Atlas Snowshoes

Helium BC Snowshoe

Perfect for

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

If you are a brave adventurer looking for a pair of snowshoes perfectly fit for prepacked and flat snowshoeing trails, the Atlas BC snowshoes are for you! These are also perfect for the person who caries zip ties and duck-tape in their pack, because you will probably need to modify them on your second snowshoeing day trip! Also, you will love the added feature of having your feet slowly becoming pigeon toed in the bindings as you hike. After you zip tied the rails back on, you will suddenly realize that the bindings are being cut by the metal parts of the snowshoe. Eventually the light bulb will go on, and you will realize that your buddies on SAR are pretty smart and go order some MSR evo ascents.

Straps are too short

The straps are so short that they only fit a non-insulated hiking boot and I’m only a men’s size 10 shoe. They are an inch or two too short to fit around my winter footwear. I checked the specs again to make sure they weren’t a woman’s snowshoe or a youth snowshoe but they are in fact an adult unisex snowshoe. If Atlas can’t even get that right, makes me wonder what else they fail on. Lost my trust with the brand.

Great with some modifications

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

Ive added a few zip ties to strengthen the connection points between the side rails and the plastic floor as it seems the connection point right after the heel rise is the common failure point of these snowshoes. In past two winters ive abused these a lot and theres absolutely no sign of damage or failure in them. Heel rise goes up to around 20 degrees but ive used these to go up 35 degree slops with ease. The binding system is also great, very easy to adjust and very secure and feels great over the boots. The side rails make traversing on 35 degree slops very easy and safe. Not sure if the snowshoes would have failed if i had not added the zip ties but id suggest to add them.

High expectations

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

When I first got the snowshoes I was very impressed the binding system is very secure once you get used to using them. No hotspots or pinching in the snow shoes are extremely light which is very nice on longer hikes. Unfortunately on my third hike after 20 or so miles I noticed the rear of my left snowshoe was curling up like a canoe. After stopping to take a closer look I noticed the two rivets holding the back of the side traction rails to the plastic deck pulled through their plastic mounts. My wife has the same snowshoes but at the same time but the smaller version hers seem to be fine at the time but after getting home and closer examination we saw one of hers and pulled through the plastic melt at the same point. We are hoping we got a bad pair for my bad batch of plastic as these are our favorite snowshoes in very light with good traction. I know this is the first year with the red plastic decking and I don’t know if they get the plastic from another source we are currently starting the warranty process I will update after this is complete in if the snow shoes hold up. If the breaking in durability was a fluke these would be a five star snowshoe.