On the high cost of snow shoes, buying tip - folks who rent these in season tend to sell them off in spring. I bought 2 sets of top of the line Atlas show shoes for 12.93 each a few years back, and as often as I snow shoe the have plenty of mileage in them. Look for the rental places in your area (REI is where I got mine), and ask what they do with the rentals at the end of the season. If you can get a date out of them, go and find a pair.