Running, Cycling, Hiking and Climbing in the Pikes Peak Region

Broken Yak Traks

In the last 2 visits up The Incline, I have witnessed 4 people finish their descent, look down and discover their "Yak Traks" had broken. Two were broken bands, and two were spring-at-band.

I'm actually using two different pair. 1) Snow Traks (two for 1 cheapies at Costco), and 2) MicroSpikes.

Cheapies for mostly melted snow, and Spikes for serious ice and snow. The broken Yak Traks seemed to occur while running down Barr Trail in areas where snow was mostly melted. I'm taking surveys now <wink>.

I have to embarrassingly admit I cannot FIND my "Yak Traks", which are buried in a safe place in their own box <pout>; thus the Cheapies.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Bergsten on January 24, 2011 at 8:17am

I have a pair of Yaks and I remember when I first purchased them the info provided said to keep them off the rocks and gravel. I have and they work fine on softer surfaces, like snow and packed snow.

I saw Pikes Peak runner Steve Bremner on Barr Trail on Sunday and he was wearing MicroSpikes. He said they work great. Steve crunches huge miles year-round. His endorsement of MicroSpikes carries some weight.

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Permalink Reply by Lynne Fonda on January 31, 2011 at 1:38pm

Tim, An aside; now that I'm on the Incline weekly, I can say that just about half the runners I see have the Spikes now!

Tim Bergsten said:

I have a pair of Yaks and I remember when I first purchased them the info provided said to keep them off the rocks and gravel. I have and they work fine on softer surfaces, like snow and packed snow.

I saw Pikes Peak runner Steve Bremner on Barr Trail on Sunday and he was wearing MicroSpikes. He said they work great. Steve crunches huge miles year-round. His endorsement of MicroSpikes carries some weight.

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Permalink Reply by Eric H on January 31, 2011 at 8:51pm

I've heard that about the Yak Traks. Thats why I bought Kahtoola MICROspikes too. Love them!

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Permalink Reply by Jill Suarez on February 3, 2011 at 5:07am

Micro Spikes are a much more reliable investment.. They last and are guaranteed two years integrity.. Yak traxs are a waste of money and unsafe ..

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Permalink Reply by Brian McCarrie on February 3, 2011 at 8:07am

I've got Yak Traks, they work pretty well on hard pack snow for me. I find on softer or fresh snow that the snow actually starts to build up in the coils. This eventually creates a rounded surface that is very unstable. I still want to give the micro spikes a try.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hitchcock on February 7, 2011 at 3:42pm

Unfortunately I would have to agree that the Yak-Traks are definitely guilty of breaking way too often, I know of at least 6 fellow runners that have blown theirs out! I am currently using Kahtoolas and they are by far better. One thing I did notice was that the rubber used in the Yak's is really pretty crappy and with the variety of temps that we see here in the region I think that the temp differences don't help the cause. There are some other brands out there that make "pseudo-crampons" but I think you have nailed the ones made specifically for running,