Atlas 8 Series Snowshoes - 2005 BCS

These shoes are great for hiking in the backcountry. The binding are easy to use and work well with my snowboard boots.

I had a pair of these snowshoes for less than a year. I bought them near the end of last winter and took them out a few times. The last trip of the year resulted in the loss of the rivets that hold the binding to the snowshoe on the inside of each snowshoe. Atlas gladly replaced them with a beefier rivet. After my fourth time out this season, I lost both rivets on one snowshoe. The snowshoes were returned with remorse. I really like the ease of use and stability of the binding. The comfort was fair, but after a long day of snowshoeing the backs of my heels were very tender. The crampons are adequate for most terrain and the flotation is what you would expect. If I wasn't the type to run downhill and jump off cliffs I think that the durability of these snowshoes would have been fine. If you tend to work your snowshoes pretty hard I would consider a different pair.

These have been great snowshoes. They are easy to get into and they are widely accommodating to different footwear. They hike well, and are great for general trekking. Durability on these certainly can't be beat. In all they are great snowshoes for tromping around in the woods, but you might want something with a little more crampon if you are going to be heading into the mountains.

I have a pair of Atlas 1025s. I bought the Atlas 8 larger (30). I chose it because it was cheaper and was mostly going to sit around as a "guest snowshoe" for our visitors. I used them the other day and they were very nice, but I really prefer the way the binding works on the 10 series. It is easier to get a good fit with the 3 adjustments.

The 8 series is a great shoe for the price, but if you can afford the difference, I would go with the 10 series.