a couple things..i have a pair of snowshoes i got in Canada some twenty or so years ago,they have a webbing made from yellow plastic rope and seem to work very well.they have not worn out very much and snow does not stick to the web as much as my wife's rawhide ones,which she replaced with the new kind with the flat plastic bottoms and big metal gripper.i always take a ski pole when i snowshoe in wooded areas for balance when crossing fallen trees or working up and down hills..and..snowshoes were made so people could work in the winter on trap lines or cutting wood.how they became a "sport" item is beyond me,unless your in deep snow or in the brush skis are much better for winter travel and i think that a short-wide ski is now made which work much better that either for winter hiking.