For the few of you who crave this advice, however, here goes:
Need to know. What's comfortable for you. If the shovel you now own seemed heavy the last time you cleared six inches from the sidewalk, head to the store for a new one. You're a year older, after all, and these things don't get easier with age. At the store, check whether the shaft is long enough for you to shovel while standing straight. The shaft can be made of metal or wood, but be sure the handle is D-shaped, so it can be grabbed and held easily, for longer periods, and can help leverage the load and be used to apply force for pushing snow or scraping ice.
Material world. You want even wet snow to slide off the shovel, so you may want to buy a metal one with a Teflon or enamel coating. Experts recommend metal (aluminum, usually) over plastic because metal tends to last longer and can support heavier loads of snow. Metal edges can dig down to the pavement and be used to scrape frozen meltwater from sidewalk or driveway. (But don't use a shovel to chop thick ice. That's what ice scrapers are for.) Actually, spraying the blade with vegetable oil or WD-40 helps the wet snow slide off a bit better.
Operating manual. Most shovel blades range between 14 inches and 18 inches wide; blade width determines how many passes you'll have to make to clean off the walk. Since most shovelers remove snow along the width of a sidewalk rather than the length, an 18-inch-wide blade will make shorter work of the job. Then again, it's easier to lift with a 14-inch blade.
Some shovels are actually pushers, which require little or no lifting. One end of the blade is curved in the same manner as a snowplow, so that snow is pushed to the side. Some pushers come on wheels; unfortunately, the wheels don't come with chains in case you get stuck.
