Whether your winter foray involves a day of casual hiking, or an aggressive assault on the untouched backcountry, you don’t need extra weight bogging you down when speed and fluidity are a viable alternative. Northern Lites offers a full range of snowshoes ready to get you deep into the wilderness with efficiency and comfort.
For 20 years Northern Lites has operated on a simple premise: Snowshoes should be built in a way that allows your mind to focus on your surroundings, not what’s on your feet. The technical design of the snowshoes allow for a lighter smaller shoe to provide you with the flotation of other larger heavier snowshoes, all at a price that is comparable or below other manufacturers.
At only 40 ounces a pair in men’s and a meager 38 ounces in womens’, the Elite is by far the lightest 25” snowshoe on the market promising a snowshoe that offers natural movement without extra resistance.
On Performance and Design…
When choosing a snowshoe, it’s always important to consider how and where you will be using them. There are snowshoes designed for long days over gently rolling terrain, snowshoes designed for aggressive climbing, and even snowshoes designed to get you out for a frosty morning run before the coffee maker kicks in.
No matter what the adventure, your body will thank you for choosing Northern Lites. At only one-half the weight of ordinary metal-frame snowshoes, Northern Lites estimates that you’ll benefit from 2,000 pounds less weight to lift over every mile.
Far and away one of our favorite features of the Elite Snowshoe is the Coolthane® Decking – a virtual superhero of snowshoe decking. Composed of a nylon mesh coated with a super tough, polyurethane coating, it’s virtually impossible to puncture – and because it’s too slick for snow build-up, you won’t find yourself lifting the extra weight conventional decking materials usually attract. It also offers generous float for days spent gracefully floating over powdery drifts of white.
The Elite, along with all Northern Lites Snowshoes, feature the TruTrak Binding System. Featuring strong polyurethane straps that virtually stick to leather, rubber, and plastic boots holding the foot in alignment, these bindings are still lauded by many as the best available. That being said, the multiple strapping system isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. That being said, for the 2013-14 season Northern Lites will also be offering the new Tru-Trak Quick Tight Release system.
When conditions get a little icy, an oversized “Duraluminum” Toe And Heel Crampons securely bite hard into any icy snow that comes your way. Granted, the Elite isn’t the stout climber that the Lightning Ascent is, but it does have a clever trick up its sleeve for additional traction.
Northern Lites engineers designed the Elite with multiple attachment points between the frame and Coolthane® Decking. This not only enables the decking to supplement the frames strength, but by allowing the nylon deck clips to act as a perimeter cleats, you get added traction with each step.
When adventure takes you off the beaten path, it’s imperative to always be ready for a worst case scenario. Towards those ends, the “rescue orange” decking on the Elite is ready to serve as beacon of hope and visibility in the instance rescue aircraft come looking for you.
The Trade Off….
Northern Lites put an array of design features into this shoe to keep it light and fast, that also means choosing the Elite comes with a few trade-offs. Northern Lites utilizes a “Duraluminum” Toe And Heel Crampon to keep down the overall weight. The flip side is that they can wear down quicker than more durable metals especially if you spend lots of time in late Spring hiking where you are more likely to come across rocks and logs just beneath the snow’s surface.
The light and strong polyurethane straps of the TruTrak Binding System, stick to leather, rubber, and plastic boots holding the foot in alignment. The drawback is that without additional binding clips, there will be some excess lashing left to bounce during your hike. This in no way affects performance, but it may cause your OCD to kick in a little more than you’d like while out enjoying winter landscapes.
Bottom Line…
You could say that the Elite is at the top of it’s class, but at only 40oz the reality is that these snowshoes are in a class of their own. So the next time your adventure takes you deep into the backcountry where the fresh powder meets the cool crisp air, wearing the Elite snowshoe from Northern Lites ensures a stellar trek.
*Gumption Gear Review received a product sample featured in this review from Northern Lites. The item featured was provided solely in exchange for testing the product and providing our honest views and opinions. We received no other form of compensation for this or any related review.