Louis Garneau Freeshape FX Apex II Snowshoe - 2009 BCS

I've used these snowshoes a few times now and have been able to compare them to my MSR Denali Ascent Evo's.

Compared to my denalis, these obviously have less aggressive grip to them, but they flex a bit more which makes sidehilling much more comfortable. Taking on uneven or lumpy consolidated snow is a joy in these because they will give a bit as compared to the denali's which will lock onto some piece of snow with a death grip and tweak my legs and knees at an awkward angle. I much prefer these for simply walking along in the snow.

Also, the heel risers are much shorter than on the MSRs, that's good and bad, depending on how steep a slope you are ascending. Under 30 degrees - these shoes win. 31+ degrees and I'd rather have the MSRs. Possibly the biggest difference I noticed is the braking while going down is much more aggressive in the MSRs, but that's always the case with Denali's compared to other Sshoes.

Bottom line is I really enjoy the comfort and walking-friendly design on these shoes. If the elevation gain/loss is not severe and it's going to be walk in the woods these are fantastic. If things get serious and steep ups and downs are in the forecast I opt for the denalis.

During an Adirondack bushwhack, these shoes bit into all sorts of variable terrain, ice, rocks, etc with no complaint. They went rock-to-rock on stream crossings, and I kept them on for much of the way up a fairly icy slide on E. Dix. The heel bars were nice and made a noticeable difference for the way up.

On the way back down, I had some increasing foot discomfort as my boots slid forward in the snowshoes; the snowshoe straps were effectively cinched down tighter and tighter on my foot, causing some notable discomfort by the end (we descended for roughly 3 hours). I will hopefully be able to rig up another strap to hold my foot forward and reduce that discomfort for future hikes.

Of final and important note, I've found that the under-foot crampons on the shoes were bent slightly on the trip. Not so mangled as to be ineffective, but certainly a bit concerning. I contacted Louis Garneau right away, and they've been very responsive, offering to replace my pair and pass my concerns on to the designer of the shoe. Hopefully the next pair won't see damage so quickly, but if they do, I have confidence that, based on their first response, that LG won't hang me out to dry.