MSR  Evo Ascent 22 Snowshoes

I wanted to go snowshoeing with my wife, so I rented a pair from the local REI store at alderwood mall, Lynnwood, WA and had a blast. So I went back to the store and talked to the CSR about the best fit and shoe for me. After some discussions, I settled on this pair and love them. The wife and I have gone shoeing every other weekend near Stevens pass, mt baker park, and continue to have fun. They fit great, the extenders aide in my stable traveling, I am 6'6" tall and feel very stable as I stand or traverse the many areas we shoed in. They are very easy to put on/take off, do not come apart as I am walking, and clean up nicely.

These are incredible shoes! I have been using a high end traditional aluminum frame shoe for four seasons and was happy with them. Then I made the mistake of trying my friend's Evo Ascents. They solidly outperformed mine. The Evos are lighter. The traction is unbelievable. And, they don't flip snow up from the tails with each step. The hinged foot crampon/binding allows the shoe to remain flat as you step thus providing more floatation than a tubb type shoe. I was concerned the plastic decks would be noisy. They're not. Add the versatility of 6" detachable tails to this amazing equation and you will wonder why it's done any other way

I am 6'2" and 250 lbs. I was skeptical of these and their ability to keep me "afloat", but with the tails, they are sufficient. When on any kind of packed trail or not so deep snow, I don't need the tails - which makes them lighter and very easy to maneuver. In fact, you sometimes forget they are there!. I really like the flexibility (short/long) these provide. Haven't had others so it's hard to compare, but the ability to take them as "insurance" on a hike as well as for a full blown snowshoe hike is a real plus for me. Also, my wife likes hers and alomost never needs to add the tails.

I bought two pair this xmas for our holiday hot springs retreat in the mountains of Idaho. They worked flawlessly! After getting dumped on with 18 inches of new snow, my fiancé and I were able to glide right over the top and had so much fun trekking into the back country that we went even further than planned. The stability of the foot platform in steep terrain is awesome. They are very comfortable... you can go all day! They helped us tire out our two dogs as they struggled through the snow layers… something that almost never happens! Fantastic exercise for everyone. After renting other brands and designs, I'm sure we made the right purchase. Highly recommended!

I use the MSR Evo to get into the back country to photograph winter in Colorado and to workout. These snowshoes work great in deep snow and on rolling terrain.The Evo shoes are easy to adjust I like the pull strap system. I was in 18" of fresh snow the other day and they were fantastic. I don't have a bad experiences to share at this time. For the cost of these snowshoes, MSR could have provided a nylon carrying bag, would have been great. I can't wait until I'm out breaking trail again.

Broke these in on a winter trip through Northern New Mexico and Colorado. Great snowshoe, they performed well cutting trail through deep powder and on icier stretches. The heel bars were a life-saver going uphill. Even used these shoes to dig out a campsite (we forgot our shovel). I bought the MSR Evo Tails to go with them, but ended up ditching them after the first mile as they kept getting caught on one another. These shoes performed well by themselves in a variety of conditions, including deep wet powder.

After getting frustrated with my old pair of snowshoes I bought the Evo Ascent. I took them out for the first time today and they performed beautifully. We hiked up to Crater Lake near Nederland CO, with about 2,000ft elevation gain and 4 feet of snow in places. We went off trail for most of the hike. The heel bar really made a difference on the ascent and I am glad I chose the ascent model over the standard Evo. The extra strap is nice too. The snowshoes handed the deep snow well and stayed put. I had good grip and control and really enjoyed running through the deep powder downhill. Excellent product.

First time snowshoeing and with the simple yet effective design of these snowshoes, I have found a new passion. Perfect in light fluffy snow as well as thick heavy snow. The ability to adjust the bindings with gloves on is great and allowed me to make minor adjustments on the fly.

Had to do a llama rescue last fall up in the Mammoth area...there had been about a 2 1/2 foot snowfall with 5 foot drifts at 10k. I'd left my old Atlas's at home and rented these which were only available as demos. Unbelievable! I had to climb 2k and made a 10 mile round trip hike to see if I could find some overdue clients. I'd still be up there if I'd been on the Atlas's! These shoes are great...very functional...and I have to say at 240 lbs I didn't need the flotation tails...there was some crust! These are really worth the extra dough.

These snow shoes were a great purchase. The straps can be a little hard to get tight and keep the foot in the proper direction while binding, but once they are on there are no worries or fears that a strap will fall off. Some days I wear them for more than 6 hours with no straps loose or flopping. The shoes are very sturdy and the steel crampon underneath bites well on ice. The heel lift bar is very solid (although hard to put back down), and saves much effort on summit approaches. With a pack I am 30 lbs over the recommended weight load. However, I have used them very well in powder and truely only needed the use of the 6inch tails once(I keep them on all the time). I would recommend these to anyone looking for snowshoes for any purpose.