MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes

You know you've got something interesting on your feet when Search and Rescue geeks crowd around and point at your snowshoes. "Oooh, frame lugs! Killer green color!"

A few years back, when Prada discontinued their technical outdoor line, there was apparently a gap in the head-turning snowshoes market. That's been filled by the Lightning Ascent snowshoes that MSR released a couple seasons ago—at last, high-fashion meets high-speed snow hiking. I thought the day would never come.

My girlfriend and I have been testing them throughout most of this winter for rescue trainings on our local volunteer SAR team, and they've performed admirably under heavy use in diverse conditions.

The shoes are different than most others I've seen in that they are built on aluminum frames with sharp rims that actually bite into the snow, unlike those with a smooth frame or flat, plastic platform. This gives them a broader area to find traction under your foot, and more total inches of "teeth." (They also has the crampon points and cleats most shoes have.) The resulting traction is great. It's all you'll need for slick, snow-packed trails, climbing on cruddy snow, or streaking the ice at your local pond hockey game.

The bed of the shoe is made with a slightly rubbery material that delivers an impressive float in the deep stuff, but since the material is somewhat flexible, it sheds the gummy wet snow that can ball up around solid, plastic shoes. Last weekend, traipsing through the Truchas foothills on a warm evening, our friends' older MSR shoes accumulated a slippery plate of snow beneath them while the Lightning Ascents kept their traction points completely clear.

The shoes are remarkably light for their size (3.5 pounds—less than many hiking boots), and I don't doubt MSR's claim they are the lightest powder shoes you can find. Hence the "Lightning." I was able to easily outrun said girlfriend's spazzy dogs in a light sprint. So what if the powder was four fet high, and the dogs are about three—I want a medal.

Even though the shoes are lightweight, they are virtually indestructible (except for the little plastic clips that keep your straps from flapping around—those can break pretty easily). I kept up an abusive game of boulder hop-scotch, looking for awkward rocks to jump on, and tried like hell to bend or break the frame, and they survived.

Lastly, there's a bar you can swing up under your heel to help save energy while you're climbing. Hence, the "Ascent." MSR has used the bar on other snowshoes, and it does help going up hill, saving your calves. Despite the claim on the packaging, you'd have to be an apprentice puppeteer to lift the bar with a ski pole, and it's even a little tough with gloved fingers at first. But, you get over it.

Also, since the heel bar is a piece of slick aluminum under your wet heel, my boot was able to slip around on top of it, which can feel a little unstable while climbing. This is less likely to happen with fat, insulated boots that fit the large, rubbery footplate more snugly. Translation: if you wear your summer hiking boots, your heel might pivot a few degrees more than you'd like. My bright idea? Add some mini-lugs to the bar, and a tab to help grab it.

Bottom line: the Lightning Ascents are damn good snowshoes. They're lightweight, offer good float, are sturdy as hell, and offer dependable grip on ice or mixed terrain. The versatility is key. They are exactly what you'd want on your feet for anything from an all-day search and rescue mission to a casual hike to a winter hut—with your girlfriend, of course, on the women's version. $259 (men's and women's); www.msrcorp.com

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