Back in 2013, we wrote about Norwegian company Fimbulvetr and its ideas for what a snowshoe should look like. Its unique honeycomb-style thermoplastic elastomer shoe was designed to glide through deep snow. This winter, it's launched a new model called the Hikr. The short snowshoe comes with promises of Lamborghini-inspired design and quick ascents up steep, snowy mountains.
Fimbulvetr's original Rangr snowshoe is positioned at hauling heavy loads through deep powder. With the Hikr, Fimbulvetr refines that original design for faster, lighter ascents. It developed the new snowshoe with Burton team snowboarder Mikkel Bang, and the design appears optimized for (non-splitboard) backcountry snowboard ascents.
The Hikr is made from the same DuPont Hytrel TPC-ET thermoplastic elastomer as the Rangr. Fimbulvetr has reshaped the body cutouts, from the small, symmetrical hexagons on the Rangr, to larger, asymmetrical polygons. The company mentions on Facebook that the holes draw inspiration from Lamborghini air vents, and while they're not perfect clones, you can see similarities with the various inlets and outlets on the Aventador and Huracán.
The Hikr is shorter from end to end than the Rangr, measuring 24 versus 28 inches (61 versus 71 cm). Fimbulvetr promises the on-snow performance of a full-sized 28-in shoe in a quicker, nimbler package. The shorter size is also designed to help the shoes more comfortable secure around a backpack when the wearer pulls a 180 to snowboard down the mountain.
Other new, Hikr-specific features include stainless steel heel crampons working with the front crampons and the addition of adjustable heel lift. The snowshoes weigh 4.7 lb (2.1 kg). Fimbulvetr has worked its pricing model down from the US$500 we reported on in 2013; the original Rangr now slides in at $299 and the new Hikr comes in at $270.
Source: Fimbulvetr