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The MSR Evo Ascent is a bomber snowshoe that excels in mountainous terrain each on path and off. Its unibody plastic decking makes it extraordinarily rugged with aggressive crampons for buy on snow, ice, and rock. It has a snowshoe binding that’s suitable with any sort of footwear and folds flat when strapped to the perimeters of a backpack, making them very simple to hold in case your pack has aspect compression straps. A rear heel bar can be included to scale back calf fatigue when climbing hills, whereas non-obligatory 6″ tails will be added to the rear should you want extra flotation for heavier hundreds or snowshoeing in deeper powder.

Specs at a look

Gender: Unisex
Weight: 3 lbs 15 oz per pair
Size: 22″
Sizing: Suits boots as much as dimension 15 (US) Males’s
Decking: Plastic unibody
Binding: MSR TriFit
Heel Bars: Sure

I’ve been utilizing MSR Evo Ascent Snowshoes for climbing mountains in winter, each on path and off, for effectively over 10 years. Whereas I’ve additionally used most of MSR’s different snowshoes, together with the top-of-the-line MSR Lightning Ascent, I desire the Evo Ascent as a result of it’s so sturdy, packable, and a terrific climber, significantly in circumstances the place traction is extra essential than flotation, similar to these in New Hampshire and Maine. Whereas it snows right here, the mountain maritime local weather produces wetter, crustier snow and ice and far much less powder than the drier circumstances out west. Whereas the Evo Ascents are solely accessible in a 22″ size, they nonetheless work fairly effectively for big people and heavier hundreds as much as 225-250lbs in such circumstances, regardless of MSR’s weight suggestions that are extra tuned to West Coast circumstances.

The Evo Ascent has a entrance crampon on serrated rails alongside the perimeters.

Evo Ascent TriFit Binding

The Evo Ascent makes use of MSR’s basic TriFit binding with three prime straps and one heel strap to carry your footwear in place. The straps are perforated and held in place by a pin at one finish whereas the slack is held in place by plastic clips that stop the ends from flapping annoyingly or coming undone. The benefit of this type of binding is that’s it suitable with all sorts of footwear, sizes as much as 15M (US) and you’ll fine-tune the match if elements of your foot are delicate to downward strain.

The most recent Evo Ascent mannequin has been barely overhauled to make the TriFit binding simpler to make use of and guarantee right foot positioning. The TriFit binding now comes with softer, extra malleable straps which have extra stretch and pop open much less incessantly than in earlier fashions. That may be a very welcome change and it could be value upgrading an older pair of Evo Ascents to reap the benefits of it. The brand new foot plate on the backside of the binding additionally signifies the place the ball of your foot needs to be positioned if you placed on the snowshoes in order that your boots aren’t too ahead or too far again. This can be a very helpful characteristic, significantly for brand spanking new customers.

The TriFit binding tells you the place to place the ball of your foot. It reads “Ball of Foot Right here”.

One of many key benefits of the TriFit binding is that it folds flat when the Evo Ascent snowshoes are strapped to the surface of a backpack making them a lot simpler to hold. Strive that with a snowshoe with a cumbersome Boa binding just like the Tubbs Flex VRT and also you’ll rapidly see the benefit of a decrease profile binding if you might want to carry snowshoes on a long-ass hike since you don’t know what snow circumstances can be like en path to your vacation spot.

The Evo Ascent TriFit Binding Folds Flat in opposition to the perimeters of a backpack making them a lot simpler to hold.

Traction

The Evo Ascent has two sorts of traction: an aggressive entrance crampon that penetrates packed snow and ice and lengthy aspect rails that present lateral stability when transmitting sideways throughout slopes. A rear heel bar, or “televator” will also be raised so it rests beneath your heel to alleviate calf pressure. Doing so helps enhance the chew of the entrance crampon when climbing slopes by transferring extra of your physique weight ahead. The result’s way more comfy when climbing steep slopes than snowshoes that should not have this characteristic and are meant to be used in flatter terrain.

The rear televator bar reduces calf fatigue when climbing slopes and helps the entrance crampon penetrate extra deeply.

Braking fins are additionally molded to the underside of the decking that dig into the snow and assist stop sliding or fishtailing when descending slippery slopes. In very icy circumstances the place the body brakes can’t chew into the floor, it’s finest to lean ahead on the entrance crampon to get a deeper chew or to angle the snowshoes throughout the slope in order that the serrated aspect rails can present further traction.

Horizontal braking fins are molded into the underside of the decking.

Decking

The Evo Ascent snowshoes have plastic unibody decking that’s fairly stiff and sturdy with built-in fins that act like brakes when descending slopes. The unibody decking is available in very useful when climbing off-trail as a result of there isn’t any method for a tree department to get caught between the decking and body, which will be a problem within the MSR Lightning Ascent and related snowshoes should you attempt to hike off-trail utilizing them. Being inflexible, the unibody decking can be nice for rock-hopping throughout streams or throughout combined rock and ice as a result of the snowshoe deck received’t buckle beneath you when it has to span open house.

Most snowshoes work finest when used with boots which have a ridge on the again of the heel that forestalls a snowshoe strap from sliding off.

Comparable Winter Mountain climbing Snowshoes

Suggestion

MSR’s Evo Ascent Snowshoes are rugged snowshoes that excel in difficult winter circumstances and mountainous terrain, each on path and off. Totally featured they’ve aggressive crampons, heel bars for climbing, and a extremely sturdy unibody decking that may stand up to large abuse and carry on ticking. Now simpler to make use of than ever, they’re an excellent funding that may present years of use with little upkeep. Maybe better of all is their value, which is considerably lower than most different mountaineering-class snowshoes with out skimping on options, ease of use, or sturdiness. 

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Disclosure: The writer owns these snowshoes.