I have suffered a few falls whilst in the resorts. Nothing serious but its really quite scary.
I am currently researching snow boots with good grips. Vibram has an Arctic Grip sole and well represented across the merrell and sperry ranges. Salomon has a contagrip sole with some models having spikes
Any folks here would recommend after having used the above special soles from those brands or any other company or sole to walk in such conditions
or is a grip like yaktrax still the gold standard or any other grip that can be recommended
Thank you.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I remember when Vibram Artic Grip was first announced, but hadn’t realised it was now widely commercially available (it was only one brand for a year). I’ve got some Columbia Bugaboot’s which offer better traction that normal walking boots, but they aren’t much better than a quality mountain boot such as my La Sportiva Trango Tower boots which have a soft Vibram sole.
When I was looking I found this study worth looking at. They tested 100 winter boots but only 9 were any good.
I guess it really comes down to what you are using them for. If you are going for a long un-interrupted walk then spikes are fine, but if you will be going in and out of shops every 5 mins the high grip sole will better, as most shops won’t let you wear spikes, so you’ll be removing / refitting them constantly.
My Sister has had great success with Sidas spikes on both walking boot and ski boots:
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
I can't say what's best but ive had yaktraks for a few years and just put them on/whip them off as needed ...
Probably doesn't need saying but beware... very slippery on hard surfaces ... a guest where son was working last season smashed thier hip when they fell in the lobby walking in yaktraks.
Also this is from vibrams arctic grip site, "WARNING This product will not prevent slipping on cold, slick, wet, icy, or snowy surfaces. Always tread with care. This product does not replace use of crampons or spikes. This product is not intended for use on, and may harm, indoor surfaces."
@JonA, I think they’re just covering the fact that the product isn’t infallible...
@gfmozart, for a few seasons now I’ve been using some very cheap boot from “Scarpe e Scarpe” in Italy. €40 or so a pair, and only last a couple of winters but they have soft rubber soles which have the morpst remarkable grip on ice, even wet ice. I live in Geneva and spend most weekends in the Alps so they get well tested in most winter conditions.
The Scarpe site is still in summer mode, and anyway they only ship to Italy, but finding something similar might be useful and cheap.
Many winter brands, e.g. Timberland boots are crap in snow and ice.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I tried whatever the vibram one was ( non studded) on a demo ice ramp and it seemed pretty impressive. Possibly as it was a demo they had the ramp set up exactly as would best show off the tech.
Personally the rubber slip on studs work fine on a hiking boot or walking shoe ( best with a bit of rigidity in the sole). I hiked a quite serious hike with some genuinely icy steps ( from repeated foot traffic) in them and the only problem was the flexy sole of the Timberlands I was wearing at the time.
This thread reminds me of an interesting video I saw about how they're using a tilting ice floor in Canada to test and improve grip on boots for ice. They're producing ratings for some boots, which might be useful for your shopping.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
The video depicts that Canadian government test.
It seems that most soles deal best with winter muddy wet weather and not ice or packed snow sort of surfaces.
The ratemytreads site I can’t seem to access, but few of the big Brands got any higher scorers.
I don’t think I’ll be hiking in the snow or ice since my main purpose for using these boots are for apres ski. I have found that a slightly old but not too smoothed our sneaker sole seems to work best but doesn’t provide the necessary warmth.
Dainite nearly killed me with no grip. It seems u need a soft sole for ice or packed snow and a hard snow when dealing with slush and muddy situations.
After all it is free
After all it is free
under a new name wrote:
... Many winter brands, e.g. Timberland boots are crap in snow and ice.
This is true.
Sorrels are good for snowy conditions in Canada at least. The tread is really good in any kind of snow.
They are also perfect for no-boarding. I don't think anything is going to be good on black ice.
They are too warm to wear in airports and you look a big of a dick (I don't; care).
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
I've just bought another pair of boots with the "OC" integral fold-away studs. I do a lot of walking around resorts with the dog and it very handy to be able to flip over to studded traction if needed. I can usually manage without the little tool that comes with them but sometimes you need to scrape a bit of icy snow out of the treads.
I think it is all down to the 'rubber' the sole is made from. Bit like the difference between summer and winter tires.
I had a pair of supermarket insulated 'gumboots' that were obviously made from the right winter grip stuff. My skiing buddy slip slided his way through a variety of wellies, cowboy boots, walking boots and cleated shoes.
Moon boots were good too.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
I came across this product from quadtrek have a visit at their website https://quadtrekusa.com
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Which spam provides me the best grip?
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
also have a pair of olang boots, really good for packed snow & toasty warm, they don't have studs on though, for full on ice I use the yaktrak spikes, really easy on and off. Not had any problems.
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Poster: A snowHead
