Snowshoeing: A beginners guide to the alternative of skiing and snowboarding

For a long time the beautiful scenery of snowy mountains has been reserved to those who know how to ski or snowboard (and can afford it). But now there is an alternative which does not require hours of practice and courses as well as a a big budget: snowshoeing. It requires only minutes to learn and gives everybody the opportunity to experience the beauty of the mountains like only skiers or snowboarders could do it in the past. In this article I give a short introduction on how snowshoes work, what activities you can do with snowshoes and which snowshoes you should buy according to your needs.

How snowshoes work: Snowshoes have two basic functionalities. First they enlarge your footprint and thus prevent you from sinking into deep snow. Second they provide traction on icy surfaces because they have crampons on the bottom. Snowshoes can in general be attached to regular hiking or even snowboard boots.

What activities you can do with snowshoes: Snowshoes can be used for at least three different kinds of activities. The most common is to go hiking in the snow. Snowshoes allow you to leave ploughed paths and hike wherever you want. Because of the crampons on the bottom they allow you not only to cross fields of deep snow but also to climb steep and icy areas. The second kind of activity is to use them as a means to get up on mountaintops and go down by ski or snowboard. The ski or snowboard equipment is carried attached to your backpack when you climb up. It is an ideal way to leave marked slopes and go skiing or snowboarding in untouched deep powder snow. But this requires a good overall fitness and should only be done with avalanche equipment. The last and probably less known activity is to use them to jog in deep snow. This is comparable to jog on sand and is much more physically demanding than to jog on a normal surface.

What snowshoes you should buy: Quality snowshoes are available for less than $150 and can easily be bought on the internet. There is no need to try them first since there are normally only two different sizes available for different ranges of body weight. The main manufacturers of quality snowshoes are TUBBS, MSR or Redfeather (of course there are also other but less known brands). The only things you should consider are the following:

If you plan to go hiking you should look for a model which has solid (and a lot of) crampons on the bottom. Also it should have a heel lifter if you intend to climb steeper hillsides. When you have to decide which size you should buy you should keep in mind that you have to add the weight of your baggage to your own weight. Concerning the bindings you could (but this is not a necessity) look for bindings which allow a lateral movement. This offers more comfort when you transverse a lot of steep terrain. The material does not have an effect on the quality and usefulness of your snowshoes. Whether it is wood, aluminium or plastics, there are good snowshoes made of all of these materials, but plastic models tend to be a little bit better priced. If you want to use the shoes to carry up your snowboards or skis you have to look for special bindings for your ski or snowboard boots. Solid metal crampons are a must and the snowshoes should offer enough capacity for the extra weight of your skis or snowboard. For the purpose of jogging there are specially designed snowshoes. They tend to be longer and less wide, so that your natural movement is affected too much.

PS: The picture above was taken on my last snowshoe hike. I hope this and the information given above inspires more people to try out this wonderful sport.