Snowshoes: Coolest Invention of All-Tim e

“So, I cashed in my Campmor gift certificates last night and got a pair of Tubbs Altitude 36" snowshoes. I tried them out in the front yard (which had at least a good foot of snow) and was absolutely amazed. This was my first time using snowshoes (keep in mind I'm from Florida). They weren't big and cumbersome, like I thought they'd be. Walking in them was so easy, I could barely tell I was wearing them. Pennsy Hiker had told me walking with snowshoes was easy, now I know what he was talking about. I can't wait to bust them out on the trail! Yahoooooo!”

“They didn't look so easy when Curly used them on the Three Stooges, Artex. Oh, sorry. Those were tennis rackets”

“Oh! A weisenheimer! Whoop, whoop, whoop!”

“Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk”

“Snowshoes are fun and a good workout too. I have 36" X 9" Sherpa snowclaw models. Most people use a smaller shoe, but these don't sink in as much as the short shoes.”

“I've got Altitude 30's...30"X9"...2 years ago...great snowshoes.”

“I got a pair o' them Altitude 30" too. Been usin 'em fer 3 yers now.

Artex, them Catskill Mountns ain't like yer front yerd, ya know. An' they sure ain't gonna resemble no Florida landscape neither.

Have fun!”

“I've had a pair of bear paws for years. I use them in the UP of MI during deer season, loved them but now they are going to be retired for the "weight" issue way too heavy! But I will never part with them, for you who have'nt shoed gotta try it in deep snow just a blast.”

“Did someone say snowshoes? LOL, Artex, I'm also cashing in gift certificates for snowshoes. But I don't know which ones I want yet.”

“Downhill skiis, cross country skiis, snowshoes, skates, snowboard; who can decide????
Yesterday after work, snowboard, today, snow shoes and cross country skiis, tomorrow skate??? Wednesday downhill ski and snowboard??/ Choices, choices, choices....”

“I bring both skis and snowshoes and ski on the open areas and pop on the snowshoes for hiking in the tight woods. That way I can cover more ground than on snowshoes alone. You can cover a lot of ground on skis when the conditions are right.”

“I tried cross country skis for the first time a few days ago, just tooling around in my uncles neighborhood with them. Pretty cool, I'll be getting a pair eventually.”

“I love cross country skiing Artex, it's so much fun! The Arboretum in Augusta has wide groomed trails. A lot of times I find I'm the only one there and I play around skate skiing or off trail climbing small hills and skiing down.

A co-worker just got snowshoes and she says she'll never x-country ski again. I disagree, maybe because I snowshoed first and because skiing takes so much coordination for klutzy ole me I really feel like I've accomplished something.

I'm trying out my Yukon Charlie's and Scarpa boots tomorrow, wahoo!”

“Cool, have fun with the new toys Twiggie! Just got off the phone with Pennsy Hiker, we'll be busting some trail with our snowshoes tomorrow, can't wait! :-)”

“Alright! We'll haveta compare notes tommorra night - I'm headed to Saddleback via the AT to see how 12 miles on snow shoes feels. I love that trail and have I said lately that I LOVE WINTER!

o(=}”

“...or I should say how 12 miles feels if I get that far, lol.

If I don't get my butt to sleeping (and snoring) I may never get there, lol!

'night!

o(|}”

“Yes, we shall compare notes tomorrow! I should get to bed also, but I'm addicted to a video game on my computer, Warcraft III, and it's been keeping me up at night. I'm such a geek.”

“I tried out my Atlas 1030's today. The snow was nearly 3 feet deep in places. It was so much fun. Tomorrow, I think I'll head out to the slopes.”

“I remember the first time I wore my new snowshoes, I too thought they would be hard to get use to but found out quickly they were easy to get around on. I even took off booking as fast as I could down this grade and was amazed how easy it was to run in them.”

“Twigeater, 12 miles at Saddleback?? Such ambition!!. I'm assuming that's 6 miles in and 6 out, or are you staying overnite?
We tried our gear out yesterday. We didn't use either the snowshoes or the x-country skiis at all last year. The snowshoes were a breeze, but some practice on the skiis is gonna be needed. And we actually have some snow here to practice on this year. We figure to get some practice, then start towing our sleds loaded with some weight soon....”

“I 'd hoped for an overnight there this weekend, but too much to do!

12 miles, lol. The book says 5.7 miles to the summit via the AT, much less if you take the trails from the ski area, which I've never done. Everytime I invite someone to do Saddleback with me, they say "twelve miles!" and I always say, "yeah but it's flat!" Then I hike it and I'm reminded that it's not really flat, but pretty close. And pretty, pretty, pretty.

Today's trip was about 8 miles, I didn't go to the top. If I did a trip report, the thread title would be "Just call me stoopid!" But it was a beautiful day and I tried out a few new pieces of gear. I LOVE my Scarpa boots!”

“Cool twigeater! Sounds like a great time! I just got back from the Catskills. Pennsy Hiker and I did a dayhike, we snowshoed in to Echo Lake from the north. About 9 miles with some sloping uphills and downhills, the steepest being the last .6 miles to Echo Lake. Okay, that part was pretty darn steep!

My snowshoes rock!!! This was the first real test for them. It was great! My legs are pretty tired now, I imagine they'll be pretty soar in the morning, which is excellent! :-)”

“Artex and I had a great time playing in the snow today. He forgot to mention that while the first mile of the trail was broken, the rest was not. Breaking trail with a few feet of snow on the ground was hard work. I just hope the fortunate hikers that show up the next few days appreciate us. Where's that collection hat? ;o)

Btw - Artex's new shoes are HUGE! He will not be needing a gear sled for Maine as he will be able to strap all his gear to his shoes.”

“Cool beans!

I didn't put on my snowshoes until I got to Ethel Pond, just beyond the Piazza Rock lean-to (~2+ miles). The trail was packed by previous snowshoers, but near the pond was a lot of drifting. There was so much drifting at the next bog, that I sunk in up to my waist, snowshoes and all, several times. On the way back my tracks were completely filled in and I stepped more carefully - didn't sink at all.

I think you guys should get up at the crack of the crack of dawn and do Katahdin in February! The permit we already have doesn't matter for that and you don't need a special one. As long as you have a team of four, you can talk to the Chimney Pond Ranger about heading up.”

“LOL Pennsy, on my way out people who were on the way in kept thanking me for breaking trail for them. At first I confessed I didn't do it, but then - what the heII...

o(;}”

“Artex, Pennsy,

Yes ...packing down the trails is greatly appreciated by those of us who wait until AFTER the weekend following a major snowstorm (like the one we had last week) to venture out into the deep. I'm heading out to the Cats tomorrow ...Hmmm, maybe I'll just happen to end up going in to Echo Lake ;-)

Really though, I'm planning to do Windham High Peak ...from the snowmobile trail! :-)

Artex, thanks for the trip report at Views From the Top.”

“Awwww, phooey on his Views From the Top report. All that hard work, and he writes "A friend and I packed it down..."

Couldn't even mention my name. I feel so used.

Have fun Mr M. It's a glorious winter wonderland in the 'Skills.

Twiggy - just accept the kudos and hold out your hand. Maybe someone will tip you.”

“No shoes, but I tried my sled for the first time yesterday (to haul a case of beer and 8 steaks into an undisclosed location) ((we'd already set up basecamp, and didn't think the snow was thick enough for sleds)), what a difference! When you are hiking on flat surfaces, you could have 70# on the sled, and think you had nothing behind you.”

“But Pennsy Hiker, if I would have mentioned your name, it would have damaged all credibility and the moderators would have removed the trail report! :-P”

“8 miles, 11 miles, 9 miles.... I am ashamed!!! 5 Miles!!! 2 on snowshoes, 3 on skiis, and not even dragging a sled. We plan on working our way up in mileage, and start using the sleds. We did get another good workout on our legs however.... at Shawnee peak ski mountain. Seems we are addicted to skiing.

Hello, my name is Uphill K. and I am a skiier. It just seems as though I can't help myself. I really need to strap on the snowshoes more often.... but...but it is so vexing.....”

“Two winters ago, we snowshoed up the eyebrow trail at Grafton Notch, had some soup and came back down. Only one mile was broken for us, we did the other 2 miles. This is pretty much an uphill klimb. The snow was so deep that our feet were at the level of the blazes. We went back the next summer and the blazes were over our heads. (I'll try to dig up the two pictures. ) I mean the snow was deep and fluffy. On the way up, we never stumbled. On the way down, however, we fell several times.... Once Skeetah Bait put her hand out to catch herself and she buried her arm to her shoulder and couldn't move. I had to help her out of the snow. So nowadays, we're a tad more careful downhill and always take each other anyways. I like having a ready partner!!!”

“Where is that VFTT trip report, I can't find it! Artex do you post under another name on other sites?

Klimber I know what ya mean, I flopped around in those drifts for a while - step in to my waist, put my arm down to get up and go face first into snow, get outta the hole, take a step, repeat over and over. I don't know if another person coulda helped me though.
I never saw another soul (except a couple of snowmobilers when I was off being stoopid) until I was on my way back and about 2 miles from the trailhead.

The first group I saw had sleds and were going to the peak and then slide down. I wonder how that worked out.”

“Twiggie, the report is there. Viewsfromthetop.com, under trail conditions, then New York. I posted under Artex there. It wasn't a "trip report" per say, it was merely a trail conditions report. I only post my real trip reports on TT, because this site is king! :-)”

“Ok, 'cause I was gonna speak to you about that, lol...

o(>:}”

“I want to snowshoe with Twigeater, she sounds like a laugh a minute out there flailing around. Which snowshoes do you recommend, Twigs?”

“LOL, I thought I was totally stuck there for a minute - kinda like quicksnow!

This is what I've always had and love...
snowshoes

But for performance showshoes I wouldn't be the person to ask as I seem to be having difficulties making the switch. I'm beginning to realize that the reason for that is that I expect A LOT from something I pay $200+ for, whereas I have no expectations of my $50 wooden ones.

I have Yukon Charlie's that I got at Sam's club. They were great yesterday, although a couple of times I berated myself for not getting the bigger ones. (I was a little cranky since I didn't eat AND forgot my watch, and became a lot crankier when I totally misjudged my time - it was dark at the mountain - and was back at the car at ONE FREAKIN' O'CLOCK!) ~>:(
I forgot my poles too, but I didn't care so much about that.

Anyway I'm sticking with these, they're the best I've tried so far, but maybe I'm happy because they were $89 including poles and I can't take 'em back!

o(=}”

“I gotta agree with you. For $200.00, they had better work perfectly for me. I don't feel bad coming back and saying These don't work, give me some others.”

“Did Windham High Peak in snowshoes yesterday... Brief trip report is posted at Views From the Top: http://www.viewsfromthetop.com/ (sorry, the date is wrong ...but I'm on vacation, so I have an excuse).

Some pics at: http://community.webshots.com/album/59125969APXTUf

Lyndy, here's another $.02 on snowshoes... Unless you're planning to do trail-breaking or bushwacking in deep snow, shorter length shoes should be adequate for most broken trails.”

“Nice pictures Mister M. It looks like Sparky likes the snow.

Now that Artex is snow-shoe-broken-in, maybe I can get him to do a high peak or 2. ;o)”

“MSilver, I'm trying to figure out when I'll be out on broken trail. Are you saying that when I go snowshoeing with you and RichB, I can walk behind you guys while you break the trail for me? Because that just sounds wrong, LOL! I realize that I am usually at the back of the pack on trips, but that certainly isn't by choice. Someone forgot to install the Energizer batteries in me, and I think I got the Wiley Coyote Acme brand instead.”

“You're too good Lyndy! If someone offers to break trail for ya enjoy it!

o(=}”

“'kay, Twigeater, and I'll bring my camera for recording the comedy, too!”

“"Nice pictures Mister M. It looks like Sparky likes the snow.

Now that Artex is snow-shoe-broken-in, maybe I can get him to do a high peak or 2. ;o)"
Pennsy Hiker
12:21:25 PM
12/31/02

What, you think my arm requires twisting? Bring it!!!!”