Over at Cool Tools, Adam Skinner reviews the Kahtoola Microspikes, strap-on mini-crampons that work a little like snow chains for shoes. You can pick up a pair for $45-60 and prance around on glaciers all you like.
The next weekend we did an 8.5 mile hike on trails that were 30 percent ice. I wore my Microspikes, as did all but one of the other ten hikers. We saw only one other person farther up the mountain — a thin, gray-haired trailrunner with headphones on. As he zoomed past with a nod and a smile, I saw he was also wearing Microspikes. The first time I was able to run down a completely ice-covered hiking trail and feel secure, I said, “That alone was worth it right there!”
The first time you watch Oregon news coverage of any decent ice event, you’ll see two types of “on location” reporters. The fun to watch wobbly sort, and the boring but more experienced sort who’re wearing Yak Trax.
I wonder why it took so long before anyone thought of making removable ice spikes as cools as this. I think it’d be sooner that we’d see this thing used as a weapon in a movie.
Prance around on glaciers? Microspikes have taken me up icy mountain trails in early and late winter. On steep ice or hardpack, full crampons are better because of their front points, but for everything else, Microspikes rock. They do a great job getting me to the mailbox and back after ice storms, too!
@Geekpdx: I like Yak Trax, too. I walk to work over brick sidewalks every day, and these get me through icy/snow times (like we had on the East Coast this week) with absolutely no trouble at all, and at half the price of the MicroSpikes. I’ve never worn them on the trail, but a buddy tried them on a January trip to Ricketts Glen in PA (always super wet, super icy in winter), and reported good results.
I left out the key difference between yak trax and microspikes: You feel like a jerk and can damage things if you walk onto a bus or get into your car while wearing the spikes – let alone a coffee shop or convenience store. Yak trax aren’t exactly nice to floors for sure, but they aren’t spikes either.