For Outdoorsmen and Women who have a penchant for traversing difficult terrain in icy conditions, winter traction devices can make a real difference. Indeed, various types available on today’s market offer hikers an unmatched grip in the snow, but it’s often difficult to decide between microspikes, crampons, and snowshoes. Thankfully, this handy guide aims to help you determine which device to buy for the specific conditions you’ll be in.
How to Choose Between Winter Traction Devices
You’ve usually got the choice between three varieties of devices available on the wider market. So before you buy from your local hiking store, let’s review key features of each of these:
Crampons
Apparent to Hikers and Climbers who use them, Crampons provide excellent traction on steep, icy, or mountainous trails via their long spikes digging into the terrain. Crampons are best suited to trails that have a lot of packed-down snow, and make it a lot easier to move up steep outcrops that aren’t otherwise very forgiving.
In particular, they give an advantage to those scaling a rocky face, making them an ideal tool for climbers. However, where they provide excellent traction, they tend to also damage trails, and are best left alone if you’re travelling lightly, or on very icy or well-defined winter trails.
Microspikes
Versatile but capable, Microspikes vs Crampons are a much less aggressive alternative, mainly due to the small coils that allow them to dig into tightly packed snow and ice. Their utility as a traction device is evident in their ability to transition smoothly from moderately difficult rural terrain to flat urban environments. However, they’re unsuitable for the steeper, more perilous slopes where their more aggressive cousins make their name. Like Crampons, Microspikes are fitted around your hiking shoes. Still, they are much easier to remove, meaning that they’re most suitable for light winter hiking on level terrain, especially if that ground has a lot of ice.
Snowshoes
Designed for conditions where loosely packed, deep snow is abundant, Snowshoes distribute your weight over a large surface area, thus enhancing your ability to traverse in these conditions. They’re best in open terrain, but you won’t need them on well-kept winter trails, and snowshoes vs. Crampons are much less suited to icy environments.
Making the Best Choice for Winter Trails
If you’re looking to purchase winter traction devices for the upcoming season, it’s important to research the most suitable trails for you and your gear, particularly if you’re new to winter hiking and unfamiliar with the terrain.
As a rule of thumb, most popular trails won’t require snowshoes since they’re so well trodden, making them a largely redundant feature. Crampons and Microspikes, on the other hand, are a must, as in most cases the trail will be icy and can be dangerous if you don’t have the correct equipment. When deciding Microspikes vs. Crampons in this case, consider the following:
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If the Winter Trail is steep, rocky, and significantly icy, consider using crampons.
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If the trail is moderately icy or packed down and level, choose MicroSpikes.
When will you need Snowshoes?
The only time you’ll need to break these are in very specific conditions. Namely, this applies either to the start of the season, if weather conditions have left a lot of loose snow, or when breaking trail, which is something only experienced hikers should do. Alternatively, you can select a trail specifically groomed for snowshoe hikes.
In Summary
Before you go hiking on a Winter trail, it’s important that you understand how the terrain devices you use will affect your ability to travel easily. As we’ve compared here, Crampons and Microspikes are best suited for rugged, steep, or icy terrain, while you’ll only need Snowshoes in situations where you can expect to go off the trail or hike on one designed for their use.
Remember that Microspikes vs. Crampons are much less damaging to the trail but have less traction. In comparison, Microspikes vs. Snowshoes have more traction but are more suitable where the trail has a lot of packed-down snow and ice.