Winter hiking or snowshoeing: which one does your trail need?

The ten-step test

Everything on this page comes down to one question you can answer at the trailhead in thirty seconds: does the snow hold your weight?

Step off the packed line and walk ten paces. If you stay on top, or sink an inch or two, the trail is consolidated and your problem is grip. If you drop to mid-calf or further - what hikers call postholing - you are going to spend the day exhausted and wet, and that is what snowshoes exist to prevent.

Trail conditions change that answer hour by hour. A trail that is firm at 8 a.m. after a cold night can be soft and collapsing by 2 p.m. in spring sun, which is why experienced winter walkers frequently carry both.

What each setup actually does

The sizing row is the one that surprises people. Traction is sized to the boot; snowshoes are sized to weight, because flotation is a function of surface area against load. The sizing method sets it out.

If the answer is traction

Two levels, and the difference is what is touching the ground.

Yaktrax Pro - coils

Published as 1.4 mm abrasion-resistant steel coils on a natural rubber frame with a removable over-foot strap, and tested safe from breakage down to -41F. Coils grip packed snow and slush well and glare ice poorly, which makes them the right tool for most maintained winter trails and for the walk from a parking lot.

Kahtoola MICROspikes - steel spikes

Published as twelve heat-treated 400-series stainless spikes per foot at 10.4 mm, on welded chains, in six sizes with a separate published chart for insulated boots, under a four-year warranty. This is the tool for genuine ice and frozen boot-pack on a steeper trail, and it is where coils stop being enough.

The full traction comparison covers carbide options in between, and the traction guide covers where each design belongs.

If the answer is snowshoes

MSR Evo Trail

Publishes a 180 lb load limit that rises to 250 lb with add-on tails fitted, at 1.64 kg a pair - light for a steel-traction snowshoe. The tails matter more than they sound: they mean capacity can be increased later rather than the whole snowshoe being replaced when you start carrying a heavier pack.

Tubbs Wayfinder

Publishes three sizes against explicit load bands - 25 in for 120 to 200 lb, 30 in for 170 to 250 lb, 36 in for 220 to 300 lb - with the bands deliberately overlapping so someone in between has a real choice rather than a guess. That is the clearest published sizing data in the category.

The snowshoe roundup ranks the field on those published limits.

Why serious winter walkers carry both

A single outing frequently contains both problems. The first mile of a popular trail is packed hard by other people and wants traction; the section past where most people turn around is untouched and wants flotation. Coming back down in the afternoon, the packed section has refrozen into something that genuinely needs spikes.

If you are buying one thing first, buy traction. It is a fraction of the price, it lives in a pocket, and it covers the conditions most day-hikers actually meet on maintained trails.

Poles change the answer more than people expect

Whichever setup you choose, poles matter in winter in a way they do not in summer, for three reasons that all come down to the surface being unreliable.

• Balance on uneven, hidden ground. Under snow you cannot see the rock or the hole, and a pole finds it before your ankle does.
• Depth checking. A pole plunged into fresh snow tells you whether the next step is six inches or two feet - which is the difference between walking and wallowing.
• Propulsion on snowshoes. The snowshoe gait is wider and slower than walking, and using arms as well as legs makes a real difference on any climb.

What you need is a pole with a snow basket - the wide disc near the tip that stops the pole disappearing to the handle in soft snow. Summer trekking poles with small baskets, or ski poles with the wrong basket, both work badly. How poles are sized and what the baskets do.

What about skis instead?

A fair question, because backcountry skis and splitboards cover the same terrain and descend it far more enjoyably. The reason this page is not about them is cost and commitment.

Touring equipment means specific bindings, climbing skins, a boot that walks and skis, and - not optional - avalanche training and a beacon, shovel and probe, because touring takes you into terrain where those are needed. It is a season-long project and a four-figure purchase.

Snowshoes are a same-day purchase, work with boots you own, and let you walk a marked winter trail this weekend. That is the trade, and for most people adding winter walking to a ski trip, it is the right one. Touring is where you go if walking uphill stops being the point and skiing down starts being it.

The boots underneath matter either way

Both setups attach to a winter boot, and a boot that soaks through makes the choice irrelevant. Look for a published temperature rating, a shaft tall enough to clear the snow you are walking in, and ideally a removable liner so it dries overnight.

Men’s boots, women’s boots and the boot guide cover what to look for, and poles are the third item worth having on either setup - they take load off the knees on descents and give you something to test depth with.

Dress for working, not for standing

Both activities are aerobic in a way that downhill skiing is not, and the mistake people bring from the ski hill is dressing for a chairlift. You will be generating heat continuously and stopping only briefly.

• Start slightly cold. If you are comfortable at the trailhead, you are overdressed five minutes in.
• Layers you can shed and carry, which means a small pack rather than a heavy jacket. The base layer that matters when you sweat.
• Gaiters or a tall boot for snowshoeing, because deep snow goes down the top of a boot on every step.
• Thinner gloves than you would ski in. Hands are working and holding poles.

Where each one is welcome

A practical point that catches out first-time winter walkers: trails in snow are shared, and the two setups damage each other’s surface differently.

• Groomed cross-country tracks are not for walking on. Boots and snowshoes both punch holes in a set track, which ruins it for skiers and is genuinely resented. Walk beside it, in the marked walking lane if one exists.
• Packed winter trails suit traction devices. If a hundred people have walked it, snowshoes are unnecessary and awkward - this is exactly the case for cleats.
• Unbroken snow needs snowshoes, and a walker in boots postholing along an untracked trail leaves deep holes that freeze into an ankle hazard for everyone behind them. This is the etiquette reason to carry snowshoes, not just the comfort one.
• Check the land manager’s rules. Some nordic centers charge a trail fee and designate which trails allow snowshoes; a few ban them outright on groomed terrain.

None of this is a gear decision, but it does decide which setup goes in the car on any given morning - which is the actual question this page is answering.

The verdict

Do the ten-step test. Sinking means snowshoes, sized by your total load. Slipping means traction, sized to your boot - coils for packed snow, spikes for ice. If you are choosing one purchase to start with, traction wins on price, portability and how often you will actually use it.