What is snowshoeing - and is it easy for anyone to learn?
Created: 01/10/2023, 15:00
By: Anna Heyers
The crunching snow under your feet and pure, white nature - thanks to snowshoes you can get everywhere off the beaten track.
Everything you need to know about the popular winter sport.
Even if winter is still a long time coming in many places, some regions offer ideal conditions for discovering nature far from the ski slopes.
For example when snowshoeing.
But what is it actually and do you have to book an extra course for it?
Snowshoeing: a new old trend
Because of their surface, snowshoes prevent you from sinking deeply into the snow.
This allows you to get into corners where there are no well-trodden paths.
© Astrid Gast/Imago
Moving across the snow without sinking too deep?
Indigenous peoples already knew a solution more than 12,000 years ago: snowshoes.
Even if the variants of that time cannot be compared with today's modern models, the goal is the same: good progress even in deep snow.
Especially in areas where it snows often and for a long time, they were indispensable for hunting and family survival.
Fortunately, that is no longer necessary today.
Snowshoeing became popular leisure entertainment as early as the beginning of the 19th century.
The trend was born - and continues to this day.
What do you have to consider when snowshoeing?
Snowshoeing is easy to learn and requires no special knowledge.
Walking is a bit unusual at the beginning, however, because the shape of the snowshoes is much wider than your own winter boots.
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This shape means you don't sink so deep into the snow and you quickly get used to putting your feet down a little differently.
Together with the ski or hiking poles, you quickly get into a wonderful rhythm that pushes away all thoughts of everyday life.
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Snowshoeing: Is a course necessary?
Yes, if you want to try this type of winter sport, just rent the equipment and go.
As a rule, the lenders also give you a few good tips along the way.
This variant is particularly well suited when you are traveling in flat terrain.
In a course you not only learn how snowshoeing works, but also what you should pay attention to in nature and in the mountains.
These also include tips on avalanche awareness, which can be life-saving in dangerous situations.
In mountainous regions, it is also advisable to take an LSV device with you on your tour - and to be able to operate it.
This periodically emits radio signals that help locate a person.
