# I broke down and bought aluminum snowshoes



## patty (Jan 10, 2004)

Hi Everyone, Thanks for all your advice on snowshoes and my sticky snow problem. I finally decided on buying Tubbs Adventure 25" shoes. I've used them twice now, even though it was -7 degrees yesterday! Today it was -22 so I decided today was a good day to strip wallpaper instead. I really like the snowshoes but right now we only have a few inches of snow. When I hit drifts I do find that I sink in a lot. So my wooden ones will still be used when we get lots of powder. I did find that when I stepped on some snow with running water underneath I got a big iceball inside the cleats. Is this a normal thing to happen? I guess I'm doomed to having snow sticking one way or another, but hey, the sport is worth a little aggravation. Happy snowshoeing!


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## Max (Jan 10, 2004)

Congrats on the new shoes Patty!  Yes, those cleats on the bottom are prone to balling up with ice if you happen to cross a wet area, such as a stream.  Then again, with the wooden shoes, the laces themselves will collect a LOT of ice if you get them wet, something the neoprene webbing won't do on the aluminum shoes, so perhaps it's a bit of a trade off.  I think the less flotation in deep powder might be due to the aluminum ones being a bit narrower than the wooden model?  I recall my old wooden shoes were wider than my current aluminum ones.

OK, so now we can blame the lack of snow to the fact that you've bought new snowshoes.  It's kind of like washing your car and then it rains!     Just kidding...get out and enjoy them whenever you can...we'll get some snow soon, you can count on it!

Max


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## MichaelJ (Jan 11, 2004)

You can't blame Patty, Max. The fault is clearly mine for buying my first pair of skis...
 

As Max said, that icing will happen with a wet area, but that shouldn't happen too often and if you're vigilant when they get wet you can avoid the worst of it.

Enjoy your new snowshoes!


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## patty (Jan 11, 2004)

*Snow on the way*

Today we had a heat wave,, only -2,  and now it's snowing. So it looks like I'll be snowshoeing and certainly won't have to worry about any wet spots anymore! And yes, the aluminum shoes have a much smaller surface area than the wooden ones. That's why I'll still use them when breaking trails in deep powder. A little variety is the spice of life anyway.


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