An E-bay Auction of Interest to Sherpa Snowshoe Fans

[peakbagger]

I expect by the time that most folks see this, the auction will be long gone, but its bit sad to see the final end to Sherpa Snowshoes. I would love to get a few bits and pieces but dont think I really need 4000 pounds of them!.

As of 5 hours before the end of the auction, the bid was $50 (plus freight).

For years Sherpas were the gold standard for backcountry snowshoes, AMC just about required them on winter training courses and many of the S&R folks would carry the extra long ones. Compared to wood, they required zero maintenance and the bindings would fit almost anything. It was real hard to trash a pair althouhg I expect many tried. They had the patent on the pin type binding and there wasnt really any comparible system that worked as well. When the patent ran out and other firms rushed in with similiar bindings and fancier looking shoes, sherpa just couldnt seem to compete and they slowly disapeared from the market.


http://cgi.ebay.com/SHERPA-SNOWSHOE...382?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f0598990e

"Up for auction is what is left of the Sherpa snowshoes company. They made some of the best snowshoes in the business before they closed about five years ago. Here is your chance to start your own business for cheap, or just fix or sell parts to the people that already own these or other snowshoes. Included is around 100 steel rule dies which should make every decking part for all Sherpa snowshoes ever made. There is also around 30 rolls of pvc coated nylon or vinyl decking, which will make plenty of snowshoes. Each roll weighs around 100 pounds, so there is alot of it. There is also lacing, buckles, straping and smaller deck rolls in boxes. Also included is some signs, advertising and i can also provide customer lists. If the bidding goes over $3000.00, i will include 50 pair of bindings, around 75 pairs of complete decks, 100 relacing kits, as well as the complete pairs of snowshoes i have and lots of other parts. I can e-mail pics of the other stuff. Everything is new, never used, but may be dusty and dirty from sitting around. Buyer pays for shipping and I can arrange freight. I don't have a scale, but i estimate the weight of everything to be around 4000 pounds. I may accept buy it now offers".

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Sad ... in fact, very sad.

Just a reminder for those who appreciate a good snowshoe, Sherpa lookalikes (actually improvements, IMHO) are available: Arctic Trekker Snowshoes.

 

[Snowflea]

I still own two pair of Sherpas, one with the "potato scrubber" claw, the other with a more aggressive, albeit bent, claw. Did my first winter 48 with the potato scrubbers. After a few years of use, the lacing would wear out (darn rocks). Sherpa Snowshoes used to send a FREE repair kit, and the one pair were relaced several times.

As Tubbs, Atlas, MSR, etc., became more popular, the Sherpas were seen on the trails with less and less frequency. I knew they were really dated when one hiker glanced at my feet and exclaimed "Oh wow! GOLD snowshoes!!"

 

[RollingRock]

I still wear my sherpa snowshoes periodically. They work great and it looks like a piece of art

 

[spider solo]

I see the winning bid was $2,325

I put a fair number of miles on mine over the years and ended up with a few pairs with different types of bindings etc.
I particularly enjoyed the history of them and the whole concept of a laced metal snowshoe coming into it's own, for rugged mnt use.
I found mine to be pretty indestructible and had plenty of fun with them.

 

[RoySwkr]

I found mine to be pretty indestructible and had plenty of fun with them.

Unfortunately I can't say the same.

I have a pair of Tubbs with the Sherpa triangle bindings and it didn't take long for the teeth to wear out so I'm left with a triangle that collects packed snow. The nylon strap seems to chafe through and I had to rerivet one end - not something easy to do in the field. I think it was the bindings on my Sherpa snowshoes that one of the hooks for the toe strap snapped off in the cold, and the teeth seem to bend easily.

Sure I've broken plastic snowshoes and seen wood ones break, but I've never met an indestructable snowshoe.

 

[spencer]

I haven't checked in here in ages but I just saw this and thought I'd share that I got an unsolicited email yesterday from someone (no name, just an email address) saying s/he had bought the remains of Sherpa Snowshoes and was planning to reintroduce them for 2011:

"just picked up what remains of sherpa
snowshoe co . I have bindings ,decks,parts and enough material to make 3000 pair . spread the word sherpa will be back for 2011!!!!"

so, there you have it!

I have always lusted after the Prader bindings after seeing Mohamed's pair in the early 2000s.

I have a pair of 36" Sherpas with the potato peeler claw but don't use them much.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

Still have a couple pair of Sherpas, but not a big fan after getting my clock rung with a face plant on the floor of Carter Notch when one popped off, which they so commonly do, in late December 2003. At the time I was actually ahead of Frodo and Stinkyfeet (really!) on the first day of their winter NH4s test piece. By the time I caught up to them after groggily climbing C Dome, I was an hour off the pace and toast for the next 1.5 days. A few days later I was trailing them across the Cannon Balls when saw the amazing straight-on tracks up the steep south side of Cannon from Stinkyfeet's new MSR's; I bought a pair of those the next day and have worn nothing else for snowshoes since.

 

[hikerfast]

the only snowshoes i have are 2 pair of sherpas with the aggressive tucker bindings. i figure ill use em till they are both toast. first pair i bought in 1987 second pair i bought about 10 years later. they both are fine with a LOT of miles on them. the only reason i bought a second pair is so i could bring someone else. i like my co hiker (that i bring)to have the same stuff i have so we are in the same boat.

 

[SAR-EMT40]

I must be thinking of a different pair of Sherpa claw snowshoes. I rented a pair on a week long winter camping trip, one of my first overnight winter trips and thought that they were the biggest pieces of s**t I had ever used. I remember the potato peeler tightening device getting so iced up that I couldn't open, close or do anything else useful with it until I chipped and melted it out. I remember the fabric foot bindings getting so ice encrusted that again, you could do nothing with them while the temperatures were below freezing. The lack of modern materials and decent engineering made me despise their product.

Unless there is another version of them that I don't know about, which is possible since I never used or bought anything with their name on them again after that trip. I fail to see anyones fascination with that product. While I hate to see people loose their jobs I remember thinking when I heard they went out of business that, that shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone who had used their product.

Just wanted to get that off my chest while everyone else seems to be waxing nostalgic for that company.

Keith

 

[peakbagger]

Compared to todays snowshoes, the Sherpa model that is cloned by the company in Mohameds post would be inferior to todays models. They lacked back crampons, the standard potato peeler crampons were inadequate (but they offered the Tucker claw) and the bindings werent as good as todays. But compared to what was on the market when they were popular, there was nothing close sold. I will date myself but in 1988 when I was looking for my first pair of technical shoes, there was the choice of wood snowshoes, tubbs snow spyders ( a clone of Sherpa's concepts without the pin binding) and not a lot else. Bindings were leather or the red rubberized straps with some contact patches behind the heel and on top of the foot, possibly with a lace up toe piece. One company sold a Sherpa lookalike binding that used the single strap with hooks. The other alternative was a pair of wooden shoes with a strap on bow crampon. The AMC winter school at the time would only allow wooden shoes with bow crampons or Sherpa's. Most every place that rented snowshoes rented Sherpa's as they were hard to break.

Wood snowshoes needed maintenance on a yearly basis and the frames could and would crack if abused. Sherpas rarely needed repairs compared to wood and their lacing was superior to leather. I dont think porkies would ganw on them as muhc as wood shoes.

I was close to buying a pair of Sherpas in 1989 and then Tubbs came out with the Katahdin style shoes when the Sherpa patents ran out. They were a lot less money than the Sherpas equipped with tucker claws and the TD91 binding was a nice step up (although I did break one). Tubbs had some teething problems the first year of production but the second year, they took over the market and Sherpa's got harder to find. I even saw Sherpas with Tubbs TD-91 bindings as Sherpa sold the binding seperate from the shoe. Within a few years a lot of similar designs appeared and then MSR came out with the Denalis. Subsequently Sherpa started playing catch up coming out with higher end shoes with more sophisticated bindings, including the prader binding, but they just couldnt compete on price.

Sort of like comparing a 1988 car with a 2010 car

 

[spider solo]

I wore mine through streams, over rocks and generally all over the place. If they iced up after crossing a stream or in wet snow you just whacked it with your ice axe and off you went...oops I mean back when people hiked with an ice axe .

Snowshoeing by Gene Prater was always a nice over view of how they came to invent the shoe. A couple of brothers working a horse farm. Company went down hill after selling it off to some corporation.

But that's probably all ancient history now. I used to love passing people with the MSR's but then even I bought a pair of MSR after years of bad mouthing them. From wood to metal to plastic..I suppose that is progress of some sort.

 

[RollingRock]

Just reading this thread makes me think of the 'old days.' Winter hiking with sherpa snowshoes, sorel boots and wool pants. I'm thinking now I should do at least one winter hike this year with this gear just for giggles.

My sherpa snowshoes have the 'tucker claw' and very small crampons at the tail. The binding is not the lacing type the earlier versions had but something you could pull similar to Tubbs. The lacing has broken but I've used the plastic ties to keep it together.

Long live Sherpa Snowshoes!

 

[sierra]

I just retired mine this year,I Liked the crampon binding and although the strap system wasnt the best, mine never fell off. I just bought the lightning ascents ( MSR) they look good, we shall see.