snowshoes are cool, if you can FIND them

Grrr! my mom and I went to go snowshoe shopping, and all it did was make me sooo glad I'd done some research.

We went to MEC (out of stock), Trailhead (running low on stock, no knowledge staff guy 'helped' me by offering up 2 sizes too small snowshoes for racers), The Outdoor store (who had a very knowledgeable guy with everything except the exact sho I'm looking for!) and the worst of the bunch, Bushtukah.

That makes me so sad to say! I've had only one other bad experience there, with a dude who pretended to know about packs but didn't, but then an actually knowledgeable guy canme and we were fine. Every other time was great, experienced staff giving good advice and making sure we left either with the right product or no product. Until today, when this guy Aaron (I think) basically knew way less than me (which is saying a lot) but continued to fake like he did. His advice was to get one of two pairs of shoes: a men's pair (A said there's no difference to the women's, where there most certainly IS) or a pair of shoes that are 2 weight categories too large, and I'm talking shoes for a woman weighing from 180-240 pounds. The shoes are 6 inches longer and some amount wider and would be so unsuitable for me. His reasoning? There's no real difference.

So. According to this guy, I could pick any size or make off the wall and not really see a difference. Which totally explains the enormous wall of differnet brands, makes, and also explaing the wealth of material on the sport which he clearly has never read. Even after he know how much we knew and my mom actually asked if there was someone who used shoes in the store, he actually said "no, it's okay, she seems to know what she wants". Yeah, I want service from a professional and experienced sales rep, you asshole! No, don't offer me a discount, you have nothing for me here and you KNOW it! Stop trying to sell me gargantuan garbage pail lids to strap to my feet! Don't you know that's the equivalent to Saying "Hi, my name is Aaron! I think you're a total moron and I'd like to invite you and your idiot mom to waste money on something you don't need or want, and possibly cause you joint problems for the sake of commission. Because I believe you two are not educated and/or have more money than sense, I'd like to invite you to try on anything you see! It will invariably be great and you will look fabulous".

Asshole.

So. Now I can only cautiously say anything about Bushtukah. They often have great products and I definitely will still stop in BUT never without doing enough research so I can pick out a guy who uses the equipment from the guy who has (or hasn't) learned a few key words. Be cautious, because officially at this point it's hit or miss. I've had wonderful experiences with sales reps who sent us to other stores because they don't have what we needed, but that's exactly what will bring us back again and again. So, I guess, be aware. Darn you, bad sales people who won't just admit this isn't their specialty and they should call back for X or Y ! Darn you!

And of course, my search continues. HOWEVER thans to the Outdoor Store guy (whatever store is accross from MEC) I have an even better idea of what I want/need and can pretty much just go and pick it up, whever I find it.

On an up note, yay snowshoes! It will happen!