Snowshoe beats boot for winter walking

Sophie Nicholson    trekkingholidays     Iceland, snowshoe, snowshoeing, trekking, Trekking in Iceland, Walking, winter sports

For some, the onset of winter cannot come soon enough. Most skiers, snowboarders, ice climbers and snow leopards spend all year impatiently waiting for temperatures to fall and for snow to start falling on them there hills.

Sometimes boots just aren't enough. Image: Photos: Ragnar Th. Sigurðsson

However, not all outdoor enthusiasts are made of the same stuff, and for many of us average hill walkers, the arrival of winter can actually put paid to any trekking holidays we’ve planned – and be a bit of a pain in the icicle.

If you are not versed in the world of crampons and the art of self-arrest, a hard winter can kind of put paid to any of those fabulously relaxing and invigorating winter walking days out on the hill.

But don’t pack away your trekking gear just yet…

Winter has a way of turning things hostile and transforming the mountains into an environment reserved for the most committed, knowledgeable, and skilled of mountaineers. And for the rest of us…well, we might as well spend the next few months drinking tea, doing DIY and counting down the days until spring arrives to shove winter where it belongs.

But wait. Without wanting to sound like a wheatgrass drinking, zen yoga type, there is another way………and this way, my gaiter loving friends, is the way of the snowshoe! Snowshoeing has been around for thousands of years but forget any images of Eskimo wooden tennis rackets that you might be visualising, snowshoes now are incredibly technologically advanced and cool looking bits of kit!

The snowshoeing industry has really exploded in recent years as it has responded to the desires of many hill lovers to continue to escape the crowds and explore our winter wonderlands without having to be hardened mountaineers or alpine goats.

Bye, bye tennis rackets, hello snowshoes. Image Flickr/_e.t

Because of this, snowshoeing is currently the fastest growing winter sport in the world, made up of casual snowshoers who hike trails for pleasure, snowboarders who use their snowshoes to access the powder of the backcountry, and actual competitors who race. There are also snowshoes made specifically for kids so it is really a sport for all ages and stages.

Essentially the beauty of snowshoeing lies in its simplicity, accessibility and adaptability. Trekking in Iceland or Canada, in fact any regions hit by snowfalls, all you have to do is throw on your regular winter walking kit and you’re out there keeping fit in the winter months for a relatively low outlay of cash: you can pick up a pair of low-end, beginner snowshoes for as little as £100 which is significantly cheaper than the £300 you’d have to shell out for an equivalent pair of skis with bindings.

And that’s before you’ve budgeted for ski boots…So now you know, there are no more excuses. Put down that cup of tea and if there’s snow outside your door, do your post-Xmas belly a favour and rent or buy yourself a pair of snowshoes – it may be one small step for man, but it’s sure as hell one giant leap for snowkind!

About the author

Sophie Nicholson wrote 7 articles on this blog.

Sophie left the real world for a life of adventures in the world's high places. She is passionate about the vertical wilderness, hiking, backcountry skiing, mountaineering, biking, rock climbing and ice climbing. She writes for a number of leading outdoor/adventure publications and websites and is supported by Faction Skis, Arcteryx, Go-Pro, and Mammut. She is also studying to be an International Mountain Leader and has an incurable weakness for Cadbury's Creme Eggs.

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Related posts:

1. Walking gear : how getting your kit off keeps you warm
2. Winter walking: what you’ll need
3. Walking the North Highland Way

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