Field Review: MSR Lightning Ascent Snowshoes
Date: March 6th 2005 Manufacturer Information Name: Mountain Safety Research (MSR) Website: http://www.msrcorp.com	Product Information Manufacturer: Mountain Safety Research (MSR) Model: Lightning Ascent Snowshoes Year of Manufacture: 2004 Color: Orange & Black Size: Men's 8 x 25 in. (20 x 64 cm) MSRP: $249.95 (US) Listed Weight: 3 lbs. 10 oz. (1645 g) per pair Measured Weight: 3 lbs. 9.9 oz (1641 g)

Field Review

What a great pair of snowshoes, unfortunately the snow pack in the surrounding area is 60% of normal.  This has limited testing in not only accessibility, but more importantly varying snow conditions.  Light powder testing has been unattainable, due to warm temperatures and low snow fall, nevertheless I've been able to provide a fair amount of testing on established snow in the central to southern part of Idaho.  Snow and temperature conditions have generally been from 20 F (-7 C) to 38 F (4 C) on icy snow base with limited fresh overlay.  Additionally, on several trips my snowshoeing partners were anxious to try the snowshoes and I’ll mention a few of their comments.

First let me state that these snowshoes are highly maneuverable.  Lack of spring action on the hinge and use of a hard stop to limit the shoe’s swing is fast becoming my favorite over the spring action bindings.  As per the photo above of my daughter wearing the snowshoes, the shoe’s drop swing is limited, thus there is no issue maneuvering in a side step or backward motion.  Spring action binding generally incorporates some kind of elastic mechanism to lift the shoe’s tail when stepping.  Elastic straps age and can break in the backcountry.  Another advantage to the Ascent’s hinge is that it does not throw snow up the back of your legs as do spring action bindings.

The heel riser that MSR named the Televator™ was marginally beneficial.  I found it a little awkward on moderate inclines and preferred to go unaided.  On steep inclines, I generally plant my toe/claw firmly into the snow to get traction, thus the heel does not contact the snowshoe.  My wife on the other hand liked the Televator™ on moderate inclines.  Because of her light weight of 115 lbs (52 kg) it helped to firmly plant the snowshoe.

Toe claws/crampons are not overly protruding and had some slippage on steep vertical terrain.  A more aggressive claw would have helped, but for 80% of the terrain they were fine.  The problem with larger claws is they can ball up in wet heavy snow and become a hindrance.  Not only does this increase the weight, but adversely affects the claw's ability to bite into the snow.  The cross members also aid in traction and are strategically placed at the main weight bearing positions.  Snow sticking/hanging up on any part of the snowshoes has been unnoticeable.

I found the snowshoes to track extremely well, and had little/no problem cross-stepping (accidentally stepping on top of the other shoe).  They seem like a natural extension of the foot and were a pleasure to walk in.  The vertical frame does raise the issue of what would happen if I hit a rock and produced a burr on the bottom of the frame; would it be capable of cutting the decking material if I cross-stepped.  I never had that concern with tubular frames, because there is little opportunity to focus the contact point.  The vertical frame is more prone to nicks and wear over a tubular frame, but I’m satisfied with how they are holding up.  Most of the test terrain was away from trails and commonly used area and in forested area.  This meant that often I was stepping on branches, especially with the low snow conditions.  I often had concerns that this could damage the decking material, but gained confidence in the material as time went on.  

MSR advertises that the vertical blade frame provides additional traction.  Frame traction is not as pronounced as I expected on fresh/light snow, but since most of my testing had a hard pack under layer, they dug in well upon contact with the base.  With that stated, side-hill performance was marginally enhanced by the vertical frame over traditional tubular frame, but I particularly appreciate the bindings.  They didn’t feel as though they were cocking/twisting my ankles to match the slope, and I suspect this was due to the vertical frame ability to bite into the uphill side, thus tending to lessen the side hill angle. 

The bindings are easy to use with light/medium weight gloves and accommodate a wide range of boot configurations.  These are my second set of MSR snowshoes, and although I used to question the integrity of this light binding I’ve never had an issue.  I would not classify the binding as backcountry worthy where your life depends on the integrity of the binding, but for what the shoe is intended, they are a durable light weight binding.

Test boots consisted of men’s size 9 (US) snow packs, plastic mountaineering, plastic telemark, and Nordic tour.  The snowshoe’s bindings easily accommodated the varied boots and extended toe on the plastic telemark.  For those not aware, plastic telemark boots have a 3/4 in (2 cm) extended toe plate, thus the snowshoe’s deck opening has to accommodate this extra long toe.  I did have to consciously set the boot back in the binding a little to allow clearance, thus larger boots are going to be pushing the envelope when using large plastic telemark boots.  Plastic mountaineering boots have a less pronounced toe for crampons, thus no issue.  Nordic tour boots required a little extra care in cinching the rear strap, because of the inward sloped heel. If not cinched high and tight on the heel, the heel strap would work off.  My wife and daughter tried the snowshoes and were wearing women’s size 6.5 (US) Nordic tour boots, and had minimal issues.  Because the boots are so small, narrow, and slick I had to cinch the binding as small as possible to keep the boots far enough back on the heel plate and televator.  If not, their heel was contacting/walking on the decking material and couldn’t reach the televator.  The snowshoes tested were the larger men’s, so the smaller women’s might work great.

Test Plan

Hard to figure how much snow season remains.  At less than 50% of snow pack and temperatures now in the 60s F (15 C), the season is quickly drawing to an end.  Six thousand ft (1800 m) is already bearing on the south slopes, thus the season is prematurely closing.  My goal is hit the higher elevations, 7,000 ft (2100 m) at least a couple more times this season.  The snow will be icy/crusty in the mornings, and wet/sticky in the afternoons.

Tester Information & Background

Name: Andy Rad

Gender: Male

Age: 47

Height: 6 ft (1.83 m)

Weight: 165 lb (75 kg)

Email: aisrad@cableone.net

I started backpacking 21 years ago, mostly 3 day trips with at least one 7 day trip per year.  By backpacking, I’m referring to summer, winter camping, and fall hunting.  About half my trips are light weight solo and the other half with my family.  I own a llama that was purchased when my 3^rd child was 2, some 10 years ago.  This allowed me to continue backpacking as a family activity.  When I’m not with the family/llama I tend to take less-traveled trails or bushwhack the hard mountainous terrain in and around Idaho.  In recent years I’ve begun substituting a collie for the llama.  The majority of my trips are in central Idaho, with a few into northern Idaho, eastern Idaho, and eastern Oregon.