For me, this year was all about hiking. My bikes felt neglected, I barely took advantage of our local lakes and river, and I’m not even sure I remember how to SCUBA dive.

And now that snow has fallen, I want to keep hiking, but without all the fun of postholing. Enter, the snowshoe.

I decided it was time to start learning about what tennis rackets to tie to my feet, and where to go stumbling around with them.

So after surfing the web, talking to local shop employees and generally bothering my more snow-adept coworkers with too many questions, I’ve started to get an idea on what to look for.

I’m not coming to this completely green, however, I’ve been snowshoeing enough times to know that gear matters.

Here’s what I’ve found:

Decks
This is the whole point of the snowshoe, they spread your weight out over the snow and help you float instead of sink. As a general rule, 8-inch by 25-inch decks will support up to 150 pounds in soft powdery snow, and up to 180 pounds in wet or compacted snow (read, our very own Sierra cement). For more weight, either on you or in your pack, go to a 30-inch snowshoe.

Bindings
You can’t just have the rackets, you also need to keep them on your boots. Here you can either look for multiple straps with easy attachments for gloved hands, or slimmer, more basic bindings that will flatten in your pack if you plan on coming back down the hill on skis or a snowboard.

Pivots
Back to the tennis racket analogy, just having decks attached to your feet makes the normal motion of walking difficult. Instead, snowshoes allow your feet to rotate forward and dig your toes into the snow. A pivot that’s too tight will flip snow up the back of your pants, and a pivot that’s too loose will drag in the snow with each step.

Crampons
Without crampons, snowshoes would just be a bad pair of skis. But how much grip you need is up to you: if you plan on staying on groomed trails less is more, but if you want to go climb a mountain, crampons will give you the grab on steep slopes. Some snowshoes have teeth along the sides of the decks for digging in while side-hilling.

Bonus feature
Heal lifts, those little flip-up bars under the heal of your boots, make climbing hills easier on the calves. Think of it like turning that steep slope into stairs.
What other issues you should weigh — well, weight, of course. Lifting up heavy snowshoes with each step takes more energy. But durability is also key, a split frame or a punctured deck can make for a bad day in the backcountry.

Here are some listings of local shops that offer snowshoe rentals and sales:
Tahoe Dave’s Ski & Snowboard Shop
Truckee: (530) 582-0900
Squaw Valley: (530) 583-5665
Kings Beach: (530) 546-5800
Tahoe City: (530) 583-6415

Alpenglow Sports
Tahoe City: (530) 583-6917

Village Ski Loft
Incline Village: (775) 831-3537

West Shore Sports
Homewood: (530) 525-9920


Guided snowshoe tours this season

Full moon hike: Northstar Resort offers guided Full Moon Snowshoe Tours each month during the winter season. Tours depart from the Nordic Center at 6 p.m. and will cover approximately 5 km of terrain. Guests will enjoy a naturalist guided hike, live acoustic music, bonfire, s’mores and hot chocolate. The Northstar Cross-County Center is located at mid-mountain. Give yourself plenty of time to ride the Gondola, get fitted for snowshoes and check in. We recommend leaving the Village at Northstar 30 - 45 minutes before tour begins. Participants must be on Gondola by 5:45 p.m. The cost is $35 for adults, $25 children 12 and under and $5 for a snowshoe rental. Upcoming dates: Jan. 20, Feb. 19 and March 20. For reservations or more information, call (530) 562-2475.

Learn and hike: Enjoy the Lake Tahoe's winter peace and tranquility with Tahoe Outdoors guided snowshoe hikes. The expert guides will lead participants through untamed parts of the Lake Tahoe wilderness with stories about the indigenous culture and the regions unique ecology that symbolizes the history of this world famous area. Snowshoe tours are open to any age and ability level. Tours are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The cost is $ 80 per person (includes gourmet lunch and beverages). For more information, call (530) 581-2886 and visit http://www.tahoeoutdoors.net">www.tahoeoutdoors.net.

Free hikes: Join the Tahoe Rim Trail Association on Saturday, Jan. 12 for its third annual Winter Trails snowshoeing program kick off event and National Winter Trails Day. The program will take place at Tahoe Meadows on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The programs are guided by TRTA staff & volunteer guides and is completely free. The TRTA will be partnering with Tahoe Backcountry Ski Patrol who will be providing a winter safety talk and demonstration.

The TRTA will host many more free guided hikes throughout the winter.
To find out more about the Winter Trails programs visit http://www.tahoerimtrail.org">www.tahoerimtrail.org or contact Alexis at (775) 298-0231 or Alexiso@tahoerimtrail.org.


Where to hike: Make sure you bring your snowshoes when you check out some of these trail suggestions this winter:

Kyburz Flat
Beginning snowshoers, dogs, families with children and those not in peak condition will enjoy Kyburz Flat. The grade is easy, the distance is short, and next to no route finding is required along the easily discernible road regularly marked with blue diamonds. Kyburz Flat is a vast clearing encased by lightly forested hills, emitting a delightfully pastoral ambiance.
Directions: Follow California 89 north for about 12 miles to the Kyburz Flat parking lot on the east, or right, side of the road.

Spooner Lake
Spooner Lake has a 90-kilometer trail system comprised of 20 interconnected trails with beautiful views of pure wilderness. This area is located on 9,000 acres in the Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park in the Carson Range along the east side of Tahoe.
Directions: Spooner Lake is located one-half mile from U.S. Highway 50 on State Route 28 on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe.

Blackwood Canyon
Blackwood Canyon offers wide range of experiences for snowshoers of all levels of skill and endurance. The first 2.25 miles are well-suited for an easy half-day journey to the crossing of Blackwood Creek, where you will find the creek coursing sinuously through open meadows (also a great lunch spot).
For something more challenging, the excursion to Barker Pass offers grand views of the peaks and ridges in the upper canyon. This trip would be rated “easy” if not for the total distance of nearly 15 miles round trip.
Directions: West side of Highway 89, three miles south of Tahoe City. Parking is available.

This story originally appeared in the Tahoe World on Dec. 26. The http://www.tahoe-world.com/">Tahoe World is owned by Swift Communications, tahoe.com's parent company.