Snowshoeing is a winter sport that appeals to all ages. It is popular for casual snowshoers who hike trails for pleasure, fitness fanatics seeking winter cross-training alternatives, backcountry enthusiasts who may not be skiers but wish to delve into the wilderness and escape the crowds and snowshoe competitors. Indeed there is even a European snowshoe Cup – trail running with snowshoes.
History of Snow Shoeing
Suite101 spoke to Lindsay Cannon, a snowshoeing guide for Track and Trail based in the French Alps, about the history of snowshoeing. “You may be surprised to learn that historians estimate that snowshoeing dates back 6,000 years to Central Asia,” Canon explains. “The development of an apparatus which allowed isolated communities to communicate, hunt and travel in winter months may well have been a matter of survival. The first snowshoe, the aim of which was to travel on the surface of the snowpack rather than sinking knee or thigh deep, and then later the development of the ski are arguably comparable in importance to the invention of the wheel.”
Ötzi the iceman, discovered on a glacier on the Austro-Italian border in 1991 and believed to be about 5,300 years old was found with the remnants of an ancient form of snowshoe. These wide and waterproof shoes were constructed using bearskin for the soles, deer hide for the top panels, and netting made of tree bark.
“Perhaps Ötzi drew his inspiration from nature for efficient snow travel,” Cannon suggests. Hares for example evolved with oversized, fluffy hind legs with hair even on the soles of the feet allowing them to keep to the surface of the snow.
Changing Image of Snowshoeing
The French call snowshoes racquets de neige which comes from the ancient French tennis game Jus de Paume. The widespread negative perception that snowshoeing is about stomping around in the snow with a pair of tennis racquets on your feet is rapidly changing.
TSL is the largest manufacturer of snow shoes in France. Back in 2000, TSL sold 140,000 snowshoes with sales growing by 30% each year. They claim it to be the fastest-growing winter activity. In North America, the SIA Snowsports Industries America also report that snowshoeing, statistically, is the fastest-growing winter sport exceeding the number of snowboarding debutants.
Snowshoeing for All Ages and Abilities
Snowshoeing is not suited solely to non-skiers or a mature age group (although these are large markets). Hill walkers and trekkers who enjoy mountaineering worldwide but don’t want to carry an ice axe and crampons can get out and about and enjoy the mountains in winter.
Cannon of Track and Trail emphasised the accessibility of this popular sport by stating, “Anyone who can walk can snowshoe.”
Snowshoeing is popular for family outings. Julia Tregaskis-Allen, a co-partner of Track and Trail says, "Whatever the age you can venture into the backcountry. By accessing the backcountry on snowshoes you get a completely different environment to skiers. Snow shoers can reach deeper parts of the forest. There is the opportunity for striding through fluffy untracked powder snow, observing animal tracks and parts of nature that you miss on skis." Bum sliding, running, rock-hopping even bouldering are some of the ways to enjoy the winter landscape on snowshoes for the more or less athletically inclined.
Modern Snowshoes and Snowshoeing Equipment
Today’s snowshoes are a lot more hi-tech than the ancient counterparts of Ötzi’s era.
- Aluminium snowshoes are typically used in the colder climates of Northern Canada and America.
- A composite plastic frame more suited to the temperate climate of the European Alps, includes a nine-point crampon (aluminium) with a front claw and 6 studs on the bottom and a strap system for attaching the crampons to walking boots.
- A built-in heel lift is useful for negotiating steeper slopes.
- High mountain snowshoes, designed for traversing more challenging terrain are equipped with serrated edged crampons.
Snowshoeing Clothing and Equipment
- Waterproof leather boot with ankle support that accepts the snowshoe (most trekking boots do).
- Snow gaiters.
- Trekking poles or ski poles
- Summer trekking clothing. Showerproof trousers (ski salopettes are typically too heavy) and waterproof jacket.
- Hat / neck gaiter such as a Buff for cold conditions.
- Light gloves (it’s worth carrying 2 pairs)
- Sunglasses
- Small backpack for carrying snacks, water, spare clothes and a flask for a hot drink during well-earned picnic breaks.
Since snowshoeing is a less equipment- and technique-intensive activity than backcountry or off-piste skiing it has a wide appeal.
Read more about snowshoe journeys in the European Alps at Winter Snowshoeing Holiday in the Alps
