Reviewer Information

• Name: Cora Hussey
• Age: 23
• 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: April 27, 2004

Basic Product Information

• Year of Manufacture: 2004
• URL: http://www.tubbssnowshoes.com/
• Listed weight: 4 lb (1.8 kg)
• Weight as delivered: 2 lb 3 oz (1 kg) per snowshoe, 4 lb 6 oz (2 kg) total
• Version: Pinnacle 25, Standard version supporting 120-200 lb (54-91 kg)
• Listed and Measured Dimensions: Both 8 x 25 in (20 x 64 cm)

Field Testing

For each trip I provide a description of the location, conditions, and use below. I then provide a description of how I used the Pinnacles on the trip, and comments on what I thought about the Pinnacles while testing them.

• Trip One: Climb and snowshoe Baldy Bowl
  • Dates: April 4, 2004
  • Location: Mt Baldy, Angeles National Forest, California
  • Weather: Cloudy and beautiful, 75 to 35 F (24 to 2 C)
  • Elevation: 6000 to 10,000 ft (1800 to 3000 m)
  Description: I carried the snowshoes up the bowl proper because the approach was dry, and the bowl is too steep for snowshoes. I then used them for the heavy snow after the bowl and on the descent.

  Comments: Snowshoes are always hard to pack, but of those I have used in my experience these take the cake. Though flexible, the Bear Hug bindings are very hard to flatten properly to get one snowshoe to lay flat on the other. And, once flattened, the sides and straps stick out quite a bit on a small pack. I packed them tightly in an outside flap made for such attachment on my pack, and though they were stable, they took a great deal of fiddling to pack and unpack. But that is a small worry, in my opinion. I was wearing bulky insulated stiff leather boots (size 9.5 Men's US / 43 EU), and the bindings fit at their very outermost setting. Although the binding is simple, it is rather difficult to apply. It seemed easy in my living room, but putting them on in powder on an incline in the wind was much more fiddly. The main reason for the difficulty is the stiffness of the heel strap. To put my boot in the binding, I have to pin down the snowshoe with both hands and push my heel with a good deal of force back into the heel strap. Only then does the ball of my foot line up with where it should go on the foot plate. And only then can I begin fiddling with the adjustment on the Bear Hug flaps with one hand (while still pinning down the snowshoe with the other hand to prevent it from getting launched backwards from the force of my boot pushing back into the heel strap for a proper fit).

  Once my feet were in the binding however, things were much better. The Pinnacles felt quite secure on my boots. I traversed a small amount of terrain which was maybe 30 degrees of incline, and the Pinnacles took it in stride. I experienced no slipping or sliding, and the snow was wind-packed to a very hard consistency. The top and descent saw extremely variable conditions, from rime and slush on exposed sunny patches, to extensive collections of windblown powder which my partners sank into, to hardpack and wind crust, and even to ice covered scree. On the steeper hardpack, it was easier to traverse because the front points of the Viper cleats stick out at such an angle that I can't really frontpoint on them, and walking flat-footed causes them to catch when I lift my foot up. But all in all, the Pinnacles performed very well. The Viper cleats were deep enough to catch in two-inch-deep (5 cm) rime and crud, and I never sank more than a few inches (3-8 cm) even on the powder which would have been postholing up to the knee. I was a bit worried about the use on the icy scree because I kept punching through a bit down to the rock, but neither the decking nor the cleats show any adverse effects. Only the frame had some of its anodizing get scraped off, and that is only cosmetic.

  The two things I appreciated most about the Pinnacles on this trip were (a) that they handled variable conditions extremely well, and (b) that they allow for an extremely natural stride pattern in most situations. It is quite rare to see so many different types of snow and demands except in late season here in Southern California, and the Pinnacles felt equally as comfortable and maneuverable on powder as they did on rock. As for enabling a natural stride pattern, the binding rotates quite freely, and so it did not even feel as if I had snowshoes on until I tried to side step or go backwards. All in all, the Tubbs were solid and stable performers on a variable and thus demanding day.

• Trip Two: 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 brought the Pinnacles in the hopes that the snowpack would still warrant the use of snowshoes. Unfortunately, the gully approach turned out to be much steeper than the Pinnacles could really be useful for, but I did have enough opportunity to give them some short run throughs.

  Comments: Although usage was limited on this trip, I confirmed many of my opinions from earlier. Again, packing was a pain. The bindings protrusions prevented me from securing the snowshoes under the lid of my larger pack (where I usually like to stow snowshoes) and thus they got strapped, tips up, to the back of the pack. In this position, they caught on just about every willow tree on the way up the North Fork gully. To their credit, the Pinnacles took the bashing in stride. The flaps, straps, foam, and frame are a bit scratched, but really only on a very cosmetic level. I half expected the foam on the inside of the Bear Hug binding to be shredded, but it held up exceptionally.

  Actually putting the things on was a bit of a hassle again as well. I had them adjusted properly to begin with since I used the same boots on this trip, but the launching potential from the heel strap tension still existed. On this trip, however, I was more at peace with it. The binding feels so secure once properly applied that I simply chalked the fiddling nonsense up to being a tradeoff. Then, once on, they feel very secure and comfortable.

Comments by Attribute

Comfort and Support: Excellent
Once on, these snowshoes are a dream to walk in. When walking forward on relatively flat terrain, they really do feel like natural extensions of my boots. They are light, stiff, responsive, and do not pinch or bind anywhere. The bindings do not flop around, and they are torsionally stable and supportive. One of the things that has irked me about other snowshoes is the floppiness of the binding. The Pinnacle Bear Hug bindings, however, have a floppage factor of... absolutely zero. This is a huge plus in my book, and well worth the fiddling and packing frustrations. The only item that I find interesting about the comfort (which is more funny than anything) is that (a) the tails drag, and (b) the decking is very stiff. This means that on hard snow, the snowshoes play a little musical tune as they vibrate across the snow on each step. Sort of a step-rattle-step-rattle... etc. But despite this, the binding does not wiggle, and they remain comfortable.

Flotation: Excellent
Slush, powder, hardpack, and with a heavy pack (for a total weight up to 210 lbs / 95 kg) -- these guys took it all in stride. The flotation is also very even. When wearing them, I feel like I simply could walk more easily on the snow rather than feeling like I was being pushed up by my heels like with some other snowshoes I've used. They also have a very stiff feeling. When I step on powder, there is a little bit of give as the shoe sinks, but then the shoe provides a solid platform to step off of. All in all, they have provided float and lots of it for being so light and small.

Maneuverability: Good
The Pinnacles have a tradeoff in this area. Their comfort is high because of their high flexibility in the forefoot, that is, the binding rotates very easily. Unfortunately, this significantly decreases their maneuverability. When stepping to the side or backwards, the tails immediately flop down and catch on the snow. I have learned to cock my ankle to the side in order to 'pick up' the tail and then quickly put my foot down again before the tail falls, but this is still a bit of a pain. So, for the short periods that I was side stepping uphill (on steeper hills) I quickly learned that I would rather posthole without the Pinnacles on than wear them. This same problem affects walking backwards, but since I walk backwards much less than I walk sideways it is less of an issue. However, these issues do not appear when walking forward. They are very maneuverable when making reasonable turns or simply trekking around. The binding attachment is very stiff, and thus the whole shoe turns quite responsively when making my way through trees and the like.

Traction: Excellent
The long big spikes of the Viper traction plates are great. They have not punctured very hard snow, so I would certainly not consider the Viper cleats to be a substitute for crampons, but they provided adequate traction for traversing small and low angle icy patches Other than that, they have provided what I consider to be reliable traction on all types of snow. Additionally, they clean themselves rather well. Snow balled up in the rear plate area, but the flaring front spikes have kept themselves free of snow so far. And it was not from lack of sticky snow, either. The spikes are wide enough to get a good grip in just about any consistency I've seen so far.

Summary

• Upsides for me so far:
  • Very easy to walk forward
  • Great flotation
  • Stable and secure binding
• Downsides for me so far:
  • Difficult to walk sideways and backwards
  • Binding requires some fiddling to put on

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Reviews > Snow Gear > Snowshoes > Tubbs Pinnacle Series Snowshoes > Cora Hussey > Field Report