Best Mode for Spring Time Travel

*bounce*<br><br>I am a snowboarder (and lurker) and I haven't done a large amount of spring time snowboarding. Last time I was up was about a month ago and I had my snowshoes, but it seems that I would have been fine without them. Anyways, I'm planning on heading up to muir this weekend and I am trying to figure out if I would be better off with my snowshoes, or just booting it up, if I go the boot route will crampons be necessary? Presently I'm leaning towards the latter. <br><br>Thanks

I was up at Muir two Saturdays ago with 3 others from TAY and we had no problems just booting up in our tele and AT boots. Having softer boots, you will probably want to bring your crampons just in case things get hairy depending on where you want to go.<br><br>Peter

If you leave early enough, hiking by 7ish, booting to Muir will be fine. Only slippery part maybe the ascent up to Pan Pt. but that's a comfort level thing. Check the temps and freezing levels the night before. If your hiking by 9ish you may want to bring your snowshoes. By the time you get to Pebble Creek things can get mushy. Even though there's a boot track I still see people posting holes since there's so many boot tracks. Snowshoes will at least ease the knees so to speak.

I've gone to Muir in my running shoes and know of people who have summitted in Teva's. With that said, I don't know that I would recommend either, especially the Teva's. It all depends on your comfort level if the snow turns icy higher up. Crampons would guarantee your comfort and don't add much weight. Biggest issue is get an early start as the snow is going to be mushing up fast (not really a safety issue going to Muir, but more one of enjoyment). Also, bring a good wind layer. Even on nice days, Muir can be very windy and cold. I'll be heading up with my six-year-old, but we'll be confining ourselves to the slopes closer to Paradise and Pan pt. Enjoy!

Better yet send SAG an e-mail and pick up the Burton Face split he is selling.

haha! I've thought about a split, but I would probably have to go with a prior or a voile since I am but a wee little grrl....5'4", 100 lbs....and most of those boards are engineered for people much larger than I. I searched around a bit for a review from a smaller rider, but haven't found one. In fact I saw people much larger than me complaining about the boards...so yeah...I should demo/rent one sometime to see how I like it.

Prior splits run wider than all the others splits. It's similar in width to the K2 Fatbob or Burton Canyon. I have a Prior 66 and the board is just about taller than me. It's a tank but imagine the float on pow. Anyway if your a charger I would go with bigger board. Like jimjar mentioned, talk to sag about splits. He's da man on that subject.

Check out the Face. It is a shoter board (157). On another note snowslut and I will be in the Rainier area on Saturday if you want to join in on the fun.