MSR Lightning Trail Snowshoe Review

The MSR Lightning Trail Snowshoe is an ultralight snowshoe designed for snowshoeing over rolling hills and stage terrain, that includes a serrated 360-degree body, horizontal struts, and toe crampon. MSR modified the binding on the Lightning Trails this yr, changing the previous (fussy) DuoFit binding which used ski straps with the brand new Paraglide binding which holds the entrance of your winter boots with stretch mesh and comes with a locking heal strap that may be simply adjusted whereas sporting gloves. The added good thing about the Lightning Trail Snowshoe is that it’s fairly light-weight, solely weighing 3 lbs 3 oz within the 22″ inch dimension and three lbs 5 oz per pair within the 25″ snowshoe size. That’s fairly gentle so far as snowshoes go.

Specs at a look

• Size examined: 25″ (additionally obtainable in a dimension 22″ males’s and ladies’s fashions)
• Weight: 3 lbs 5 oz (per pair)
• Footwear dimension vary: 3 M – 13 M / 5 W – 15 W
• Televator: No

Lightning Trail Frame

MSR revolutionized snowshoe design about 10 years in the past after they launched the serrated snowshoe body discovered on their Lightning sequence snowshoes together with the Lightning Trail. The toothed body is designed to enhance the normal toe crampon discovered beneath the ball of the foot and to stop slippage when side-hilling throughout slopes in rolling terrain.  The body additionally incorporates horizontal struts, additionally serrated, that present traction, particularly when braking on downhills.

The body and the struts additionally stop “snowballing” which happens when snow and ice clump underfoot so it looks like you’re strolling on prime of bowling balls. This occurs on any sort of toothed traction gadget, together with microspikes, and the step-in or strap-on crampons that you simply connect to winter mountain climbing and mountaineering boots. Since the horizontal rear crampons should not boxed crampons, however serrated horizontal struts constructed into the body, snowballing can’t happen. It’s nonetheless very revolutionary.

The result’s a really secure, low-profile snowshoe that gives good flotation and traction on packed trails and in average powder. The body has a average diploma of torsional flex for climbing over obstructions like fallen timber or rock however lacks the traction of the heavier MSR Lightning Ascent Snowshoe which appears fairly much like the Lightning Trail however is way heavier and has extra aggressive traction. But for those who don’t want the televator bar on the Lightning Ascent, designed for climbing steeply inclined terrain, the Lightning Trail is a superb choice as a result of it’s so light-weight however nonetheless durably made.

New Paraglide Binding

The new Paraglide binding has two elements: a stretch mesh that positions your boot correctly within the binding and a locking heel strap. Both are usable whereas sporting gloves. The stretch mesh distributes strain evenly throughout the highest of your boot and eliminates the binding scorching spots that occurred with the previous DuoLock ski strap binding discovered on this snowshoe. The new locking heal strap additionally replaces a ski strap which had the undesirable behavior of ceaselessly popping open.

The straps securing the entrance mesh and the heel strap have a easy locking mechanism that inserts a plastic plug into a versatile strap with holes punched into it. Pulling on the ends of the straps repositions the plug alongside the strap, securing it in place so it gained’t come undone. The locking mechanism has glove pulls hooked up to it and pulling on them releases the plastic plug, permitting the straps to maneuver freely within the binding so you may take away your ft. While there may be some additional strap size, it’s positioned on the surface aspect of the foot or within the rear, the place it’s out of the best way.

Here’s a video, revealed by MSR that exhibits the Paraglide binding in motion. Fast ahead to 1:04 for a demo of the brand new Paraglide binding.

I used to be little involved once I acquired these snowshoes as a result of I haven’t had the very best of luck with the locking mechanism on the heel straps of snowshoes from different producers as a result of it tends to pop open. The largest subject is the place of the slack portion of the heel strap previous the purpose the place the pin locks into the holes within the heel strap. If it’s allowed to flap loosely, it can pull the locking pin out and the heel strap will come undone.

My Lightning Trail snowshoes got here with a plastic clip, which retains the slack portion of the strap adjoining to the portion of the strap on the within of the locking pin so it doesn’t flap loosely. The drawback is that these plastic clips break very simply. One hack is to make use of a jawed binder clip to carry the 2 sections of the strap collectively or to vogue a “tube” of duct tape with the sticky sides going through one another to exchange the plastic clip with one thing that may last more. You’d determine that MSR may provide a extra everlasting part for this function, however it’s simple sufficient to hack round for those who expertise it. Still, you must surprise…

Recommendation

The MSR Lightning Trail Snowshoe is a light-weight snowshoe designed for rolling terrain that’s simple to hold with a backpack as a result of it has a fold-flat binding. The newest mannequin has a brand new binding which is a lot better and extra dependable than the earlier one which used elastic ski straps. If you don’t must climb steep hills or mountains and desire a snowshoe that’s good for mountain climbing alongside packed trails, the Lightning Trail is a wonderful selection. It’s very light-weight and its fold-flat binding makes it simple to connect to the surface of a backpack, making it good for these days while you would possibly require snowshoes, however don’t have sufficient details about path situations to know in the event that they’ll be required.

I simply want MSR would put the brand new Paraglide binding used on the Lightning Trail on their dearer and technical snowshoes, the MSR Lightning Ascent and the MSR Evo Ascent. It could be a particular enchancment over the present fashions which nonetheless use elastic ski straps (which I’ve already communicated to them.)

Disclosure: MSR donated snowshoes for this evaluation.

SectionHiker is reader-supported. We independently analysis, take a look at, and charge the very best merchandise. We solely earn a living if you are going to buy a product by means of our affiliate hyperlinks. Help us proceed to check and write unsponsored and impartial gear evaluations, newbie FAQs, and free mountain climbing guides.