I know less than nothing about snowshoes, but a friend of mine does it, and it seems like good exercise, and kind of fits into the whole preparedness/survival idea.

How would I go about finding out information so I can decide if it's something for me?

It is a decent workout, you will sweat.

Remember to get shoes that are rated to hold you AND your gear. I've made this mistake before. :P

Best bet is to find a place that has trails and rents them. I see you are in MA and depending how far away you are I believe Beaver Brook in Hollis NH rents them and they have miles of trails.

It is good exercise and for me I like taking walks in Feb looking for shed deer antlers ( lets me see what survived the season up here.)

Kurt

There are several good snowshoe books out there. The basic stride is different and like riding horses you will feel sore in muscles you didn't know were there. My experience is with strictly traditional wood and rawhide strung models. There are patterns made for different terains and needs; long narrow freighting shoes like the Alaskan and Ojibway ( my fav) are for narrow trails with loads, smaller bear paw types are for heavy brush and a general midsized pattern often called the michigan is a good all around shoe. By far the best lashing is the simplest and most traditional use of lampwicking. It was long thought snowshoes were uniquelly a new world invention. A recent examination of Oetzi's 'backpack' theorises the fragments were in fact snowshoes, the size, surviving strings and drilled holes remarkably similar to the general parameters of traditional examples. It makes sense to me, since a backpack simply wasn't ergonomic with his rain cape. that cape precedes the best snowshoe garment also, the blanket capote of voyageur and mountain man fame. top it with a Toque and you can sneak across the canadian border for all the pharmaceutical bargains <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

It's not hard and is good exercise. Make sure your boots are snowshoe compatible and boots are warm enough. Get snowshoes rated for weight carried. Use poles to help with balance. The lightest on the market are northern lites snowshoes. I own the backcountry model. Can't wait to go on my once per year trip in February!

I was able to try out several different types of snow shoes last winter at a demo weekend at one of the ski areas in Waterville Valley, NH. I think they run them all over the country a couple weekends each winter. I'll try to post something when I get a schedule for this winter. Places that handle cross country gear will frequently have snow shoes, and let you demo them.

My son and I tried various contemporary models made by Tubbs and LL Bean. I tried one for "walking" and several others that could handle backpacking loads. It's important to try before you buy, since the style of binding, the crampons, frame, and webbing can all vary quite a bit.

If you're backpacking, make sure you have them sized for your weight PLUS what you'll typically be carrying. In winter, we sometimes have heavy packs, with extra clothing, food, heavier sleeping bags, and a 4 season tent.

I think a ballpark sizing guideline is something like;
8x25 120-200lbs
9x30 170-250lbs
10x36 220-300 lbs
That's about what Tubbs seems to recommend. I think Bean's are similar. (The sizes are in inches, a 9x30 frame is 9 inches wide, and 30 inches long. There are different shapes, and even male and female versions of some shoes, since I guess our strides are a little different.)

For me, around 190lbs, the 9x30's are great for walking, with just a daypack or butt pack. If I carry a 40-50lb pack, however, I'm still in the 30 range, but, at the high end of it, so in powder, I'm going to be wishing I had the additional "loft" of the 36's. They are a lot more to drag around though. In packed or icy conditions, the more important thing might be how aggressive the crampons are, so you really need to know what you want to do. That's why a couple demo hikes are important, I think.

(Don't ask why I have 50 lbs of stuff, I just seem to carry heavy in winter. Summer I wouldn't want more than 35lbs.)

Somebody else mentioned boots. They are going to be important too, I tend to wear pac boots, like my Sorel's with the snow shoes, but, you need to make sure the bindings will be able to get a good fit on your particular boots of choice.

Thanks Ron, that's great information. I found a place in Weston Weston Ski Track that not only rents, but gives lessons. If we get the snow that's predicted on Friday, I'm going to try to get there Saturday.

That facility in Weston sounds interesting, it would be a great place to break in some new Scouts on cross country skis or snow shoes before going into the mountains. Thanks for the reference.

I had mentioned the "introduction" day we went to last year in a previous post. I poked around and found this year's info:
http://www.wintertrails.org/
Winter Trails Day is coming up, January 7, 2006. It looks like from their site that it's going to be at 100+ locations around the US and Canada. It was a great way to have some fun, and demo lots of different gear at one time for free. I think they were also running sales on gear that weekend, at least up at the Waterville Valley location.

If you're working up a sweat, I'd hazard a guess that you're doing it wrong. Working up a sweat in winter will kill you, and native americans used snowshoes regularly for months on end, in temperatures of 40 below, year after year, until the invention of the snowmobile.

Disclaimer: I've only gone snowshoeing once, in the Canadian Armed Forces reserves for a winter warfare weekend exercise, but we travelled a considerable distance and I don't remember being winded or exhausted; in fact, it was the most fun I ever had on a military exercise.

Backpacking on snowshoes doesn't make a lot of sense to me; far better to get yourself a proper sled for towing and put your gear on that, which is how the Canadian Army and native americans, at least, do it.

My guess is, you're carrying all your winter survival gear in a humongous backpack, weighing twice as much as it does in summer, and wearing oversize snowshoes to compensate for the added weight. Ditch the backpack; buy yourself a couple of cheap children's sleds, made out of molded plastic, rig up a handle (so they don't run into you when you're going downhill), tie your backpacks onto them and haul your gear behind you.

When I was learning, I sweated a lot. And I sweat a lot in the deep stuff, but me with even light gear is heading up to the top range of what they make snow shoes for.

(10 pounds in 6 months might not be much, but it's something)

ironraven;

Hope I didn't come across as sounding snotty or anything like that. As I said, I've only snowshoed once in my life (although I've tried to go several times in the past couple of years, but couldn't find anyone to go with and didn't feel comfortable doing it on my own), but the one time I did it, I honestly don't remember it being very strenuous, and we were in very deep snow at one point (as I discovered when I took my snowshoes off and sank to my waist). That was about the only time on the trip I sweated <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

I think a lot of people feel they need to carry a heavy backpack in winter, but that's really the whole point of snowshoeing - you don't have to carry anything on your back, you just drag it behind you on a toboggan.

What kind of snowshoes do you use, if you don't mind my asking? I used the Canadian military (white aluminium with aircraft cable mesh). I bought a pair of them a few years back, with visions of going out snow-camping, and they've been sitting in my storage locker ever since. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I personally have my suspicions about the "modern" style which don't use the traditional mesh; I've heard (probably from purists) that snow tends to pile up on top of them and you then have to shake it loose every couple of steps, so walking is a little like lifting a shoveful of snow and shaking it off with each step; whereas, with the traditional mesh snowshoes, the snow just sifts through the mesh with every step and so it's really not much different from a leisurely walk. But I've never used the "modern" style of snowshoes and so am not qualified to comment on this.

I use a pair of aluminim and neoprene-like-stuff guys. They are in a box until I get them out for the winter- they were a prize in a raffle, so I can never remember the brand. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> I'm just glad they had some that fit a, uhm, "full sized gentleman", to coin a euphamism. I'm right at the limit of what my shoes should be used for, maybe a little over, and not in the best shape, so I'm working more than most people are. As a result, I sweat a little. :P

As for a sled, I like them, but only in open country. Get into forests, and off the trails, you want the pack. I don't carry much, just my normal EDC, a real knife, a sidearm, and a small pack "uh-oh" items and a sleeping bag.

Snowshoeing is lots of fun, and a great way to get into the backcountry for snow camping and exploring. I snowshoe extensively, including going off trail in the Sierra Nevada (and Adirondacks when I make it back there to visit family). I also test gear, and got to do a test series on the MSR Lightning Ascents last season for backpackgeartest.org.

With that as background, here are a few thoughts for you:

"Snowshoeing: From Novice to Master" (Prater & Felkley, from The Mountaineers Books) is in my opinion the best, and most up to date, book out there.

Here's a good site to take a peek at, too:

http://www.snowshoemag.com/

Mostly, though, I recommend just getting out and trying it. Rent or borrow snowshoes, or buy inexpensive ones from your local big box store or LLBean.

Start with day hikes and get the feel of the shoes; I bet soon you'll be blazing up and down steep terrain, doing plunge steps and glissades down steep slopes, and having a terrific time!

By the way, while pulks (sleds) are a great way to go for hauling lots of gear, they do limit the terrain you can traverse on snowshoes. One of the great things about snowshoes is that you can go almost anywhere, including up very steep slopes and through dense growth that skiers have trouble with. I go on local ski club trips but wear my snowshoes, and generally am ahead of or even with the pack (the only place I find skis faster is on level, groomed tracks and on long downhills; for uphills, non-groomed tracks and short downhills the snowshoes are equally fast).

I personally use MSR and Northern Lites snowshoes; both are excellent choices, good for different conditions. For mountainous terrain and hard packed, icy or mixed conditions, it's hard to beat the MSR Denali Evo Ascents (the Lightning Ascents are a close second, with some caveats noted in my review). They have aggressive traction and heel lift bars that make climbing easier. For other conditions, I really appreciate the light weight and great floatation of the Northern Lites. Both brands have easy-to-use rubber strap bindings that work with any shoe (you don't need special shoes to snowshoe - just something reasonably waterproof with some gaiters).

Glad to answer more questions and point you to other resources...

- Steve