An Origin Story from Snowfoot Founder, Robert Behrens
The Curiosity Behind Snowfoot
People often ask how and why Snowfoot came to be. It’s a fair question — Snowfoot is a unique product that definitely falls outside the mold of typical winter sporting goods. It’s rare enough to see a new company break into the outdoor gear space, but it’s even more rare to see a completely new product category emerge.
When people ask about the origins of Snowfoot, it’s usually followed by, “Where are you from?” And when I respond with “Texas,” that’s when the Rare Jackpot Bell starts ringing. Suddenly, the story takes a turn for the epic, the funny, and (most of all) the unforgettable.
From The Flatlands Of Texas To The Snowy Alps
So yes, you read that right. I’m from Texas. A guy from Texas invented a snowshoe.
Imagine the pride in my father’s voice when I called him and said, “I’m the first kid from my high school to sell snowshoes on Amazon — in Mexico.” But to be clear, I didn’t invent the snowshoe in Texas, nor did I grow up dreaming about alpine adventures.
My love for the outdoors started during a childhood family vacation, but snowshoes? I had zero exposure. The closest I came was seeing a pair in a history book or maybe on a TV documentary. I’d never touched a pair, and certainly never used them.
Discovering The Outdoors, One Step At A Time
As I grew older, I fell in love with skiing and climbing, even though they were activities I could only do a few times a year. While in college, I got a job at an outdoor sports store. That’s where the door really opened.
I started going on trips into the mountains with proper gear. I began camping regularly, learning how to navigate trails and generally expanding my relationship with nature. I purchased my first pair of alpine touring skis mounted with telemark bindings. It changed everything.
Suddenly, I wasn’t just exploring the outdoors in summer. I was experiencing the raw beauty of winter in the mountains. At that point, skiing became the most exciting thing in my life. But still, no snowshoes. In fact, the store I worked at didn’t even carry them, probably because we weren’t remotely close to snow-covered terrain.
A Serendipitous Turn: Love & The Alps
Then life did what it often does. It threw me a beautiful curveball. I met an Italian woman. She happened to be an avid skier who lived near the Italian Alps. Long story short, I fell in love, moved to Italy, and we rented a house in a quiet ski village nestled in the mountains.
Suddenly, the dream I didn’t even fully know I had was real. For the next three years, I skied nearly every day of the winter season — 150+ days a year.
I immersed myself in ski mountaineering, climbing and descending peaks daily. The terrain in front of our house was a north-facing haven for freeride skiing. A unique microclimate meant it held the best snow in the area. But some of the best lines required tricky approaches, like steep slopes where skinning with skis was impossible.
Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention
One day, after slogging up another technical slope, I turned to my wife and said, “It would be easier and safer to just hike up these slopes. I’m going to improvise something.”
I went to the garage, strapped my ice crampons onto plastic fruit bins, and started walking in the snow. As you might expect, the first prototype was terrible. My concept of snowshoes being big and flat totally skewed my design. They were bulky, clumsy and didn’t move well, especially on the ascent.
But failure is a great teacher. The plastic quickly broke, and I realized that if something snapped off and it still worked, then maybe that part wasn’t needed. Each iteration got smaller, lighter and more efficient.
Eventually, I landed on a design not much bigger than my boot and what would eventually become Snowfoot’s unique footprint. This smaller design allowed for natural leg movement, better agility and technical climbing capability — all things traditional snowshoes struggle with.
From Garage Prototypes To Mountain Testing
That winter, I used my homemade snowshoe prototypes exclusively. So did my wife and a ski buddy. For two more seasons, we tested them daily, climbing with skis on our backpacks, logging hundreds of hours in real-world backcountry conditions.
We used them in everything, including powder, crust, icy slopes, wind-blown ridges and steep alpine gullies. After a few years of this, I had a realization: this wasn’t just a DIY tool anymore. This could be a real product.
Turning An Idea Into A Brand
My first instinct was to pitch the idea to a large outdoor gear manufacturer. I thought, maybe someone would want to buy it and take it to market. (Spoiler: they didn’t.) But I did receive one invaluable piece of feedback from a major climbing brand:
“The concept is valid. You should build it yourself.”
So that’s what I did. And just like that, Snowfoot was born.
It didn’t happen overnight. There were designs to refine, materials to source, and countless questions about production, branding and marketing. But I had the one thing that no manufacturer could give me: real-world experience with a problem that wasn’t being addressed by any existing gear.
What Makes Snowfoot Different?
Snowfoot isn’t your typical snowshoe. It’s compact, agile, and designed specifically for steep ascents and technical mountain terrain. Where traditional snowshoes are meant for flat or rolling landscapes, Snowfoot was born from the need to tackle real alpine conditions where you’re climbing with skis on your back or crossing variable snow.
In that way, it’s not just a product — it’s a new category of backcountry travel tools. It’s meant for people who push deeper, climb higher and explore terrain where conventional gear falls short.
The Beginning Of A Bigger Story
And that’s where the origin of Snowfoot ends, and a new chapter begins. Today, Snowfoot is used by mountain professionals, backcountry skiers, guides and adventurers who demand performance, agility and reliability in snow-covered environments.
From a garage in the Alps to snowy slopes around the world, the journey of Snowfoot reflects something bigger than one product. It’s about passion, problem-solving and the spirit of adventure that lives inside every outdoor enthusiast.
Until next time, happy trails.
– Robert
Learn more about Snowfoot on our About Us page.