[Andrew_CT]

so school was canceled today due to a major storm that rolled in around 11. I haven't had much time lately for hiking so i figured it was now or never (or at least not for a while). I rented a pair of MSR Denali Evo Ascent's from EMS and headed up to Hublein Tower on Talcott Mt. in Simsbury, CT. It's a nice little 1.5 mile path up to what used to be Mr. Hublein's summer house atop talcott mt.

There was about 6-8 inches when i started around 2p.m. I decided i should just use the snowshoes the whole hike rather than putting them on halfway when I'm all snowy and cold. After most of the vertical is out of the way in the first half mile, you're on a path next to a 100 ft cliff. I couldn't see more than 30 ft. or so off the cliff due to the snow. I was afraid my hiking partner (a 1 yr old black lab) would go off the cliff but luckily he was smarter than i thought.

I found that i wasn't getting very much flotation with the snowshoes. I asked for the tails when i was renting them and the guy assured me that i wouldn't need them. I'm a pretty big guy (240lb.) and figured i would need the tails, but I took the guys advice anyways. I was sinking to the ground with every step; so much for his advice .

All in all i was pretty siked about my first experience in winter hiking. My goal this winter is to do Monadnock. I've done it several times in spring, summer, and fall, but never winter. Maybe after i do that i could go to Mt. Cardigan, then Flume. My possibly over ambitious list goes on and on.

[EngineCo.2]

I've said it before....... Winter Hiking Rules!! Aside from the size, what did you think of the MSR Ascents? Binders?Traction?
As long as you're prepared for the weather , Winter is awesome. If you're cold or wet, it really ......sucks. Monadnock , as you probably already know, is completely different up top. Winter up there is very similar to the Whites in Winter.Twice last Winter I couldn't make the summit because of high winds and low/no visibility. But, it's way cool when you can.
Ed

[Andrew_CT]

EngineCo.2, on Dec 15 2007, 10:38 AM, said:

Aside from the size, what did you think of the MSR Ascents? Binders?Traction?

I liked them. I found that the bindings fit really snug, and my feet weren't sliding around at all. If you've ever seen the bottom of one the whole thing is basically a big crampon.

There was one fairly steep section of 8 inches and ice underneath and they held up pretty well; the front crampon grabbed into the ice as soon as i stepped down.
The hinge, or bolt, or whatever, that allows the binding to rotate is squeeky sometimes when it gets wet. Kind of annoying but some oil lube could probably fix that no problem.

Again, aside from the flotation problem I had, I was really pleased with these snowshoes.