crampons

Kahtoola MICROspikes and 4 Winter Traction Devices That Beat the First Ice

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First Ice Doesn’t Wait for First Snow The first ice never waits for the first snow. A shaded switchback, a north-facing boardwalk, the frost crust over gravel at seven in the morning — that’s where hikers go down, weeks before anything white sticks. Every year the pattern repeats: people walk their usual trails in their … Read more

Snowshoes for Groomed Trails: Steel That Bites When the Path Vanishes

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Winter Trails Don’t Care About Your Summer Boots By December, most of the trails you hike all summer stop existing. The packed-dirt tread you could walk in sneakers becomes a snowmobile-groomed ribbon, and everything off it is shin-deep posthole country. Rental shops know this: the first week of real snowfall clears their snowshoe racks and … Read more