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)