Snowshoe gear review... Gaiters and Trail Shoes

Once again I must make it clear that I am by no means an experienced snowshoe runner (yet) nor am I an experienced runner period.  I am an avid and passionate mountain biker that started trail running when an injury kept me off my bike. I got hooked on trail running and learned of snowshoe running from Truckee local and 2009 USSA champion Peter Fain.
I am absolutely  enthralled with snowshoe running and want to share my enthusiasm and experiences with others who are thus far less fortunate to have discovered snowshoeing, snowshoe running and snowshoe running at night.
So of course everything I say is absolutely my opinion and I urge others to form your own. 

So for my first review I wanted to share what I thought/learned about the gaiters and shoes I am using.

Gaiters
I saw these Atlas "Speed gaiters" and figured they must be good. Fleece lined and all.

Atlas claims: "Stay warm and dry on the run with the Atlas Speed Snowshoe Gaiters. The lightweight MemBrain® softshell construction allows your feet to breathe, while the fleece backing keeps them warm for miles on the trail."

I tried them out and yes the shells are nice but they hardly kept my feet dry.   The cuff around the leg has no elastic or drawstring to keep them tight around the leg.  Snow was just falling right in and down into my shoes.  If these gaiters had some elastic they would be usable.  

These Atlas gaiters were not going to work for me.
Atlas speed gaiters:

So, I headed down to Reno REI to see what they had.
I found
these(link)

I took them out on my run last night (see "A Perfect Storm") and immediately loved them.  They fit tight around my shoes and tight around my leg.  My gaiters were the last piece of gear I had to worry about.Click this link to buy these gaiters

REI gaiters:

That is really all I want to say about gaiters, pretty straight forward. I am sure there are many many other brands etc., I just wanted to share what I could.  Had I know this before it would have helped me. And If I can help just one person , I have done my job. jk.

Shoes

The other thing I wanted to share is my experience with my shoes.  It just so happens that REI used the exact same shoe I am using in their gaiter picture above. The Salomon XA Pro 3D Ultra GTX

 

Bottom line is these Salomon XA Pro's are the most incredible shoes I have ever had.   Don't get to excited though, I just started running again after ~25 years off and have yet to try any of the gazillions of other shoes out there.  I am hardly an authority. I can only tell you what I think of these and have no other (credible) shoes to compare to.

When I first got them before snow came along I used them for a few trails. I thought the soles felt hard/non-pliable but new i needed to improve my form and not stomp my feet down so much as I was.  I also thought that the stiffer the sole the better they would be for snowshoe running making a responsive connection to the binding.  Kind of like a good clipless cycling shoe and pedal.  Other than my heel adapting (sports tape and moleskin) to all the running I have been doing these things feel like my slippers I am wearing right now.  When I was told that I would need some running shoes for snowshoeing I was a little skeptical.  I always wore my snowboard boots in my snowshoes and figured I would at very least need some mountaineering boots for running in.  My feet are always cold, how in the world were these little shoes gonna keep me warm?  All I can say is that my feet are the last thing to get cold and I have yet to experience any problems.  Last night I ran 8 miles in loosely packed powder and along with my new REI gaiters my feet were in heaven.  I am sure many other Gore-tek shoes will work fine but I have no reason to try anything else at this point.

Another thing I am considering is mounting a pair of these directly to my new Dion Shoes (which I will be comparing/reviewing with the Atlas Runs I have been using).  I like the idea of a lighter setup and also of not having straps over my feet that might possibly constrict and hinder proper blood flow (crucial to warm feet) or a strap irritating my heel.  I do realize that the binding straps help connect the shoe to the binding so I would think that for a direct mount you would want a shoe that is tight and can be supportive in order to have a responsive shoe to shoe connection.  Correct me (experienced snowshoers) if I am delusional.  I would think you can get away with a sloppier shoe when you have binding straps securing your foot to the binder.  I think these shoes will work perfectly for my direct mount setup.
You can get these shoes at REI Salomon XA Pro 3D Ultra GTX:

That's it that's all. Until next time, Happy Runnings