On the Trail
The new aerobic snowshoes that act like a pair of running shoes are the best kind of snowshoe to get you up and down a snow-packed mountain trail. These popular, high-tech items have small metal crampons attached to the bottom of the carbon-framed shoe that helps greatly with traction on packed snow. With a good pair of ski poles in addition to small snowshoes, hikers can travel easily up and down snowy mountain trails, while those wearing wearing the large trapper-type snowshoes often have a much more difficult time on the steeper trails. Some of the companies that make aerobic or running snowshoes are Atlas, Kahtoola, Crescent Moon, Redfeather, Northern Lites, Tubbs and Dion.
Fresh Powder
A downhill plunge in fresh deep powder is an exhilarating experience that avid sportsmen will travel long distances to experience. The best snowshoes for this activity are the large modified bearpaws with turned-up toes and aluminum frames. These snowshoes are lightweight and quite buoyant in deep snow and they will float you down the side of a steep hill in a manner that somewhat resembles skiing. Even so, it is advisable to keep moving your snowshoes as much as possible when traveling downhill so as to stay as near the surface as possible. Large wooden framed snowshoes also work well in this kind of situation and, in fact, they are more prone to glide because they lack the little, modern, metal crampons that are attached to the bottom for traction. Again, make sure that your shoe has a turned up toe, which helps in keeping the snowshoe from "submarining" into the white powder.
Trekking Cross Country
The long wood-framed Vermont-styled snowshoe was specially designed for traveling across the open winter terrain of the low rolling Vermont countryside. Long and narrow, these snowshoes were plenty buoyant for the uphill walk and sometimes acted like skis on a downhill glide. These types of snowshoes are no longer made (except perhaps by a few individual craftsmen), but most all types of snowshoes will work if you are just traveling over the farms and fields of the winter countryside. With aerobic snowshoes, you will need an already packed trail and you might want to join the trend and consider running instead of walking. If you do decide to do this, you will be participating in a new and growing winter sport, called snowshoe running.
Article Written By Henri Bauholz
Henri Bauholz is a professional writer covering a variety of topics, including hiking, camping, foreign travel and nature. He has written travel articles for several online publications and his travels have taken him all over the world, from Mexico to Latin America and across the Atlantic to Europe.
