Christopher Westerman and Ashley Westcott won the Snowdash Extreme Race in Idaho Springs, Colorado. The Snowdash is an extreme winter adventure race located just west of Denver on Echo Mountain. Echo Mountain received close to 5 feet of snow during the days leading up to the race. The 55 inches they received added an extra challenge to the running and climbing already in store for the participants.

Westerman’s time of 10:34 was over a minute ahead of runner up Andy Chamberlain, who finished in 11:51. Justin Holle was just one second behind Chamberlain, finishing in 11:52. On the Women’s side, Wescott won the race with a 14:05. Amanda Metcalf was 2nd in 14:51. Taking 3rd for the women was Lee Busse, finishing in 15:01. Full results for the 2012 Snowdash Extreme.

All of the money raised for the event goes to the American Lung Association.

You can view local CBS coverage of the race here.

The Tubbs Mountaineer Snowshoe is a great option for those back-country adventures… when you want to go off of the beaten path and make a trail of your own.  It is a wonderful feeling of freedom when you can go places that most hikers or cross country skiers can’t or won’t go.  The Tubbs Mountaineer Snowshoe helps you to get to that peace and solitude when you are seeking it most.

The Mountaineer Snowshoes come with the “8 point Anaconda” crampon, which helps you to keep your traction on otherwise treacherous footing.  The Andaconda’s 8 teeth are made of a durable carbon steel.  Not only do you have the 8 toothed snake traction in the front, the Mountaineers also come with an aggressive heel crampon underneath your boot, which they refer to as the “Python.”

Along with the steep uphill traction provided with the Anaconda crampons, the Tubbs Mountaineers come with a heel lift, which you can engage for those long, steep climbs.  The heel lift will help to keep your feet more level throughout the duration of the accents, therefore reducing calf fatigue.

The Mountaineers come in three different sizes: 8″ x 25″, 9″ x 30″, and 10″ x 36″.  The longer the snowshoe, the more floatation it will provide when the snow is deep and powdery.

The Mountaineers are fairly lightweight for a back-country snowshoe.  They are made out of Tubbs’ “Momentum Superlight 6000″ aluminum.  The 25″ shoe weighs in at 4.7 lbs/pair, the 30″ model is 5.3 lbs, and the 36″ weighs 5.8 lbs.

They also come in gender specific models.  Tubbs’ “Active Fit+” binding helps the shoe to fit without those pesky pressure points.  The women’s binding can fit size 5-11 boots and the men’s can accommodate up to a size 13.

Erholtz held onto her lead to be crowned the 2011 National Snowshoe Champion. Ferreira held onto 2nd and Ward had a strong 2nd half, moving up one spot to capture the bronze. Positions shuffled around a bit behind them during the 2nd half of the race. Paulson finished in 4th, Weiler went on to finish 6th, Lambert made a big move on the final hill to secure 5th, and Mueller finished in 7th.

The MTN Mountain Snowshoes are a very unique type of snowshoe. They are different from other brands in that they come with a trail crampon that can be used either separately or along with the Snowshoe. The aggressive nature of the 8-point crampons can be used for slick and icy terrain on the trails and can quickly be converted to a versatile mountain snowshoe when needed.

The adjustable width technology is a new feature on the MTN Snowshoes. This is different from most other brands of snowshoes. You are now able to adjust the snowshoe to either wide, regular, or narrow widths. This greatly opens your options for the types of footwear you can use with the MTN Snowshoes. They can be narrow enough to fit snugly around your racing flats for the big race, or if you just feel like going for a walk in the woods on a bitterly cold afternoon, they can be wide enough for a men’s insulated boot up to size 14.

The MTN Mountain Snowshoes are available in the 24 inch length as well as the 28 inch length for the deeper snow. The unique “step-in-technology” of the MTN Mountain Snowshoes demonstrated in this video: