Reviewer Information

• Name: Cora Hussey
• Age: 24
• Gender: Female
• Height: 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
• Weight: 150 lb (70 kg)
• Email address: cahhmc "at" yahoo "dot" com
• Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
• Date: July 6, 2004

Basic Product Information

• Year of Manufacture: 2004
• URL: http://www.snowclaw.com/
• Listed weight: 13 oz (368 g) (on hangtag) 11.8 oz (335 g) (on website)
• Weight as delivered: 11.8 oz (335 g)
• Measured dimensions: 11 in (28 cm) at widest point, 12 in (30 cm) at longest point

Field Testing

Here are two demonstrative trips. For each trip I provide a description of the location, conditions, and use below. I then provide a description of how I used the SnowClaw on the trip, and comments on what I thought about the SnowClaw while testing it.

• Trip One: Backpacking in the Mount Whitney area
  • Dates: April 23-26, 2004
  • Location: Mount Whitney, California
  • Weather: Sunny and slushy, 80 to 25 F (27 to -4 C)
  • Elevation: 8,000 - 14,000 ft (2400 to 4300 m)
  Description:
  On this trip, I carried the SnowClaw in lieu of my normal shovel. We used it to dig up snow for water, and to level out snow in a few areas and dig a pit. I also carried it in my daypack (and it was super nice that the SnowClaw was compact enough to pack inside it) for the route we were climbing.

  Comments:
  The SnowClaw packed nicely in both of my packs. First, in my larger pack, I used it around my water bladder to shelter the bladder from being poked and pressurized by the items around it. That worked fantastically well because the SnowClaw is curved just enough to fit around the exposed (inside) side of the bladder, and it is also hard enough to prevent things also inside the pack from poking the bladder. I then packed the shovel along in my daypack. I have also never had a shovel fit so well in a daypack, and it again found the function of protecting my water there. The SnowClaw has been quite packable.

  Unfortunately, I pretty much only had one type of snow to use the SnowClaw on: corn and slush. By feel, the snow had high density and reasonable liquid water content, and it also had enough cohesion for me to feel safe on the climb. However, such snow acts much like mashed potatoes: dense, wet, sticky, and quite easy to cut through. What I really wanted to test was the ability of the SnowClaw to carve through hard debris (since using the SnowClaw as my avalanche shovel would be really cool), but I did not get the chance.

  Regardless, the SnowClaw performed quite well in the heavy wet stuff. I had to figure what (small) size of chunk to take when bending over so as not to strain my arms from the wet snow load on each scoop, but when shoveling into the side of a hill (like in the video on their web site) the snow moved quickly and easily because I could remain upright and just fling the snow behind me.

• Trip Two: Backpacking in Mount Dade area
  • Dates: April 30 - May 1, 2004
  • Location: Treasure Lakes, California
  • Weather: Variable snow, 80 to 20 F (27 to -7 C)
  • Elevation: 8,000 - 14,000 ft (2400 to 4300 m)
  Description:
  I used the SnowClaw on similar functions as above. It packed well, and got used to level sleeping platforms. I also took it to various hills to test in more variable snow conditions, including on the harder snow conditions which I had been looking forward to digging in.

  Comments:
  The most fun thing I did with the SnowClaw on this trip was use it as a butt sled. When glissading the couloir we had climbed, our butts kept getting stuck partway down because of the corn snow, and my partners had to plunge step and skate the rest of the way. I, however, dug out my trusty SnowClaw butt armor, and re-commenced whizzing down the slope in no time. It took a couple of short-lived tries to realize that the proper way to orient the SnowClaw is with the handles pointing toward my head and feet, rather than to either side of my hips. But once that was settled, I was off! The SnowClaw stayed nicely on my nether regions, and was quite a comfortable ride -- often, snow has the ability to somehow still abrade my butt through my pants (...osmosis, perhaps?) but not so with the SnowClaw.

  As for shoveling... well, I was impressed by the shoveling ability, until I got to the hard snow. I am not sure what to say, since the web site has such fantastic reviews of how the SnowClaw can move snow in an emergency (which, presumably, would be in a hard-packed avalanche debris field). But, simply said, after my experience on this trip, I will probably not use the SnowClaw as my only snow shovel in avalanche terrain. I tried it on tough snow, and it wobbled, got deflected, could not scoop well, and generally, well, sucked.

  The snow was evening crust, and though it was good hard snow it was not ice. It was similar in density to the chunks and settled facets in avalanche debris that I've seen and practiced shoveling in, so I considered it to be a good place to test. I took a few practice swings to get used to how leverage would work, and then started chopping away. The first chops were terrible. The SnowClaw, when digging with either end, penetrated at most 2 or 3 inches (5 or 8 cm) with each swing. I tried swinging this way, that way, with both ends, and still nothing. Confused, I went back to grab a traditional shovel from one of my friends -- perhaps I had indeed chosen an area full of snow that was much harder than I thought.

  When I returned and used the handled and bladed shovel, I realized that this was not the case. The traditional handled and bladed shovel plowed through the snow quite effectively. Easily, almost. The snow was crusty, but not even tough or styrofoamy like some big avalanche chunks are. Thus, I tried the SnowClaw again, and tried all sorts of angles, positions, and hand holding methods. I tried using my boots to kick it on each swing, I tried different angles of chopping, and I tried chopping in triangles (such as how one would use an axe to chop down a tree). Some methods worked better than others (the better ones were those using more force) but no matter what I tried I could not shovel the crusty snow with the SnowClaw with any speed or effectiveness even close to my traditional shovel. So then I began looking at what was causing such hardship. I came up with a list of four things.

  Hard Snow Problems

  1. I cannot effectively get my body weight behind the SnowClaw. This is the most serious problem I have found with the SnowClaw. I don't mind bending over, and I don't mind dragging my knuckles through snow. But, I do miss the ability to position a shovel handle near my shoulder, get a firm grip on a shovel shaft, brace the handle on my skeletal frame, and thus have the ability to throw probably around 50 lb (23 kg) or more of force down the handle and onto the blade. The SnowClaw, on the other hand, does not have an extended handle. Thus, I cannot find any way to drive the SnowClaw with such force. All methods I found of driving the SnowClaw primarily involved arm strength.

  2. The SnowClaw pivots when hitting hard snow, reducing its force. With a shovel with handle and shaft, I have between 2 and 3.5 ft (61 and 107 cm) of separation (and thus leverage) between my hands along the shaft to keep the blade straight and solid. With my hands right along the pivot axis of the SnowClaw, however, I have no leverage at all and any wobble must be directly controlled muscularly. I do not have the strength for effectively keeping the SnowClaw straight on impact after more than about a minute of chopping at hard snow, and I consider myself to be a relatively strong person.

  3. My knuckles get in the way when carving hard snow. I tried turning the SnowClaw at an almost horizontal angle, and carving off the snow from the top since penetration seemed not to be an option. However, my knuckles stick out 0.4 in (1 cm) beyond the back curve in the SnowClaw. Which means that at such horizontal carving angles, my knuckles hit the snow before the back of the SnowClaw does. In soft snow, this was not a problem. But in hard snow, I received a knuckle bashing equal to a terrible ice climbing day, and quickly turned the SnowClaw more vertically.

  4. Hard snow does not stick well to the slippery SnowClaw. More cohesive corn and semi-powder stuck pretty well, or at least long enough to move the recently dug snow away from the digging area. Hard and crusty snow quickly slid right off, and sometimes ended up right back in the hole I was digging.

  When everything is said and done, this is terrible performance. Now, I agree that eventually the SnowClaw might be able to clear a decent swath of hard snow, but the most critical element in an avalanche rescue is time. And, with the four substantial problems above, there is no way I will be carrying the SnowClaw as my only shovel in avalanche terrain any time soon.

  Now, shoveling does take some talent and skill. I certainly did not think so before becoming a winter lover, but learning how to chop, swing, and leverage with a normal snow shovel took me a while. Perhaps I must go through the same learning curve with the SnowClaw, since it is an entirely different feel. But the point remains that I could not take it out of the box and shovel snow adequately for use in an emergency, much less shovel it better than my trusty handle and blade shovel. Additionally, I understood all the problems listed above, tried to find ways to solve them, and could not. All in all, I was quite disappointed given the amount of hype the SnowClaw web page provides.

Comments by Attribute

Comfort: Good
Well, even though when using the SnowClaw I am (a) bending over, and (b) raking my knuckles through any snow I dig, the comfort of using the SnowClaw in average-to-soft snow was pretty good. The handles were large enough for the gloves and mittens I used, and yet were still small enough to allow good grip an maneuverability. I found I could lift most well-laden scoops with my knees even if I was working while bent over. Additionally, my arms (sticking up on either side of the SnowClaw) helped stabilize large chunks of lighter and softer sticky snow so I could move more snow more comfortably than my normal traditional shovel -- as long as the snow was light and sticky.

Carving Ability: Great
The SnowClaw has a lot of agility; I'll give it that. For shelves, sleeping platforms, and tight areas, it certainly outperformed my big scoop shovel, which I usually strip down to the blade for such fine tasks. The SnowClaw is easily maneuverable and can be switched quickly between different positions because my hands are so close to the pivot axis. And, since carving usually does not require a lot of force, the fact that the SnowClaw is mostly arm-muscle driven does not matter.

Snow Moving Ability (Soft Snow): Great
For flinging sheer amounts of snow behind me on an incline, the SnowClaw worked great. In soft snow, the scoop was wonderful because I had a fast fling-to-carve time, whereas with a scoop and handle type shovel I would need to carve, then turn, then fling, then turn again. This was nice for pit digging and sleeping platform carving. However, for more horizontal applications, the SnowClaw became more finicky. It takes a certain angle (about 20-25 degrees off of horizontal) of scooping to not have the SnowClaw wobble and pull away by driving further into the snow. I have found its digging nuances to be similar to the nuances in placing a snow fluke. At a certain angle in harder snow, all it does is drive deeper into the hill and I do not have the strength to pull the snow out with it. At too little an angle to the snow, not enough snow gets moved, and the snow usually slides off the end and back into the hole. When carving out a pit to look at the snow layers (requiring a short vertical wall of snow), I found that chiseling the slope away to a steeper angle first, and then digging down vertically worked best in the heavier soft slush and corn.

Snow Digging Ability (Hard Snow): Poor
I mentioned the problems I had with this above. However, this is the main reason why I am so disappointed with the SnowClaw. Sure, it might save me a pound or so (0.5 kg), but for me it's like saying I am going to leave the first aid kit at home to save that amount of weight. A shovel is a safety item as much as a utility item in winter, and improvising with a short wobbly scoop which I can't get my weight behind and can't scoop much when I do just doesn't cut it for me. Perhaps with more testing I will figure something out, and for now it is serving me well as a spring shovel where all I need it for is sleeping platform and kitchen carving, and all I really fear are wet slides.

Summary

• Upsides for me so far:
  • Makes a great sled
  • Easily packable
  • Soft snow performance is great
• Downsides for me so far:
  • Hard snow performance (where it counts for me) is terrible
  • Knuckles get a good bashing in anything harder than corn
  • I have to bend over for digging on horizontal slopes

Read more reviews of SnowClaw International gear
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Reviews > Snow Gear > Axes and Shovels > SnowClaw Aluminum Pro-Series > Cora Hussey > Field Report