Walking in the MSR Lightning Snowshoes is remarkably easy to learn, and little different from walking on bare ground without showshoes. It really is as easy as putting one foot in front of the other; of course, you need to remember to keep you feet a little further apart than usual. I do find myself forgetting to keep my feet apart, which usually ends up with the rear of one snowshoe on top of the front of the other -- not a pretty sight when I try to move the lower foot. Removing the snowshoes is a lot easier, just stretching the strap off of the pins and lifting the foot.

This hike was a short 4-mile (6.4 km) hike on fairly level ground (rolling hills), with elevation changes of no more than 150 ft (46 m). While walking in the MSR Lightning Snowshoes is easy, walking in snow is a real workout. After completing the first 2 miles (3.2 km) I felt as though I had walked twice as far, I was glad I had picked a short trail when I did the returning 2 miles (3.2 km).

I'm still having problems attaching my boots to the snowshoes. I find it difficult to get the holes in the straps to go into the pins while I am wearing gloves. Removing the gloves definately makes the task easier, but with windchills in the 11-13°F (-10.5 - -11.7 °C) range, removing gloves is the last thing I wanted to do. The right boot remains a problem, even though I have adjusted the strap to provide the longest possible amount of strap; for some reason this one seems too short for the task. I do have to admit that the rubber straps have remained plyable even in these cold temps -- I had thought they would tighten up when the temperatures dropped.

The narrow trails, and frequent swithcbacks, have proven to be a problem with the length of the MSR Lightning snowshoes. I don't always have enough width to keep my feet as far apart as they need to be to prevent one from going on top of the other. What I have wound up doing is taking longer steps to make sure on foot is clearly in front of the other. This is not natural and takes a great deal of effort.

The other issue has been with the switchbacks. Turning in the snowshoes is not an easy task, I find I must inch into it, shuffling my feet a little at a time, until I have made the turn and can resume walking straight. This takes time and, on a trail such as this one, definately lengthens the time it takes to get to where I am going.

I have found one distinct advantage to the MSR Lightnings: sinking into the snow doesn't happen! I took a break around mid-day, had to remove the snowshoes so that I could sit on a boulder and enjoy lunch. I had put my pack down a little further than I could reach so I slid down the boulder, figuring on walking the few steps to the pack. WOW! I sunk into 12 in (30.5 cm) of snow! Looking back at my tracks I had only sunk about 1-2 in (2.5 - 5.0 cm)! What an odd feeling.

After lunch I walked about 1/2 mile (0.8 km) further to a clearing which held a view of the valley below. Out of curiosity I stuck my 6 ft (1.8 m) hiking staff into the snow -- amazingly it sunk about halfway into the snow before hitting ground -- I was still only sinking a 1-2 in (2.5 - 5.0 cm). Weird!

Getting a chance to see other lashing systems, the MSR's straps are nowhere near as easy. One person had a hook-and-loop system that attached to his boots in a few seconds, with gloved hands and little effort. Within the group I was the only person who had to remove their gloves to securely fasten the snowshoes. The MSR Lightnings are also longer than the tubular aluminum snowshoes of my companions, a good 4-6 in (10-15 cm) longer than anyone elses.

The trails here are wide, wide enough for cross-country skiing, and for the occasional horse-drawn sled that passed us by. By now I was no longer stepping on my own snowshoes, a skill that I now relish; and a skill that helped me move quickly to the side when those employing faster transportation methods came by. By the end of the trip I had learned to side-step to get off of the trail, rather than trying to turn and walk to the side. This was a skill taught to me by others in the group; basically picking up your left foot and moving it sideways half a step, then following with the right foot, and repeating until I got off of the trail. This is a lot faster than trying to walk to the side - and speed is necessary with a horse and sled coming towards me.

I have noticed two distinct advantages to the MSR Lightnings over my companions snowshoes:

1. The Lightning's longer design kept me from sinking into the snow as far as others - this was especially true when we hit the man-made snow. I was not sinking more than 3 in (7.6 cm), while others were going as much as 5-6 in (12.7-15.2 cm) in the powdery snow.
   
   
2. We had to cross a frozen stream at one point, the teeth on the MSR Lightnings bit into the ice and gave me far superior traction. I noticed that the tublular shoes only had "teeth" up in the toe area, which only bit into the ice when the toe came forward. My companions were forced to do more of an ice-skating style, where their toes tipped up to bite in while they slid their other foot forward. I was safely across the ice in a fraction of the time.

• Walking in the MSR Lightning Showshoes is almost as natural as walking, just have to remember to keep my feet a little wider apart
• Turning on tight trails is tricky, practicing a shuffle-turn ahead of time is helpful
• The straps could be a few knotches longer, I'm having problems getting a good grip on them with gloves on
• The pins should be bent outward just a tad more, I find it difficult to catch the hole in the strap onto the pin
• The MSR Lightning Snowshoes have much better traction on ice than the others I have observed