$230
After spending about a decade building medical lab equipment, Bob Dion, 52, discovered that his product-design skills were needed in the world of winter sports. In 2000, Dion and his wife, Denise, both snowshoe racers, began handcrafting lightweight aluminum snowshoes in Readsboro, Vt. Last winter three gold medalists at the U.S. Snowshoe Association's national championships won wearing early versions of the Dion Snowshoes 121 Sprint.