Crescent Moon : 17

Review:
Need shoes that will get you through the snow, regardless of how deep? If so, these shoes are for you! The 17s are massive, lightweight, and seemingly indestructible. I first took them out in Chaos Canyon, part of Rocky Mountain National Park. The snow was deep, waist deep if you stepped off a trail, and it was still coming down hard. Our group broke off the beaten path to go find some drops and chutes, and that is when I discovered the floatation abilities of the shoes. I normally weigh between 170 and 185, but I was carrying a fully loaded pack, including a board. To my surprise, there was absolutely no difference between walking on a beaten trail and walking in waist deep powder. In fact, the others in our group decided they wanted to walk in front of me, because being behind me was too much like being on a trail.

I was very impressed with how the 17s handled most terrain. They let me get up hill faster and with lest effort than any other shoes I have ever tried. This means more energy for the ride down. The only times I had any trouble with the snowshoes was when I was going up a particularly steep section and the very sizable claws couldn't get a grip because the shoes were floating so well. This led to a bit of awkward shuffling and side stepping to get up, but it's hard to blame a snowshoe company for making their shoes float too much!

The bindings work well, but are your basic snowshoe binding, they take a while to get them adjusted right, but then they are pretty fast to get in and out of. I did like that they have moved to a snowboard-style ratchet to close and tighten the binding in the back. While the ratchet is nice, it isn't revolutionary, and I did catch myself gazing at the quick bindings on Maggie's Tubbs. Based on my experience with the 17s I am sure the others are great too, and they do have many sizes to pick from so you can match your weight with what kind of terrain you will be conquering.