7 Snowshoeing Tips for Beginners

When winter sets in and the snow starts, it’s time for some exciting snowshoeing. Snowshoeing has been done since time immemorial, when man tried to find a way to move in knee-deep snow. Snowshoeing has become a highly popular winter activity because it is fun to do for people of all ages and easy too. In fact, it is a perfect aerobic exercise with low impact. If you are just beginning to learn snowshoeing, here are seven useful tips to help you enjoy the activity to the fullest.

1. Starting out

For the first time out on the snow, you should start it slowly by choosing the easy trails and as you build up stamina, move on to tougher trails.

2. Simple activity

The activity is an inexpensive one as all you need is a pair of waterproof boots or hiking leather boots, provided you wear warm wool socks to keep out the cold. Instead of buying the poles and snowshoes, you can rent the gear initially and later when you are sure about continuing with the activity regularly, you can invest in a good pair of women’s or men’s snowshoes for long-term use.

3. Gearing up

You need to remember that staying comfortable in the cold weather condition is vital and hence layered dressing is best. Here are the items you need to wear:

• Thermal underwear and wool socks for base layer
• Fleece jacket or a shirt with long sleeves over the basal layer
• Waterproof jacket and snow pants for outer layer. Gloves, wool hat, hiking boots or shoes and snowshoes complete the outer layer.

4. Other essentials

Goggles or polarized sunglasses, trekking poles and extra pair of socks, first aid kit, snacks, water, and sunscreen in your backpack are other essentials you need.

5. Proper snowshoes

Most of the modern snowshoes have straps or a binding step in system to keep the boots fastened securely with a plastic decking present on the snowshoe frame. This plastic casing prevents postholing, in case the snow is deep.

6. How to begin

With the poles and snowshoes on, you can start on the trail and it is best to follow an experienced snowshoer who can break the trail for you, as going into fresh snow can be tiring, even if it is fun to do.

Walking on snow is just like walking on beach sand. Therefore, you need to lengthen and widen your stride. This prevents the snowshoes from bombarding each other.

The poles are for balance and keeping up a comfortable pace.

7. Scaling rough terrain

Once you get used to walking on even trail, you can try the downhill and uphill trails. The crampons or metal teeth present on snowshoes help for better grip in uneven terrain.

Take smaller strides, when you walk uphill to get better grip. For downhill, you need to slide slowly with control. Take the same short steps with knees bent a little.

For rocks or uneven terrain, or other obstacles use the poles for balance. Since you cannot walk backwards in the snowshoes, you need to be careful about your movement.

While you are enjoying your first snowshoe ride, ensure you follow the right etiquette. Since cross-country skiing and snowshoeing is done on the same trails, you should take care not to intrude on the smooth and parallel ski tracks. And keep to your designated trail, as moving off trail can damage the terrain irreparably.