Question  : Hello, since 10 years you are guiding groups trough the mountains with snowshoes. Your treks take place in the central Alps (Tyrol, Bavaria, Dolomites) and you are often in contact with colleagues and clients who use very different types of snowshoes. What di you think about it?

AM: It is true that in France, where the snowshoes activity has developed progressively since 20-30 years, people use systematically synthetic –or plastic- snowshoes: they have been conceived to be adapted to our needs, and the to morphology of the landscape through the Alps.
We need to be able to cross hill sides without sliding side wards: that is the reason why snowshoes have a rigid plate under the sole: the foot stays straight, aligned in the direction of the walk; else the heel would slide downhill.

Outside of France, French speaking part of Switzerland and Italy (even if the phenomenon is more moderated), and the snowshoes activity is booming since a couple of years. American companies (Tubbs and others) where the first on the European –non “latin”- markets and it is only after 4-5 years that the guides, mountain leaders and hikers get aware of the disadvantages of aluminium snowshoes: large “crampons” beneath the snowshoes give confidence, but in reality there is too much metal and with the cold, the snow sticks to it, and the crampons loose their efficiency: and the aluminium tube becomes a slide.

Short time ago I tested them again, with hard snow this time, but there again the large crampons hit the snow and you tend to fall forwards…

I tested also MSR, the only Americans that have a frame as a saw and grip the snow properly. The inconvenient I felt is, that through fresh snow or even more through deep heavy snow, I pushed the snow in front of me, instead of gliding through it. Or else you need to lift your feet above the snow-level…

Yes, you understood surely that Inook snowshoes offer me all aspects and details that are important for me. I am guiding for different agencies, some of them have a TSL-stock. So every week I see these 2 brands in the same conditions. I will not enter in negative details, but rather talk about advantages I find by Inook.
They are so easy to use: to adapt the snowshoe to any shoe-size, you just need pushing the rear part of the binding until you reach the shoe, you can do tit without even taking of your gloves!!! I appreciate also the easy use of the automatic heel-step: to push it up or down, you just have to push with your pole, without strength or bending yourself. I have my stock since 3 years, every week 8 till 12 persons, not one problem!
I like the sense of fluidity through the snow, which is due to the sharp front shape: no problem in deep snow: the movement is easy and natural.
The 3D shape of the frame has 2 advantages: the snow doesn’t stick to the frame, but it is compressed as a pipe and that stabilises the underground and stops from sliding sideward and gives tracing and stability for those who follow!
Sometimes I have lent my Inook snowshoes to some German colleagues who rather use aluminium brands; they always appreciate the stability aspect. I even had to renew my Ox1 because I didn’t get them back.