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After a full day at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2008 Bacountry Magazine staff dicsuss some of the trends surrounding snowshoes and similar gear..
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Winter gear galore, and much of it available for demo. The Outdoor Retailer Show’s Backcountry Base Camp was held at the SNowbasin ski area northeast of Salt Lake City. Over 50 vendors had tents to show and tell their latest and greatest offerings Photo: Janet Reichl
It is now late evening of our first full day here at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2008. Even this first day which is devoted to the Backcountry Base Camp provided us with more than enough to keep us busy throughout the day and, obviously, the night. The Backcountry Basecamp (BBC) gives the vendors that attend a chance to show their gear off to its best ability since the demo day is held at Snowbasin ski resort. If you want to try the latest in skis of any type, snowshoes of numerous shapes, weights, and sizes, the latest in quirky sleds or funky eyewear then the BBC is the place to give the gear a fine real world test. This year the weather again graced the Backpacking Light staff, and everyone else, with fabulous clear skies, moderate temperatures, and virtually no wind. A splendid day to wander around the vendor stalls and test out new toys. Will Rietveld, janet Reichl, Steve Nelson, Mike Martin, Ken Knight, and Ryan Jordan spent the day seeing what could be seen and enjoying the surroundings as they learned about the new and interesting gear coming along.
What came out during our explorations of Backcountry Basecamp today was how much has happened with snowshoes over the past few years. Many snowshoes have gotten considerably lighter over the years. Northern Lites continues to be something of a gold standard (not at the show) but other companies have put their snowshoes on a diet too at least in some areas of design. For example, Crescent Moon are known for robust decking which somewhat offsets the weight savings of their magnesium frames. Atlas snowshoes have lost weight over the years but gained some of it back by developing bindings that are essentially step-in and ratchet tight bindings that are dead easy to use. Usability is often selected for at the expense of weight. The types of snowshoes and other snow and ice walking aids have also expanded over the years. From snowshoes that will float you across the deepest powder to hybrid snowshoe-ski designs that try to capture the best of both worlds to specialty products like the Kahtoola Microspikes that are meant to help you traverse thin snow pack and icy stretches. Sometimes changes in gear are revolutionary; sometimes evolutionary. It is always exciting to see both processes at work and in the case of snowshoes and related snow travel gear we have been fortunate to see both over the years.
It was a beautiful day for trying out the new gear, right next to the ski slopes for downhill and backcountry skis, and nearby undulating terrain for Nordic gear and snowshoes. The area got about 20 inches of powder the night before - perfect! Photo: Janet Reichl
Titanium crampons on the Atlas Race Snowshoe: 33 oz for the new model to be released for the 2008-2009 season. The biggest change: more durable decking that should resist tearing, a problem with the 2007-2008 Atlas Race used for long distance walking as a result of abrasion against the titanium crampon edge. Other changes: a slightly redesigned crampon, and of course, new colors. Photo: Ryan Jordan
Not new this year, but the lightest aluminum-bladed snow shovel currently available. The Voile XLM achieves it's 16 ounce claimed weight through the use of thin gauge, but strong 6061-T6 heat-treated aluminum. Available now Photo: Mike Martin
The new Kahtoola Microspikes provide traction on thin snow pack or icy trails with an MSRP of $59 and a claimed weight of 9.8-14.4 oz depending on size. Available since october 2007. PHOTO: MIKE MARTIN
Easton (the company that makes aluminum tent poles) will introduce its Artica line of snowshoes in fall 2008. Their top of the line snowshoe (above) features a 7075 T7 articulating aluminum frame, a floating pivot arm to adapt to uneven surfaces, a full set of lateral crampons, and a one-handed pull and go binding. MSRP is $259 and weight is just under 4 pounds per pair. They’re not the lightest snowshoes around, but they have a number of innovations that look promising. Overall, snowshoes are getting more user friendly, but there appears to be little effort to reduce weight. Photo: Janet Riechl
Easton’s independent front crampons are like dinosaur claws, and adjust to uneven surfaces to get a better grip on the snow. Photo: Janet Riechl
Kahtoola has a new binding (left) that allows any boot to be used with their FlightDeck. It has stainless steel lugs on the bottom that click into slots on the snowshoe decks. The system is called the FlightDeck TS, retails for $279, and will be available in Fall 2008. Sorry, the binding will not be available separately. Photo: Janet Riechl
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