The muscles snowshoers use are the same ones used in walking and hiking hilly terrain. Fit Frog notes that if you are a runner, substituting snowshoeing for running during the winter may improve your running fitness more than simply running through the winter. (Dave McMurray)įurther, choosing snowshoeing as your primary winter-training activity has many benefits. Note the depth of the snowshoe tracks in front. Jeff Lang courageously perseveres through some extreme postholing on Mount Backus. Lindsay Rousseau clearly knows better! (Nicole Lisafeld) The author unsuccessfully tests out life without snowshoes. As well, because snowshoeing uses every major muscle group at relatively high intensity for extended periods of time, it requires high caloric expenditure (400–1000 calories per hour). As an aerobic workout, snowshoeing will help you improve or maintain cardiovascular fitness. Calgary’s Fit Frog Adventures ( considers snowshoeing to be a safe, cross-training, conditioning sport that provides simultaneously a low-impact, aerobic, strength-training and muscle-endurance workout. Snowshoeing is as good a physical workout as you can get in the winter. The health benefits of snowshoeing are undeniable and profound. Provided you approach the activity sensibly, you have everything to gain by exploring the mountain environment on snowshoes. In addition, snowshoes can take you to places inaccessible to you when you are on skis or foot. Snowshoeing is great for your health and easy on your wallet, and practically anyone can do it. It can be quite painful! The Benefits and Advantages of Snowshoeing Also, snowshoes prevent the brutal shin-bashing ordeals that many encounter when they break through a hard layer of snow (much like the crust of bread) only to have their shins bash into that layer. However, as a general rule, snowshoes will dramatically improve your flotation, eliminating most nightmares. Postholing while wearing snowshoes is not completely uncommon, especially early in the season. I’ll let the following photos by Dave Mc-Murray and Nicole Lisafeld answer that question! However, with the recent and tremendous increase in the number of people taking to snowshoes, and significant technological advances in snowshoe design, snowshoers can now set their sights on far loftier objectives that formerly were the domain of mountaineers and ski mountaineers. Fifty or so years ago, the recreational aspect of snowshoeing may have been limited to following summer trails or exploring open areas of low-angled terrain – basically, easy hiking in the winter. Thus, snowshoeing has started to become more recreational in nature.Īlthough snowshoeing as a recreational activity can be traced back to the late 19th century, it is in the mid- to late 20th century that we have seen a significant increase in this pastime. The invention of backcountry skis and significant design improvements over the past 35 years, however, have dramatically decreased a person’s need, and often his or her desire, to use snowshoes for practical travel in the backcountry. Historically, snowshoeing was a primarily utilitarian activity – that is, snowshoes provided an efficient means to get from A to B when the terrain between A and B was covered in deep snow. The world of snowshoeing seems to be undergoing rapid changes and shifts in focus. Ignorance is not bliss here – it can be deadly! Please read all the preliminary information presented in the next section before setting out. Read moreīefore setting out to enjoy some of the most wondrous scenery on this planet, it is important to be properly informed about snowshoes, snowshoeing and the environment you will be entering. Stunning colour photos, informative maps and detailed route descriptions are provided for each trip, as well as level of difficulty, time required and distance travelled. Some of the routes included are Akamina Pass, Cascade Amphitheatre, Elbow Lake, Emerald Lake, Ink Pots, Kananaskis Village, Lake Louise, Peyto Lake, Spray Lake, Stanley Glacier Valley, Troll Falls, Upper and Lower Kananaskis Lakes, Wapta Falls, and many more. This new guidebook features 50 popular routes in the southern Canadian Rockies, from Waterton in the far south to Bow Lake about 500 km to the north. ![]() Each season thousands of winter-loving individuals and families venture into the stunning winter landscape for a quick getaway or an extended tour in areas surrounding Calgary, Canmore, Banff, Jasper, and Waterton. Snowshoeing continues to be one of the fastest growing sports in North America. The perfect resource for planning a quick snowshoeing adventure in the heart of Canada’s glittering Rocky Mountains.
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