TSL Snowshoes

[Stash]

One of the kayak places in Freeport is expanding and has added showshoes to the line-up, likely to expand year-round business. Not a bad thing at all....

I stopped by and saw some unusual looking TSL snow shoes. They seemed awfully delicate but with modern technology ya never know. Has anyone got experience with them? The ones they had in stock were the Escape - a hiking model were on sale for $90. Website shows some that are "Mountain".

The salesman as saying they were the top shoe in Europe (so they must be good ).

Here's a write-up on the company moving to Vermont http://esnowshoes.com/snowshoe-news/tsl-snowshoe-company-expands/ with some information on Tubbs.

 

[sardog1]

I will give you the same advice I have given in the past. Step away from the TSLs and don't look back.

The Euros do very well with cheeses, wines, fine art and music, historical preservation, and some high tech. (RIP SAAB, today.) But they started making snowshoes about 5000 years after everyone else did. They're still waaaay back on the learning curve.

 

[BlackSpruce]

My husband and I have been climbing in the Adirondacks with TSL for 8 years now and we are very pleased with them. Mind you it could be because I was born in France and really like cheese! I remember in the beginning everyone was looking at us using shoes with steps and binding, now every brand of snowshoes has steps and many more elaborate binding as well. Best thing to do is to rent a few different brands and see how you feel with them. I can add, that we have found them great to break trail and that we are only on our second pair, they never broke no matter what we did or where we went.

 

[Lawn Sale]

Saw a guy on Pierce last year with a set and asked about them, since I'd never seen that brand before. He said they were ok but he hadn't had them that long. After we'd donned GTX and separated, he went about 20' when one of his bindings just completely shattered from the snowshoe. It came apart in about a dozen pieces.

That's the first and only time I've seen a set, so I have no opinion otherwise.

 

[BlackSpruce]

High Peaks Cyclery (518-523-3764) in Lake Placid has been renting TSL for at least two years, you may want to give them a call and found out if they still do. I know that I have seen and brought home numerous pieces of MSRs and believe that under the "right" conditions all shoes break as they aren't built as they were 10 years ago and neither by the same manufacturers. Our TSLs are made in France but I believe that this not the case anymore.

 

[BlackSpruce]

I just talked to my friend Gary, who went yesterday to Colvin and Blake, last year his new MSR Lightning ascent broke, were eplaced and broke again, so this year he got a pair of ATLAS and they broke yesterday!!! Gary has been climbing in winter over 10 years and never had problems like that before.


PS; Was at the well known Keene Valley store The Mountaineer around noon today and found out that this winter the only snowshoe they are carrying is the DENALI EVO ASCENT (MSR), the only one that appears to be sturdy enough in their opinion and past years experience.

 

[Trainwreck]

I am very happy with my TSL snoeshoes. No shin bang, the heel elevator is wonderful, and they are a bright pink!!!!

 

[RickB.]

If the 8x25's are almost 5 lbs., as most sites cite, they shouldn't be too delicate.