Crossblades - marketed to be a crossover between snowhoes and skiblades.
I managed to get hold of a pair of Crossblades from the Swiss company Inventra. I was really curious about them and I had two questions that I wanted to get answered for myself:
Overview
Crossblades are in effect a plastic showshoe-like shell with a non-release binding on top. It can be used with any sturdy boot which has heel and toe protrustions including hardhell snowborad boots and stiff mountaineering boots. The binding as a locked position for skiing downhill as well as a free-heel position for climbing. It also as single height positioneer at the back as many showshoes have.
The binding itself has metal brackets, but most parts are plastic. This is remiscint of the old bindings on Big Foots and on cheap skiblades. Two green kevlar cords are used to keep the toe and heel pieces from moving around. I reckon this is causing movement and does not provide a tight binding around the boot.
The bottom is changed by unclipping the green clip at the back. It is a typical base that can be found on cheaper skis and the opposite side is a skin used for climbing. There is no teeth or pins that are typically on snowshoes which means that this should not be taken on icy terrain. It is primarily meant for terrain which has some cover of snow.
For ascent it works quite wellm but it should be treated as small touring ski rather than a snowshoe. Uphill movement is more in line with the fotward glide movement of a touring ski than the lift and drag of a snowshoe. It holds up well in deeper snow due to the overhanging plastic lips than run 90% of the length of the device.
Ski profile
The boards come with a 4.5mm sidecut over the full length of the ~68cm ski, but the actual running length when unhinged is only about 9cm! Due to the way the board is strapped in to the plastic shell, the running length is actually longer, but most of the ski seems to be rockered.
The very rockered contour can be seen in both pictures. The platic shell tip adds an additional float when in deeper snow.
How does it actually ski?
The feeling is probably closer to a 75cm Bantam skiboard, but there is not much of a cambered feeling. On hardpack it can be turned with some edge, but slarving is probably the best way, which comes about with a little practice. In deeper snow the plastic shell provides additional flotation which makes up for the rather small underfoot ski. I found that it did not sink into the deeper snow, but it was not fast either.
Summary
If one is used to skiboarding, the transition to skiing this downhill would be easy, but not necessarily great fun. The amount of plastic in the binding suggests that this is not something that will last under daily usage. It is more a case of recreational snowshoeing and saving time for the descent on a trail. I would not consider it a serious piece of equipment of backcountry usage. Also stay away from icy terrain on this.
All in all if you have visitor that you want to take out somewhere for the day, like a snowy trail through the woods, this might be useful device to get them on to.
I managed to get hold of a pair of Crossblades from the Swiss company Inventra. I was really curious about them and I had two questions that I wanted to get answered for myself:
- How well do they function as a snowshoe on different terrain?
- How well do they ski downhill?
Overview
Crossblades are in effect a plastic showshoe-like shell with a non-release binding on top. It can be used with any sturdy boot which has heel and toe protrustions including hardhell snowborad boots and stiff mountaineering boots. The binding as a locked position for skiing downhill as well as a free-heel position for climbing. It also as single height positioneer at the back as many showshoes have.
The binding itself has metal brackets, but most parts are plastic. This is remiscint of the old bindings on Big Foots and on cheap skiblades. Two green kevlar cords are used to keep the toe and heel pieces from moving around. I reckon this is causing movement and does not provide a tight binding around the boot.
The bottom is changed by unclipping the green clip at the back. It is a typical base that can be found on cheaper skis and the opposite side is a skin used for climbing. There is no teeth or pins that are typically on snowshoes which means that this should not be taken on icy terrain. It is primarily meant for terrain which has some cover of snow.
For ascent it works quite wellm but it should be treated as small touring ski rather than a snowshoe. Uphill movement is more in line with the fotward glide movement of a touring ski than the lift and drag of a snowshoe. It holds up well in deeper snow due to the overhanging plastic lips than run 90% of the length of the device.
Ski profile
The boards come with a 4.5mm sidecut over the full length of the ~68cm ski, but the actual running length when unhinged is only about 9cm! Due to the way the board is strapped in to the plastic shell, the running length is actually longer, but most of the ski seems to be rockered.
The very rockered contour can be seen in both pictures. The platic shell tip adds an additional float when in deeper snow.
How does it actually ski?
The feeling is probably closer to a 75cm Bantam skiboard, but there is not much of a cambered feeling. On hardpack it can be turned with some edge, but slarving is probably the best way, which comes about with a little practice. In deeper snow the plastic shell provides additional flotation which makes up for the rather small underfoot ski. I found that it did not sink into the deeper snow, but it was not fast either.
Summary
If one is used to skiboarding, the transition to skiing this downhill would be easy, but not necessarily great fun. The amount of plastic in the binding suggests that this is not something that will last under daily usage. It is more a case of recreational snowshoeing and saving time for the descent on a trail. I would not consider it a serious piece of equipment of backcountry usage. Also stay away from icy terrain on this.
All in all if you have visitor that you want to take out somewhere for the day, like a snowy trail through the woods, this might be useful device to get them on to.
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