By Andy Dappen
It was the most snow they’d seen in southeast Utah since 1967. In the Grand Gulch where a friend and I intended to hike for three days in late January, we were told to expect snow… lots of it. Although we had hoped to get by without them, I had in my possession two test pair of snowshoes—the Atlas Mountain Series 11 and its brother the Mountain Series 12.
On arrival at the trailhead, it was apparent we were going nowhere without bloated feet. In fact, even with 25-inch-long snowshoes the going was tough – we were knee-deep in fluff and found ourselves wishing we had the largest shoes available (each model comes in a 30-inch size as well).
Despite this slight mismatch in size, it didn’t take long to appreciate how good these snowshoes were. They went on and cinched tight exceedingly easily. More importantly getting deep into the gulch entailed frequently surfing down into creek beds and front pointing up the opposite side, scrambling over snow-covered boulders, traversing rock slabs, and walking over seeps of rock-hard water ice.
Many snowshoes lack the wickedly aggressive crampon system of the Mountain 11 and Mountain 12, but in this snowy, rocky, icy canyon, the bite of these shoes made them go anywhere machines. With dual ice axes you could literally front-point up 55-degree waterfalls using these puppies.
How lucky it was that we brought these snowshoes. Without them, a spectacular winter trip would have been an impossible wallow.
Details, Details -- Mountain 11 and Mountain 12
Based in Seattle, Atlas is one of the largest, best-known snowshoe brands and is owned by K2 Sports. The Atlas 9 Trail Walking shoes ($160) are the brand’s most popular series and are best suited for snowed-over trails and slightly less gnarly cross-country travel. The Mountain Hiking Series is the high-end of the brand and these shoes are the best choice for Central Washington snowshoers planning to ascend local peaks, hike cross-country into our high alpine lakes, or access ice climbs along our steep snowbound canyons.
Within the Mountain Hiking Series, the Mountain 11 (4.1 pounds, $230) and Mountain 12 ( 4 pounds, $280) both have elliptical aluminum tubing frames, tough neoprene-like synthetic decks, heel risers, aggressive stainless steel crampons, and easy-to-use quick-cinch bindings. The Mountain 11 uses an easily adjusted heel strap to lock the foot in place fore and aft, and a quick-pull webbing loop to quickly wrap the sides of the binding to your boot. The Mountain 12 uses a similar binding but employs silicone straps to mold the sides of the binding to your boot. These straps pull tight effortlessly when attaching the shoes and, when you’re ready to shed the shoe, loosen easily regardless of how wet or icy the conditions. While there are a variety of minor differences in the design and the quality of Mountain 12 over the Mountain 11, after 3 days of snowshoeing, the speed and ease of getting the Mountain 12 off and on was the real selling point making us believe it was worth the extra expense.
Pros. Both the Mountain 11 and Mountain 12 offer go-anywhere traction, easy-on-and-off convenience (especially the Mountain 12), secure and very comfortable bindings with no friction points, good heel risers for steep climbing, and very durable materials for every component of the shoe.
Cons. Cost – these are high-end shoes and they come with the associated price. When stacked for carrying, the bindings of the Mountain 11 and 12 don’t collapse nearly as well as many shoes, making the package considerably bulkier when they go on or in your pack. The spring-loaded bindings are nice additions when you’re climbing steeply but they also throw lots more snow over the backs of your legs when you’re descending or walking on flat terrain.
Bottomline. Both the Mountain 11 and 12 are excellent, all-terrain snowshoes for exploring steep and varied ground. They are among the best snowshoes we’ve tested.