Northern Lites snowshoes?

[Tramper Al]

Hey,

I am thinking of taking some often heard advice and sizing down my snowshoes a bit for selected winter trips. While I'm at it, I thought, why not cut down on the weight as well?

Does anyone have any experience with Northernlites Snowshoes? My everyday shoes are Atlas 1233s (actually 9x30") and I am not willing to give up a whole lot in terms of traction.

If I shed a pound off each foot, do I have to add 10 pounds to my pack?

Thanks in advance . . .

 

[Johnnycakes]

Tramper,

Here is a link to an old Backpacker Magazine review of a bunch of different snowshoes, including the Northernlites.

John

 

[shadowcat]

N. Lites showshoes

My hiking partner has the northern lites but i don't remember which model. he can probably better speak on their behalf but i can give you some input since i'm w/him while he's using them. first, they are very lite so of course that's nice if you are carrying them for any part of the trip. on the down side: he struggles with the bindings/straps which are styled like belts and there's several of them to hook up when putting on. now they may have redesigned their bindings, he got these 1.5 yrs ago. he does curse a bit going thru this esp. if it's really cold out. (i'm into my snowshoes in a flash!). also, the ones he has (again they may all be like this or other lines may be more aggressive) they do not have very aggressive crampons on them. personally, i would recommend this line for early winter & end of winter use when you need to carry your snowshoes until needed and you may not need the aggressive crampons to get up steep slopes or major ice.
just my opinion.

 

[TCD]

My wife and I are pretty happy with our Northern Lites "Elite" model snowshoes. I read the review, and it's reasonably on target. The biggest advantage is that these are REALLY light. We are lightweight people (I weigh 140, and she's tiny) so the overall "lightweight" nature of the shoes works fine for us. The claw looks pretty tame (short teeth), but it's angled well and seems to grip well enough for us, even on fairly steep ground (far beyond the "recreational trails" comment in the review). If it's going to be a serious ice day, we use full crampons.

The binding works well enough. The two weaknesses: as with many shoes, you need to modify the heel strap to keep it from slipping down; in REALLY cold temps (-25 or lower) the elastic straps stiffen and no longer stretch well, making it slower to secure the shoe.

TCD

 

[nazdarovye]

I have a pair also - I like them. They're particularly good in fresh snow (I use MSR's for crusty and consolidated stuff).

The traction is better than you'd think because, in addition to the claws under the footbed, the clips that hold the decking to the frame have tabs on them that give some additional bite.

I've never had a problem with the rubber straps, but I don't like the webbing strap that goes around the heel - it will freeze up if it ever gets wet, and it also has no keeper for the loose end once it's tightened (I end up tucking it under one of the rubber foot straps).

Overall, I'm glad I got them, and really appreciate the light weight. Their fun to use for plunge stepping down a slope - you can get going pretty fast!

 

[ChrisB]

Al,

I have a pair that I use on selected hikes where I don't expect to be in really deep or unconsolidated stiff fort extended distances. A typical case might be doing Jefferson or Adams from Appalachia.

They sure are light and the bindings seem to work OK on my Degres.

They also fit nicely on the outside of a day pack when not in use.

cb

 

[JimB]

I have a pair of the Quicksilver 25's and my brother Matt has the Elite 25's. We really like them and have to disagree with the complaints on the crampons. Last winter we climbed Mt Colden from the lake with them among many other serious High Peak trips. When the trail is already broken out IMO you would be hard pressed to find better footgear than the NL's. They provide more than adequate traction and pretty darn good flotation with very little weight on your feet. Last December we attempted Haystack after a few feet of fresh snow fell and my brother used his Elites while I had Redfeather Backcountry 30's (also in the review above) and I was not floating on the chest deep powder any better than he was . The bindings seem to work quite well even with mittens on for us. Just today I was in Matt's store looking at the new Northern Lites. He was commenting that they were the only brand of Redfeather, Tubbs, Atlas and NL that he has never had a warranty return on. They also have a brand new model I saw that is not listed on their webpage called the Elite race that is sweet. They are identical to the Elite except they come in a 20 inch length and they are racing orange. They are less than a pound each and are basically a crampon with some flotation. For performance winter hiking/climbing on broken trails they would be unbeatable.

 

[Neil]

I'm pretty close to ordering NL's and they will be my only pair this winter. I want to use them for peakbagging. I also have a pair of 10 point crampons. I love the idea of their light weight but have been wondering about their crampons. This thread has sort of made me hesitate. Comments JimB?

 

[JimB]

If you have crampons, use snowshoes when you need snowshoes and crampons where you need crampons . The NL's also pack extremely small. A small bungie cord works fine to attach them to your pack while cramponing(a real word?).

 

[Neil]

If you have crampons, use snowshoes when you need snowshoes and crampons where you need crampons .

Gee, why didn't I think of that?