I live in WAY northern Minnesota, have very hard freezes, lots of snow and ice. We have been using an Arctic Armor Mesh Winter Cover with great sucess. No problems with rips, tears, shredding, etc. It does not require a pillow - the water falls right through when it melts or rains on it - no pooling or puddles in the middle to create a swamp. It comes with a lot of excess for your pool size so even when it lays on the water as directed, there is additional cover over the sides to cable in/down. We leave our skimmer and return open with all hoses off so the water just drops out if it gets there. Drain about 6-8" below skimmer depending on where the return is to be sure its below return. For us, a leaf net over the winter cover early on is a must because of the trees around the pool. Once they are done dropping leaves for good, it is pulled off and put away. Anything else that drops is minor and just sits on top of the cover to be blown off or swept off, whatever.
We open to crystal clear water with just a tiny bit of silt at the bottom.
edit: This is not a mesh cover like a leaf net, it looks solid black with a very tightly woven mesh that only lets water through and it IS intended specifically as a winter cover to be used in areas with ice and snow. (there was some confusion at PF last year about mesh covers)