snowshoeing question

[DebW]

Women's snowshoes are designed for smaller people with shorter stride so that we don't step on the sides of our own shoes so much while walking- apparently the shoe is set a bit inwards of center so that the wide parts of the flat frame are not so close together when we walk, and less likely to clack together. Men have longer strides and further apart feet because they are larger in general.

I have a longer stride than most men and I'm only 5'7", so height doesn't directly correlate with stride length. The only time this is noticable is on snowshoes. If I'm shoeing with someone else, or following some else's track, I want to step either on their tracks or between their tracks (most often between), and it drives me nuts that my stride is longer and I have to shorten it to match someone else's. On wooden shoes, everyone had to take big gallumpfing steps to avoid stepping on their own shoes and planting their face in the snow. And each snowshoe track touched the next one. With today's small shoes, most people leave prints with a foot of unbroken snow between them, making a trail that looks almost like a series of postholes. But your snowshoeing gait can be almost identical to your sidewalk gait on easy terrain.

For bindings, I suggest the type that pivots freely as you lift your foot. That way the snow on top of the shoes falls off as you step, and you are dragging rather lifting the shoe, so lifting less weight. The bindings that are spring loaded tend to throw snow up your back. In terms of crampons, look for deeper teeth and for side traction rails or at least teeth set in more than one direction. If all the teeth face front/back, then you will slide sideways on sidehills. For snowmobile trails packed by machine, you'll need very minimal flotation and walking will be super easy. Start your snowshoes hikes with an empty pack and water (insulated with an old sock) - that way you'll have a place to put all the clothes that you are going to take off (you will be taking clothes off).