10 Finest Snowshoes for Winter Mountaineering in 2023

For winter snowshoeing on mountaineering trails and within the backcountry, you need a winter mountaineering snowshoe that’s sturdy, with aggressive crampons for traction and a safe binding system that locks your boots to the snowshoes. For those who’re keen on getting off the grid and snowshoeing via backcountry terrain, these are the ten greatest snowshoes we advocate. For extra data, see our purchasing recommendation under.

1. MSR Lightning Ascent Snowshoes

2. Atlas Helium MTN Snowshoes

3. Tubbs Flex ALP Snowshoes

4. TSL Symbioz Elite Snowshoes

5. MSR Evo Ascent Snowshoes

6. Tubbs Mountaineer Snowshoes

7. Atlas Montane Snowshoes

8. MSR Revo Discover Snowshoes

9. Northern Lites Backcountry Snowshoes

10. Crescent Moon Gold 10

Find out how to Purchase Winter Snowshoes

Winter mountaineering snowshoes serve two key capabilities: they supply traction on icy trails and when climbing steep terrain, they usually present flotation over snow, so that you don’t sink or posthole, which may be fairly exhausting. Whereas the entire winter mountaineering snowshoes listed above fulfill each of those necessities, some excel within the traction division, just like the MSR Lightning Ascents, MSR Evo Ascents, Tubbs Flex VRTs, and TSL Symbioz Elites, whereas others emphasize flotation, just like the Tubbs Mountaineers and the Northern Lites.

As a rule of thumb, tear-drop formed snowshoes with artificial riveted decks have a tendency to emphasise flotation, whereas rectangular-shaped snowshoes are extra traction-focused. For those who’re going to be climbing ice-covered mountains predominantly, you’ll most likely need a snowshoe that emphasizes traction, whereas snowshoes that target flotation, will likely be a greater match for areas the place deep, powdery snow is the norm.

For those who’re making an attempt to decide on between completely different snowshoes, there are 4 key properties that ought to information your decision-making:

1. Packability
2. Weight
3. Bindings
4. Sizing

Packability

Most winter hikers carry a number of traction units and change between them throughout the day. For those who’re mountaineering a packed path, you would possibly begin out in naked boots, relying in your boot treads for traction as a result of the much less weight you’ve in your toes, the slower you’ll fatigue. For those who encounter slick or icy terrain you would possibly change to microspikes, after which snowshoes, in case you encounter contemporary snow that hasn’t been packed down or is blended up with slush.

In an effort to have these traction aids if you want them, you should carry them. Whereas microspikes are fairly simple to pack, snowshoes aren’t as a result of they’re massive and hulking. The majority comes from their size, width, and thickness, which is primarily a perform of the fashion of binding they use. Lay flat bindings like the easy straps on the MSR Lightning Ascent and the MSR Evo Ascent are the best snowshoes to connect or carry in a backpack, whereas snowshoes with Boa binding methods are usually the bulkiest and most tough to pack.

Weight

Weight can be a key issue when selecting which snowshoe to purchase. Most snowshoes weigh 4 to 5 kilos, they usually’re most likely going to be the heaviest factor in your backpack, after water. That weight provides up throughout the course of a day, no matter whether or not it’s in your backpack or in your toes.

Bindings

We’ve already thought of the packability of snowshoe bindings, however there are different components you need to take into account when making a variety, similar to consolation, safety, ease of use whereas carrying gloves, whether or not the binding can freeze and turn into inoperative, and the way simple it’s to restore if it does break. For instance, some individuals fear that Boa closure methods can freeze up in the event that they get moist and can stop to function till they are often defrosted. It’s a sound concern. One among their benefits, nonetheless, is that they’re simple to make use of whereas carrying gloves and supply a safe grip that’s unlikely to come back undone as soon as set. Distinction that to the flat straps used on MSR snowshoes. They’ll by no means freeze up, they’re simple to switch if torn or misplaced, however they are often onerous to connect when carrying gloves, they usually are inclined to pop open a couple of times throughout a hike.

Sizing

Snowshoes are available in all kinds of sizes. These are decided by the whole weight you need to carry (body weight + pack weight) and the quantity of flotation you require. Males’s sizes are normally bigger than girls’s sizes, as a result of males are taller and heavier, whereas girls’s snowshoes are usually narrower than males’s as a result of their gait isn’t as vast.

For those who’re shopping for a snowshoe that’s extra traction oriented, you possibly can generally drop a measurement under the producer’s really useful sizing, particularly in case you’re mountaineering in an space that doesn’t get a variety of snow otherwise you’re mountaineering on trails which were damaged out by different hikers. Sizing is instantly correlated to gear weight and it is a tactic you should use to lighten your load. If flotation is a precedence, you possibly can generally purchase tails, that are add-on snowshoe extensions that make them longer and enhance their floor space. That is one other technique to lower down on the burden of a snowshoe as a result of you possibly can carry your tails if you want extra flotation, however carry a lighter weight snowshoe in much less difficult situations.

SectionHiker is reader-supported. We independently analysis, take a look at, and price one of the best merchandise. We solely become profitable if you are going to buy a product via our affiliate hyperlinks. Assist us proceed to check and write unsponsored and unbiased gear evaluations, newbie FAQs, and free mountaineering guides.