Best Snowshoes for Women

Best Overall Snowshoe for Women

Tubbs Mountaineer - Women's

Use: Rolling, Mountain terrain | Weight Load: 80-250 lbs*

The Tubbs Mountaineer proved to be a fantastic snowshoe for all manner of activities — so much so that it ran away with our Editors' Choice award. Whether we were walking on packed icy trails or out in deep snow drifts, we felt happy and secure. Walking is easy and natural in this shoe, and the heel lifts help you up even the steepest terrain. It provides top-notch floatation, and the bindings are a dream. They are easy to use even with bulky gloves and cold fingers, straightforward to adjust at any point in your journey, and highly comfortable. Whatever the objective, the Mountaineer performs like a champ. This is a great option for anyone who wants an excellent all-around setup that will work on any kind of terrain, from casual to technical missions.

While we found this shoe to be highly versatile and excellent for the backcountry, we still feel the previous Editors' Choice, the MSR Lightning Ascent is a better option for seriously technical objectives. But for the all-around user that likes to get into a bit of everything, the Mountaineer is top-notch.

Read review: Tubbs Mountaineer - Women's

Best Bang for your Buck

Atlas Elektra Rendezvous

Use: Variable rolling terrain | Weight Load: 80-160 lbs*

Our Best Buy award goes to the Atlas Elektra Rendezvous, an all-around great performing contender for only $140. The Rendezvous has a comfortable binding system, is super easy to walk in, and provides excellent floatation even in its shorter length. The superior flotation is no doubt aided by the fact that this is the lightest shoe in our test suite — even the longer length (which we did not test) is impressively light for its size.

The only area we noticed even a slight deficit is traction. In comparison to our other top contenders, these shoes are not as grippy, and therefore harder to climb and descend steep hills. But if you plan to remain on mostly flat or mild rolling terrain in all kinds of snow, this is a fantastic choice that won't break the bank.

Read review: Atlas Elektra Rendezvous

Best Buy for Versatility

MSR Evo - Women's

Use: Flat to rolling terrain | Weight Load: W/out tails 180lbs, Tails 250lbs

The MSR Evo is a simple and straightforward shoe that we found reliable and highly versatile. The no-frills binding system can accommodate a wide variety of footwear, even seriously bulky snowboarding and mountaineering boots. The traction is excellent, and while the floatation isn't mindblowing with the basic shoe, we were impressed when we added the supplemental tails to increase their length. This is a decent lightweight option that can cover a lot of bases for the very friendly price of just $140 ($190 if you want to add the tails).

Because the Evo is a unisex shoe, women may have to widen their gait a bit when walking. The plastic decking is also quite loud, especially if you're on packed crusty snow. But if you want to keep it simple, versatile, and shareable with the taller folks in your life, this is a great shoe to consider.

Read review: MSR Evo - Women's

Top Pick for Technical Terrain

MSR Lightning Ascent - Women's

Use: Mountain/technical terrain | Weight Load: Up to 210lbs

The MSR Lightning Ascent is an excellent snowshoe with robust construction, superior traction for steep terrain, and a burly yet flexible binding system. With 360° traction and heel lifters, there is no better shoe for ascending, traversing, and descending icy hills. The bindings are easy to use with large gloves or mittens, and a narrower profile than the men's version allows women an easy, natural gait. Floatation is also excellent, and there is the option of purchasing supplemental add-on floatation tails if you plan to carry a heavy load or be out in deeper snow. On top of it all, the Lightning is lightweight, truly making it a top choice for serious backcountry adventurers.

This is the most expensive option in our review, and we find the binding system to be a bit of a pain, but overall it is a well designed and executed shoe that will serve you well year after year. The men's version won our Editors' Choice award.

Read review: MSR Lightning Ascent - Women's

Men's review: MSR Lightning Ascent

Analysis and Test Results

Are you itching to get out into some beautiful snowy terrain but need a good pair of snowshoes first? Curious what some of the best options are for women specifically? Well, you've come to the right place! Many avid hikers will pack their hiking boots away for the winter and wait patiently for spring, but why miss out on gorgeous hikes just because they're covered in snow? The right pair of these puppies can open up a whole world of backcountry adventures that would otherwise be impossible in the winter months.

To truly have a good time on snowshoes, you have to find the right pair for your build and desired use. There are so many on the market that all claim to be amazing, making it hard to choose. And it's not like trying them on at the store can tell you much about what your experience in the snow will be like. That's where we come in! We've handpicked some of the top-rated and best-priced models available and tried them out in various terrain, analyzing every feature along the way. Read on to find out about the most important components to consider when deciding on your perfect pair.

Value

The models we tested ranged from $130 all the way up to $300, not including additional accessories like floatation tails. This can make it hard to tell where the sweet spot of performance vs. price is. Comparing the overall score to retail price is a great place to start. For excellent performance without breaking the bank, check out both our Best Buy winners, the Atlas Elektra Rendezvous and MSR Evo. Alternatively, the MSR Lightning Ascent and Tubbs Mountaineer performed impressively across all our testing criteria, but both are more serious investments.

Flotation

The term flotation makes it sound like snowshoes will have you hovering above the snow as though you're walking on water. In the real world, where we have things like gravity, what it actually means is how much or little you sink into the snow. The better the float, the less you sink. Sometimes it's easy to forget just how effective a snowshoe can be in this department because you'll be walking along and sinking into the snow quite a bit. But if you were to try to walk in the same snow with just hiking boots, you could easily find yourself sinking to your knees, thighs, or farther. This is the magic of a snowshoe and why we weighted this metric more heavily than any other testing point. It is flotation that will allow you to hike into terrain that would otherwise be impassable.

Flotation is determined by the length and shape of the shoe combined with your body weight and the quality of the snow. You will sink much deeper in light and fluffy snow than you will in dense and wet snow. The longer and wider the shoe, the more you will float, but keep in mind that sometimes these shapes are also heavier and a bit more awkward to walk in. If you plan to regularly visit varied terrain where you will need to both float and be agile on packed trail, we suggest looking for a shoe with optional add-on flotation tails. Both the Lightning Ascent and the Evo offer this feature. Many models are also available in multiple sizes, so it's important to figure out what your weight will be when suited up with your pack on and choose the correct size for your final load. This will make a huge difference in regards to achieving the best possible flotation.

The model we found to have the best flotation in nice deep snow was the Mountaineer, our newly crowned Editors' Choice winner. This impressive shoe performed well across the board on all types of terrain. One of the things that we appreciated most is the fact that we felt comfortable and confident in both deep snow and on packed trail. Sometimes a shoe will have excellent float or traction, but the tradeoff is feeling overly sticky or awkward on groomed areas.

We were also highly impressed with the Lightning, Blizzard II, and both Atlas options, the Rendezvous and the Montane. The Rendezvous floated impressively for its small size. (It's one of the few models we tested in the smaller size instead of the larger, but it held its own).

The Evo was decent on its own, but with the addition of tails, it floated as well as the Mountaineer. Our score reflects its performance without the tails, however, because that's a $50 plunge that many folks may not want to take. Be sure to consider your final weight with all clothes and gear to ensure you purchase the correct size. This will also inform whether or not to purchase additions like tails.

Traction

Traction is of supreme importance. Whether you're on a packed trail, an icy slope, or some slick, fresh snow, you want to know that you can trust your feet at all times. We tested traction by comparing each shoe going up and down steep icy slopes, as well as walking on as many hilly rolling trails as possible.

The stick of a snowshoe is determined by the crampons and the presence or absence of side rails, or traction bars, on the underside of the shoe. There is a lot of variation from model to model, and it's often hard to know what will work best just by looking at it. Generally, shoes meant for steeper climbing will have more aggressive crampons — especially at the toe — as well as traction bars. Heel lifts are also common for any model meant to be able to take you up steep hills. Models designed for more tame trails will often have smooth tubes for side rails instead of teeth to help you glide along easily.

Our winner in the traction department is also our Top Pick for Technical Terrain, the Lightning Ascent. The edge-to-edge grip of the patented 360° traction frames made a noticeable difference in our ability to traverse slopes and hills. The Evo is also noticeably sticky because of burly side rails and traction bars. We had a lot of other contenders up at the top as well — all the models with the best overall scores in our review ended up there by having great traction and float.

Stride Ergonomics

More often than not, old-school shoes cause the user to adopt a duck-footed waddle. This comes from prioritizing to shoe's surface area to provide better float. While flotation is arguably the most important aspect, you still want to be able to walk without stepping on yourself all the time. Modern day designs are much more streamlined, created with ease of walking in mind. But they are often still too wide for women because we tend to have a narrower gait than men. Thankfully, many companies are now making women-specific models that address this issue, and it's something we paid close attention to while testing.

We saw a wide range of performances in this category, but once again, many of our top scorers ended up there because they are easy and pleasant to walk in. Our favorites were the Mountaineer, Lightning Ascent, and the lightweight Tubbs Flex RDG. Every woman who used one of these shoes, particularly the Mountaineer and Flex, felt that they could walk almost completely normally with no widening of their gait.

One contender stood out here for its sheer uniqueness. The Crescent Moon Eva All-Foam is designed to feel more like a sneaker than a snowshoe, and it delivers on that front. While not for everyone, the thick foam decking, rocker shape, and lack of a pivoting binding (your foot is fully attached to the base) give the shoe a bouncy feel that — on packed trail — helps propel your foot forward. It's pretty fun once you get the feel of it and is the only shoe that inspired us to run because of how springy it felt. While that was fun and will make some people's day, it's important to note that this is a unisex shoe, and we did have to widen our gait a bit to keep one foot from running into the other.

Ease of Use

Whether you're excited to get on the move or in a hurry because inclement weather is headed your way, the last thing you want is something that's frustrating to get on and off. We determined ease of use by assessing how easy the binding system on each model is to use while kitted out in snow pants and gloves. Is it intuitive? Can we do it without taking our gloves off? Do we have to constantly adjust or attend to anything while walking?

One of the things that sealed the deal for our Editors' Choice winner, the Mountaineer, is its binding system. It's very easy to use, even with gloves on, and the back strap is simple to tighten quickly, and it stays put. Combine that with excellent ergonomics and a heel lift for steep terrain, and you have a stellar shoe for any skill level. The Elektra Montane is similar in design, and its front binding is even easier to tighten. It also delivers an easy non-frustrating experience. The Crescent Moon Eva is a no-brainer with super simple Velcro bindings and zero bells or whistles to contend with — just tighten, stick, and go.

No model was overly difficult to use, though the toothed buckle system and many straps of both MSR models made some testers not want to bother. Not only do these systems take more time and torque to get on, the nature of the straps — while admittedly accommodating to many boot sizes — means it's easy to over-cinch areas and to create hot spots. While we love almost everything about the Lightning Ascent and the Evo, these strappy bindings could be improved.

Two models in our review offer a Boa binding system — the Blizzard II and Flex RDG. This system is quite easy to quickly and evenly tighten, though popping the dial back open for adjustments can be hard with thick gloves or cold fingers.

Binding Security

What good is a snowshoe if it doesn't stay snug on your foot? Even having doubts about a binding system's security can put a damper on an otherwise fun and carefree outing. A good system should inspire confidence and be durable enough to withstand all obstacles out in the elements.

Several bindings rose to the top in this category, making us feel super solid while also being easy to use. A favorite was the Crescent Moon Gold 13's Single Pull Loop (SPL) design that both tightens and loosens the entire system with the pull of one loop. The heel is cinched tight with a ratcheting strap similar to what you see on many snowboard and ski bindings. This setup is extremely easy to use and adjust quickly — even with gloves on or with cold fingers. It's also made with robust materials. The way it hugs each foot tightly and evenly from all directions earned this shoe top scores.

Similarly, we love the Atlas Montane, which tightens with one easy loop and loosens with another smaller one. The ActiveFit binding on the Mountaineer is also great cinching in two directions. Both of these models have a ratcheting back heel strap that is easy to tension perfectly. All three of these binding systems stayed tight, contained, and comfortable throughout our adventures.

While we appreciate the ease and efficiency of Boa bindings like you see on the Flex RDG and Blizzard II, we don't feel they are as secure because of the thin wires that are fully exposed. If one of those wires breaks, it would render the entire shoe useless. And there is no way to do a field repair. On the other hand, you could break an entire strap on the Lightning Ascent, even TWO straps, and still be able to use them to get back to civilization. The only thing we don't like about the straps on the Lightning and the Evo is the way the tails tend to come loose and flop around while walking. Psychologically this makes the system seem insecure, even though it's quite burly.

Binding Comfort

No matter how bomber your binding system is, you won't love or appreciate it if you're not comfortable. A good binding should tension evenly around your foot without any part of it pinching or poking. Our favorites were the same three we felt the most secure in, the Gold 13, Mountaineer, and Montane. All have flexible straps that hug the entire foot uniformly, cinching you in so comfortably that you might forget you're wearing a snowshoe.

We also really like the Flex RDG and Blizzard II with their Boa systems that allow the tiniest of micro-adjustments. Some online reviews mention that the area where the dial is located can cause a pinch point. We didn't experience this.

The Elektra Rendezvous is also very comfortable, sporting straps and a single pull loop system similar to the Gold 13 that allows for very even tightening. The Eva All-Foam has Velcro straps that are reminiscent of a sandal and quite cozy — though if they get too clogged with snow or debris, they start to lose some of their stickiness.

Both the MSR Evo and the MSR Lightning Ascent have a series of straps that need to be pulled tight and buckled like a belt. While we wouldn't call this uncomfortable, it's not as easy to tighten in a perfectly uniform manner, resulting in more variation across your foot and between your two feet.

Conclusion

A good pair of snowshoes can provide hiking lovers of all kinds of access to the most beautiful places throughout the winter season. There's nothing quite like breaking trail across a field of brand new snow or through a silent forest. Similar to finding a secluded mountain meadow covered in wildflowers in the spring, snowy forests and mountaintops are a truly magical experience. If you take the time to research and find the right size and shape for your foot and your individual trekking goals you won't be disappointed. For more information on locking in this choice, check out our Buying Advice article.