Snowshoes are much easier to use than cross-country skis. Most people master the duck-like waddle required within a few minutes. Although some people disdain them, I find ski poles reduce the number of times I trip over my newly acquired webbed feet. Snowshoes are also much less expensive than the kind of cross-country ski equipment you need to carry a substantial pack in the backcountry. For snowshoeing footwear, you can use a pair of inexpensive pac boots, which have a molded rubber bottom, stitched leather or nylon top and some kind of felt liner. Pac boots are fine for lighter loads. For heavier loads, scour the shops for an insulated hiking boot that offers a reasonable amount of support. Ordinary leather hiking boots aren’t warm enough for the depths of winter in the high mountains.

The smallest models of snowshoes work well, even with an overnight-size pack, if you'll be traveling on routes where skiers or other snowshoers have broken trail. By small, I mean 8x25 inches or thereabouts. If you're trying to break trail yourself, however, small snowshoes will sometimes let you plunge in to your waist. You can either take that as a sign that you've lost favor with the Almighty or that you've encountered the rotten sugar-snow conditions common during some seasons in the Rockies and elsewhere. Supplication and medium-to-large snowshoes are essential under those circumstances. The pair I use for big loads measures 9x30 inches.

Snowshoeing is surging in popularity right now, and manufacturers have responded by designing better and better snowshoes. Newer models have substantial claws underfoot that offer improved traction in steep, crusty snow and better bindings that give you more control over your snowshoes when traversing a steep hillside.

Next Page: Cross Country Skiing

Site Map  - 

Copyright © 2006 Beginner's Guide. All content rights reserved.
Trademarks and brands mentioned are property of their respective copyright owners.