Casacde Mountain Tech Expedition Trail Snowshoes Review

Cascade Mountain Tech, the corporate that broke the trekking pole market by promoting cheap high-quality trekking poles on Amazon and at Walmart, now provides cheap snowshoes that value one-half to one-third of the value of title manufacturers like MSR, Atlas, or Tubbs. Bundled with snowshoe poles, winter pole baskets, and a equipment bag, their Expedition Trail Snowshoe bundle is a reasonable bundle that’s enticing for rookies to make use of on pre-established trails. The satan is within the particulars nevertheless and we predict you’d be higher off giving this bundle a go. You can get a a lot increased high quality pair of snowshoes for not rather more.

Specs at a look

• Model examined: 25″ Expedition Trail Snowshoes
• Weight / Pair 4 lbs 1.4 oz
• Snowshoeing poles: three-section twist lock, with optionally available snow baskets and rubber suggestions
• Kit bag: included
• Material: Anodized Aluminum w/ plastic decking
• Televators: No

Construction

These Cascade Mountain Tech Expedition Trail Snowshoes have a basic teardrop form that’s vast in entrance and tapered within the again. The plastic decking is riveted to the aluminum body, with a hinged entrance crampon below the ball of the foot and a braking crampon below the heel. The flotation is completely ample for pre-established snowshoeing trails which have been packed down with use however the decking on the 25″ mannequin doesn’t present the diploma of flotation you’d anticipate on 25″ snowshoes. I used to be stunned at how restricted they had been in powder or on crusty snow.

In addition, relating to hill climbing, these snowshoes don’t have televator bars to alleviate calf pressure when mountaineering on inclines, limiting their applicability to softly rolling terrain until you’re prepared to suck it up and climb uphill with them anyway.

Binding

The Expedition Trail snowshoes have a three-strap binding which incorporates two prime straps that shut with consumer-friendly ratchet buckles and a standard rear ski strap to lock within the heel. The prime straps are massive sufficient to accommodate high-volume Pac boots, however the binding doesn’t restrict how far ahead you set your boots into it. This is a fascinating function on snowshoes designed for inexperienced customers.

For instance, in the event you evaluate the Expedition’s binding with the Paragon binding on MSR Lightning Ascent, or the inexpensive Atlas Helium Trail Snowshoes, their bindings are designed to make sure that your boots are optimally positioned each time by limiting how far ahead you’ll be able to place your boots. This is more and more widespread in snowshoe design.

There’s additionally a rear strap on the expedition Trail that holds your heel in place and prevents the boot from shifting again within the binding and falling out. It appears a bit brief and doesn’t have numerous slack to accommodate large-sized boots. Cascade Mountain Tech doesn’t publish a shoe sizing information for the Expedition Trail snowshoes and whereas my dimension males’s 11 boots match wonderful, I do marvel if the identical might be stated for a dimension 13 or increased, together with bigger and longer pac boots. They have one other set of comparable snowshoes that solely go as much as a dimension 12…however your guess is pretty much as good as mine about bigger sizes.

Crampons

The Expedition Trail’s entrance crampon is serrated with entrance, again, and aspect enamel, offering a great chew on crusty snow or ice, whereas offering good lateral stability. It’s completely appropriate for mountaineering on snow-covered trails and intermittent ice, though the entrance crampon is on the brief aspect and simply blunted if it’s essential to stroll over naked rock. The rear crampon is designed for braking on slopes and helps stop the snowshoe from fishtailing on slippery surfaces, however can also be simply blunted.

Cascade doesn’t checklist the fabric that these snowshoes crampons are made with; nevertheless they use an aluminum crampon on the entrance and a metal crampon on the rear on their dearer fashions, so it looks as if a secure assumption that they do the identical right here.  Aluminum crampons put on down shortly and I wouldn’t suggest them for snowshoes that is perhaps utilized in blended rock and snow situations. They gained’t final.

Snowshoe Poles

The Expedition Trail Snowshoe Kit features a pair of 3-section, 135cm twist lock snowshoe poles with carbide suggestions, rubber grips, and adjustable webbing wrist straps. Snow baskets, essential for winter use, and rubber suggestions are additionally included. These poles are ample, however nothing to write down residence about.

Assessment

I made a decision to assessment these Expedition Trail Snowshoes due to Cascade Mountain Tech’s status for producing high-quality however low-cost trekking poles. Quality snowshoes have gotten actually costly and I hoped to offer my readers with a suitable value-based different. Unfortunately the outdated adage, “you get what you pay for” rings true for the Expedition Trail Snowshoes.

While the low value level ($113) for this whole equipment is enticing, I’m not wowed by their lack of flotation in comparison with different 25″ snowshoes, lack of sizing and materials info, and modest crampon dimension. While this snowshoe bundle might be utilized by rookies on pre-established snowshoe trails, I feel you’d be significantly better off spending one other $37 bucks for a low-cost however a lot higher-quality snowshoe just like the Atlas Helium Trail ($50) that has significantly better flotation, carbon metal crampons, a better to make use of binding system, and televators. That’s a product that may present a few years of rugged use and be rather more pleasurable to make use of.

Disclosure: Cascade Mountain Tech donated snowshoes for this assessment.

SectionHiker is reader-supported. We independently analysis, check, and price the perfect merchandise. We solely earn money if you are going to buy a product by our affiliate hyperlinks. Help us proceed to check and write unsponsored and impartial gear critiques, newbie FAQs, and free mountaineering guides.