to the designer of these snowshoes? What a great design! Primarily, I bring them along on back country ski trips for when the going gets too tough for the skis. Due to their relatively small size, I don't use them in deep snow (that's when I prefer my skis). Recently I used them to climb Mont Tremblant, situated in the Quebec Laurentians. We used the mountain bike & hiking trails. Four hours and 2000 feet. Not a straight up route, rather an out and around path. Temperature was +5 to +10C. These snowshoes were perfect. They're light. The boot/binding/lacing connection is firm and stays put. The crampons gave me sure footing especially the ones that prevent lateral slide. There was absolutely no snow or ice buildup. At one point we were traversing across a steep slope populated with many scraggly trees. Due to the short length of the snowshoes I was able to place one foot in front of the other. One friend had to remove one of their conventional snowshoes (due to a lack of lateral traction) in order to get around the corner and start the next transverse. I was actually able to bypass the traverse and head straight up the slope. On a short very steep downhill in soft snow I was able to "parallel ski" down. I leaned back up into the hill and used my uphill hand as a rudder. Due to the short length of the snowhoes they felt like mini skis. It was fun and felt good. True, they sink a lot deeper into air pockets formed in the snow that is on underbrush but, overall, they gave me the most control of everybody in our party. They go for $118CDN at Mountain Equipment Co-op. They have an optional tail that you can attach, but at $60 I felt that it too expensive for my purposes. Frank Boyaner Ottawa Sun Dec 15 15:03:27 1996 Message : #1696619970 From: Lanny Hoff Address : stale19@mail.idt.net Group : Usenet.rec.backcountry Subject : Re: MSR snowshoes Org. : IDT I own a pair of the MSR's. They are my first snowshoe and I like them very much. By way of comparision, I rented a pair of Tubbs (Sierra) which I disliked intensely. The binding seemed intentionally designed to loosen, and with a lack of crampon I was scooting all over the place. BTW, I realize that most of the Tubbs do come with a crampon. The REI I rented the shoes from just had their head up their collective asses and didn't point it out to me. For $140, the full-sized MSR's seemed to be a good solution for me, and I continue to feel that way two weeks later. My wife and I have gone 'shoeing in a fairly wide variety of conditions, including earlier today. The one thing I would say is that the flotation is not perfect. But, then again, I weight 230 lbs. What shoe is going to support that kind of ponderous bulk in all conditions? Pros of the MSR Denali Llama's 1) Versatile (if you weigh a lot less than me). You can make three different pairs of shoes out of them to fit different conditions. 2) Inexpensive. 3) MSR is a great company, and I know from experience that they stand by their products. 4) I really like the binding. It is very simple and extremely effective at holding one's boot for hours and hours on end. If it breaks it would be very easy to fix. 5) Traction. The review in the current Backpacker to the contrary, I find them to have excellent traction. Lateral stability is outstanding, and even on almost completely bare ice they seem to perform very well. I can't remember disagreeing more with any single statement in Backpacker. I think they were far afield in their assessment of these shoes. 6) They are narrow, which means that you can walk with a very nearly normal gait. I know that most shoes these days are narrow enough, but the MSR's are even more so. Cons of the MSR Denali Llama's 1) They are ugly, in a high-tech sort of Darth Vader way. 2) The crampon will certainly be the first thing to wear out, although I doubt they will flatten out over time as another speculative poster mentioned. I am seeing the points round out a little bit already, but it appears that it won't get too much worse, and I doubt that this minor point will affect the performance under most conditions. All in all, I think that these shoes are an excellent choice if you are not too hung up with what has become the norm in snowshoe design. They offer outstanding performance for the price, stay on my foot extremely well, and just plain do most things very well. Yours, Lanny Hoff Minneapolis, Minnesota Subject: snow shoes Date: Sun, 29 Dec 1996 11:21:05 -0800 From: Gordon Bose To: sar-l@islandnet.com The SAR group that I am in is contemplating purchasing some snow shoes. I would like to know which brands/modles would be best suited to SAR tasks in costal mountain terrain with varied snow conditins. Some of our members have a lot of experience on shoes but many have none. Obviously we need lots of training/practice after we get some shoes but I would not want to purchase an entry level product unless it was also a good shoe for us once we become proficient and start packing heavy weights on task. Thank you in advance. Gordon Bose Kent-Harrison SAR Subject: Re: snow shoes Date: Sun, 29 Dec 1996 18:32:24 -0500 From: MikeValora@aol.com To: sar-l@islandnet.com I have not had the opportunity to use snow shoes in SAR efforts but I have used them extensively in the arena of backcountry guiding and without a doubt I have found that the Atlas snowshoe is the best thing going. They come in several different sizes to meet the needs of each individual user. They are constructed of a high quality aluminum frame and have a very sturdy syntheticdeck. The bindings on these are a webbing/plastic adjustment type system to accommodate a variety of shoe sizes. This is nice because they do not blow out under hard use, unlike many of the other bindings out there. Also the toe on these shoes move to aid in climbing up steep terrain and there is also a "crampon"/cleate type system to aid in traction. I would also recommend looking at the Feb. 1997 issue of Backpacker Magazine, they did a nice spread on several different models. The Atlas shoes are not cheap, but they do hold up under very hard use. Mike ---------------------------------