Steve Herkner and Scott Griner became lifelong fans of Treadrite Snowshoes while making maple syrup in Copemish, Michigan. The Treadrite Snowshoes allowed the pair to easily navigate the woods and deep snow while hanging lines for producing maple syrup. However, when Herkner and Griner found themselves in need for more snowshoes and some repairs on their current pairs, they discovered that the original inventor had gone out of business. Desperate for these high quality snowshoes, Herkner and Griner decided to buy the inventor out and S&S Snowshoes was born.
“They are great snowshoes. We wanted to keep making them,” Griner explained. “I wanted them for myself originally and then I thought well they are so good, I should go sell them.”
Treadrite snowshoes are made of recycled tires, making them extremely environmentally friendly because tires are not accepted at many landfills and create substantial pollution when burned.
The snowshoes are also wider and more circular than most snowshoe designs, giving the user more mobility and the ability to walk backwards with ease. “They are a different design than most snowshoes because the whole shoe picks up with your foot,” Griner said. “ It’s just like the bottom of your shoe, you don’t drag it like you do traditional snowshoes.”
In the six years since they started S&S Snowshoes, Griner and Herkner have moved the business to Thompsonville, Michigan and have continued making high quality, Treadrite Snowshoes. They stand behind their product and continue to recommend them to anyone interested in snowshoeing.