Hitting the trails or the back country in snow shoes is a great winter activity thats as easy as walking. But snow shoes come in a variety of types and sizes and to choose the right one you need to consider a few things. Lets look at the different parts of the snow shoe. The first thing to consider is the binding. The binding are the straps that keep the snow show attached to your boot.  It should be comfortable… …and easy to get on and off.  Remember you will likely be wearing gloves so make sure the binding is easy to adjust and do up with gloves on. The next part of the snow shoe to consider is how thebinding is attached to the frame.  It should be flexible and of good quality because it affects how the snow shoe flips up the tail… thats the back end of the snowshoe.  It should allow the tail to shed snow as you walk. By shedding snow you reduce the weight you have to lift and the drag on the snow shoe. On the bottom of the snow shoe youll find crampons. They provided traction.  If youre doing back country snow shoeing with icy areas youll want lots of traction… for gentle flat trails you dont need so much. Too much traction isnt usually a bad thing. Too little can cause problems on ice. Now that you know the different parts of the snow shoe and what they do there are still a few more things to know before you decide on the snow shoe youll be using. The first thing to think about is where youll be snow shoeing… by that I mean the type of terrain. This is a Tubbs Frontier snow shoe.  Youll notice that it has aggressive crampons on both the front and rear. This is excellent for grip or braking going downhill andor on side hill packed snow because you need to be able to control your ascent or descent. For flat trails you wouldnt need such aggressive crampons but as I said before too much traction is never a bad thing. The next thing to think about is how much you weigh. The more you weigh the deeper youll sink in the snow.  We call the amount you sink into the snow float. If you weigh more youll need a longer snow show so you dont sink so far. If you weigh less you would go with a shorter snow shoe because you wont sink as much and a longer snow shoe could be awkward. How do you know how short or long to go based on weight?  Just check the tag on the snow shoes.  It willtell you maximum and minimum weights for that size shoe. The last thing to consider is gender.  Because womentend to take narrower steps than men… …the tail on a womans snow shoe is narrower. And naturally that means the tail of a mans snow show is wider. Have fun in the great snowy outdoors and enjoy your snow shoe excursions.  But before you go make sureyoure outfitted with the right snow shoes… …from Canadian Tire.

Jen and I wanted to try out snowshoeing for the first time, so we set off for a rather easy trail (source lake) in the Snoqualmie Pass.

Snowshoes may seem basic enough to buy as a first timer but as avid snowshoe enthusiasts would beg to differ. Although from the outside looking in it seems pretty cut and dry there are some major things to consider when purchasing a set of snowshoes. Things like; what type of snowshoe is going to…

Learning how to snowshoe is easier than you think. With just a few pieces of gear, some warm outerwear and a couple basic techniques, you can have fun exploring a winter wonderland.

There was one place in particular that caught my eye while I hiked the Superior Hiking Trail (SHT) this last Summer. Bean & Bear Lake. I’ve never done an overnight Winter backpacking trip in my life, and Bear Lake seemed to me a great place to spend my first night in the frigid Winter backcountry […]

A winter walk, snowshoeing through deep powder snow in Niseko, Hokkaido, Japan.