At last year’s Winter Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City, a company called Crescent Moon took the wraps off of a radical new design that promised to revolutionize snowshoes. The Eva All-Foam, which won seven “best of show” awards, are made almost completely out of dual-density ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) foam, which makes them lighter and faster than pretty much anything else on the market. Now, just one year later, Crescent Moon has announced a new version that brings a few subtle – but much appreciated – upgrades to the design without impacting performance.
Dubbed the Eva All-Foam V2, this latest model will retain the look and design of the original, but with one very important addition. The team at Crescent Moon has added aluminum cleats to the underside of the snowshoe, giving it much better traction on difficult terrain. This will provide snowshoers with better all-around performance on technical terrain, which is where the first Eva All-Foam tended to suffer in comparison to larger, heavier, and more capable models.
When the original version of the Eva was introduced, there were questions surrounding the choice to use EVA foam. Skeptics wondered about the durability of the snowshoe over an extended period of time and thought that it was too lightweight for use in alpine settings. The addition of the metal cleats should address one of those concerns, while the jury is still out on whether or not this will be a durable product over the long haul.
“The idea has always been to make snowshoeing accessible to everyone, and with the Eva All-Foam V2, you’ll be able to go anywhere your legs and heart¨ can take you,” said Jake Thamm, Crescent Moon’s co-founder and president.
Despite adding the more-capable metal cleats, the weight of the Eva All-Foam isn’t expected to change much from the original, which tipped the scales at a mere 1 pound, 12 ounces per shoe. The V2 model will be a bit more expensive, with an expected price tag of $179 to $189 per pair. The release date hasn’t been revealed yet either, but expect them to debut sometime this autumn, just in time for winter 2019.
