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Speaking of groomed trails, didja know that a Suzuki Samurai is light weight enough, with enough floatation to drive on top of multi traveled snowmobile trails in deep snow? Just don’t EVER have a wheel break through the surface… or try to turn around...

Crescent Moon. Last I knew entirely sourced in the USA. They’re a small company in Colorado, and the owner has turned down multiple buyout offers. A quality product.

MSR Ascent.

Red Feather.

Atlas and Tubbs are now owned by the same company and mostly made in China or Asia.

Half the battle with snowshoes are the binding system, which have improved a lot in recent years. Newer style bindings track better, and are easier to get in and out of.

As noted, there’s snowshoes for trail hiking and snowshoes for off trail/ deep snow. Powder snow in the southern Rockies will test the flotation of any snowshoe a guy can fit on his feet….

If you'd typically use them in deeper, fluffy/light snow I'd definitely go with the bigger size. I personally feel that modern ratings are useless when using snowshoes in real snow off trail. The ratings are great for walking packed trails but leave you up to your knees (or worse) in the deep stuff. The Maine Rabbit Hunter also looses a bit of floatation because it is a webbing (rope) type shoe and not a full "decked" shoe. When in deep snow I've never wished for a smaller snowshoe.

+1

smallfry:

The previous responders have obviously had different experience than myself. I've owned two sets of snow shoes and I threw away the first set and gave away the second set to someone that I didn't like. I am convinced that snow shoes were created by the devil on the same day that he created the fly and the mosquito. What I hate about them is that they collect snow on the top and quickly become so heavy that it's very tiring and difficult to walk. I always seemed to get heavy wet snow or crusted freeze/thaw snow that would build up on the top of the skis. I suppose that light fluffy powder would be different but I never seemed to be that lucky.

However, I've put a lot of miles behind me wearing mountaineering skis and since cost isn't important to you, that is what I would get if I were you. I used my mountaineering skis in Colorado, Alaska, the Sierras of California and the Cascades in Washington doing lots of climbing, backcountry skiing, and hunting.

My mountaineering setup consists of TUA Randanée skis, Silvretta 400 bindings, and Scarpa Antracite plastic boots with insulated inner boot and Chouinard climbing skins. The boots are made to have something like crampons or skis attached to them. They are a lot like downhill ski boots but have more ankle movement. The binding are two-piece with a lever connection at the front. With the heels free, you can use them like cross country skis and can climb incredibly steep terrain using a good pair of climbing skins. The bindings have releases in them just like alpine (downhill) ski bindings so you can lock the heels, take off the skins and ski down hill. I've even used them downhill skiing in Colorado and got some weird looks because that's not what they are made for. They are kind of long and you have to get use to them. I used this setup for three decades, but that was a long time ago and newer more modern gear is probably available.

I tell the rabbit hunters that I guide “ The only thing worse than wearing snowshoes is not wearing them.” For what I do skis are not an option.

I exchanged my snowshoes for skis at age 9. There are a few places for snowshoes but not very many from my perspective.

What town and county did you father live in and do you recall the Indian's name?

I don't suppose it was Spike?

Pretty happy with these bunny chasers - looking into some MSR’s to climb better.

Put a small block to raise your heels when ascending.

Good god get rid of that hideous pic as your sig. Makes me wanta barf.

Grabbed some MSR’s and they are pretty great! Finally have enough snow to have some fun. A little wider than I’m used to but they sure work in dry snow better than the wooden models that these might retire. Did about 2 miles around our little bay & got lucky with some beautiful blue sky

Tag

I've got three pairs of snowshoes- all are MSR's. They simply have much better grip than other snowshoes, if your plan is to snowshoe in the mountains or steeper terrain- you want really good grip. Gently rolling terrain it's not nearly as an important consideration. The MSR's also have good, secure bindings.

I have a pair of Lightning Ascents that are 30", also have the optional tails. This is the shoe I choose for deeper powder.

A pair of Evo Ascents, 22" with the optional tails. I tend to use these more as our snow gets consolidated pretty quickly. A good all around shoe and pretty lightweight.

My last pair are their Shift's- these are billed as a youth shoe, but fit my size 11 feet with a little room to spare. These are very light, but short. I use these almost exclusively in the Spring when the snow tends to be firm and your snowshoes spend almost equal time on your feet and strapped to your pack.

Other than weight, a big consideration is how wide they are. They wider snowshoes make your gait unnaturally wide, which leads to weak fatigue.

MSR are great and offer a wide selection. The lightest weight is best as others have mentioned.

One of the best sites for comparing gear is https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/t/snowshoes

no affiliation, but it is a very useful resource.

peace