Mountain Safety Research Lightning Snowshoes

Long Term Report
May 23, 2006

Tester Information

Name: Raymond Estrella
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Height: 6' 3" (193 cm)
Weight: 210 lb (95 kg)
Email address: rayestrella@hotmail.com
City: Huntington Beach
State: California
Country: USA 

Backpacking Background: I have been hiking for over 30 years, all over the state of California. I have also hiked in Washington, Minnesota, Nevada, Arizona, and Idaho. I hike year-round, mostly in the Sierra Nevada, and put 555 miles (894 km) on my boots last year.  As I start my 4th decade of backpacking I am making the move to lightweight gear, and smaller packs. As far as this test goes, I also own MSR Denali EVO Accent’s and Tubbs Sierra snowshoes, and have been snowshoeing since 1992.

The product

Manufacturer: Mountain Safety Research Inc. (MSR)
Web site: www.msrcorp.com
Product: Lightning snowshoes
Size tested: 30” (75 cm)
Year manufactured: 2005.
MSRP: $249.95 (US)
Weight listed: 3 lb 14 oz (1736 g)
Verified weight: 3 lb 14.8 oz ( 1759 g)
Size listed: 8 x 30 in. (20 x 76 cm)
Verified size: 8 x 30.5 in. (20 x 76.25 cm)
Warranty: (from web-site.) MSR Snowshoes are guaranteed against defects in materials and workmanship without time limit.

Please see my Initial Report for a thorough description of the Lightning snow shoes.

Field Conditions

Since my Field Report I took the Lightnings on a hike near Rock Creek in the eastern Sierra Nevada. It was blizzard conditions. I had 12”-15” (30-38 cm) of snow fall in one morning. The temperature was in the 20’s F (-5 C). I have used the Lightnings in the San Jacinto Wilderness for two separate two-day hikes. I was on 12” (30 cm) of snow at 8,200’ (2,499 m) elevation, increasing to over 5’ (1.5 m) at 10,000’ (3,048 m). The temperature on these trips ranged from 55 F to 21 F (13 to -6 C).  I was back in that area for an early May hike to the peak of Tahquitz. Here is a picture climbing Jean Peak in the Lightnings with a 50 lb (22.6 kg) pack.

Observations

These shoes have continued to impress me. The traction is unparalleled. On the trip in the photo above we knew that a storm was coming in and wanted to get back down before it hit. We left our camp at 10,150’ (3,094 m) elevation and started booking it down the mountain to reach the tram. The snow had frozen over during the night and was slick on the surface. My brother-in-law Dave put on his crampons because he was worried about slipping, but had to go back to snowshoes as he was breaking through and post holing quite badly. The Lightnings bit in to the surface layer very well. In fact I was so confident that I got going a little too fast and had a doozy of a spill. The toothed frame of the right shoe caught the front frame of my left and locked me up. I flipped forward down hill. I slowed down a bit after that. I calculate that with pack, boots and clothes figured in I was at about 275 pounds (79 kg) on the shoes, and I never sank more than about 8” (20 cm) into the snow.

On the second trip to San Jacinto, I wrote this in my hiking log about the Lightnings. “The next day I went back to Long Valley by traversing directly towards it instead of following the trail back. It was a good test of the Lightning snow shoes. I went through some pretty knarlly terrain on my way back. I had to cross the creek on snow bridges a couple of times. The Lightnings worked out great. The traction is remarkable. I did hit one section of ice that caught me by surprise. I was going down a bunch of what I thought was snow covered granite. All of a sudden I was sliding. I caught myself, but my weight was back on my shoes and I slid straight down, about eight feet. I looked back and there were four grooves where the toothed frame of the Lightnings had tried to grip the ice. Maybe if my weight had been forward on the shoes so the front crampon was in better contact that would not have happened.

In another spot, I had to drop straight down the hill side to get past some bad stuff. I felt pretty good plunge stepping with 30 inch snow shoes on. I was busting through about 14 inches with each step when on one, I went in almost two feet. The front of the snow shoe angled down and the tip hung in the snow instead of busting out. By the time I could catch myself and stop the next step I had almost hyper extended my ankle in the forward direction. I slowed down a bit after that.”

As can be seen, I am almost too confident with these snow shoes.

On the 13 mile (21 km) day-hike loop to Tahquitz we ran into some very steep (which we expected) and icy (which we did not) slopes decendeing the opposite side of the way we had come up. The following is another excerpt from my hiking log. The picture is from the decent described below.

“The trail cuts over to the side of the peak and was snow covered and icy. Dave did not want to go over it as, for the first time since last December we did not bring crampons and ice axes with us. We did bring snowshoes but it was quite an angle. So we followed the ridge, doing more rock climbing than hiking. We went all the way to the point, and then dropped back down.

It was a kind of stupid place for a couple of guys that know better to be. I sat down to see how slick it would be (I had a bunch of tree tops to catch me) and just took off. Dave would not go down there and hugged the side of the ridge for another couple hundred yards. I was wearing some Merrell Mids and traversed over to stay right below Dave, side-edging the boots as well as I could into the frozen snow. (Where are my Koflaches?) It was very steep.

When we got to where it was a bit better I put my snowshoes on. The Lightnings that I have been using this winter have great traction, and I figured that was safer than nothing. Dave didn’t like it, but he put on his Denalis also. We could see the area that we would meet the trail to Saddle Junction, so I just headed straight down the mountain at it. Dave traversed back and forth, but it was too hard on my ankles, and I trust the Lightnings. At one part I broke free and started skiing. I went about 20 feet and fell over backwards. That got my blood pumping.”

One caveat. I am testing the 30 in (75 cm) version because of all the heavy packing I do in winter. I took them on the day hike above as part of this test. If I were to go and buy a pair of snowshoes for this kind of hiking I would purchase the 25 in (64 cm) model. The 30’s are a bit long for dayhiking.

The bindings and deck are still in pristine shape. There is some slight wear on the teeth after having hit some bare rock, and having to cross some good sized patches of bare ground on my last two trips. The straps are still like new, and I still love the bindings. I can have both of my shoes on or off in the time it takes Dave to get one of his done.

I would like to thank Mountain Safety Research and Backpack Gear Test for allowing me to participate in this test. And for giving me a pair of snow shoes I will use for a long time to come.

The Lightnings on a foot of the fresh stuff.