Hi to all!
me and some friends are going to reach a pick of a mountain that is 2636m. in february or march and downhill from over there with skis and snowboards.so the snowboarders(me also) will need a pair of snowshoes.the highest angle will be 45degrees but most times is 20 to 30 degrees.
do have any of you an idea which snowshoe to buy?
does all the snowshoes the ancle is free for walking?
thanx in advance
george

Hi blades

A friend of mine swears by the Denali snowshoes, either of these models (both links are clickable)

This is what the Blurb says

MSR introduces a sleek, new snowshoe this season, the Denali Evo. This premier snowshoe has the same great traction and modular design as the Denali Classic, but with a beefed-up deck, binding, and crampon for improved performance and usability. Steel traction blades, crampons, and molded braking bars in the deck yield UNMATCHED traction, not to mention peace of mind on steep, death-ice pitches. A new stand-up binding by MSR makes the Denali Evo super easy to get in and out, and still folds down for easy packing and storage. The Evo deck with a tapered tip and tail allows you to walk with a more natural gait so you’re not doing the “Franken-stride”. A crampon extension plate eliminates heel drift while the 4-strap binding locks your foot in for a great fit and secure attachment to the snowshoe.

It is important to have a good way to strap them to your rucksack for the descent so that don’t pendulum around. The floatation tails are a good idea for powder days if you don’t have any friendly skiers to break trail.

I would think about approach skis, less tiring, easier climbing and you can use tracks made by skiërs....
You can make them yourself from snowblades with climbing skins (you have to make a special binding though) or buy special snowboard approach skis…

Rogier

excellent idea the snowblades patent but i’ll prefer the snowshoes,not all of us know how stand on two pieces of wood

the most important thing i think we’ll need is to get some pairs of snowshoes that will climb up with ease,just like this type in the image…

sorry for my bad english,not my native language

so we need a breakable binding ,like the telemark skis ,you know

blades - 31 October 2009 12:30 AM

excellent idea the snowblades patent but i’ll prefer the snowshoes,not all of us know how stand on two pieces of wood

the most important thing i think we’ll need is to get some pairs of snowshoes that will climb up with ease,just like this type in the image…
sorry for my bad english,not my native language

not everyone knows how to front point in crampons either though

looking at heel riser in your photo I’d say those are the MSR denali snowshoes mentioned by David already which have crampons builtin, I can’t really think of any snowshoes that don’t but there might be some North American ones for covering long distance on flat ground where there’s no need.

The MSR models are simple and robust and they’re what we’re using for next season, we’ve had inook in the past which are OK but the clever heel release dies after about 60 days or so.

The problem with approach skis is finding them, with bindings adapted to snowboard boots and at a reasonable price. Decathlon produced a ski called the Wedze, this is a short adult ski that can be used on piste but also works as an approach ski - the naked version were around 80-90 euros but then you would need a binding that you could use with snowboard boots, the Sastrugi Ski Binding would have been ideal but both the naked Wedze and the Pika Sastrugi Binding no longer seem to be in production. Maybe Rogier has some good ideas? I’ve seen the Climb at the Grenoble store “Espace Montagne”, it seems like a good solution but is expensive, much more than snowshoes. Plus you can use showshoes for snowshoeing!

http://www.climb.co.at/