Previous years when I've tried snowshoeing, and even when I've taught it to school groups at Five Rivers, I've secretly wondered what all the fuss was about. With only a shallow covering of snow on the ground, straightforward snowboots really seem to be just as useful and a lot less hassle.
But this year snowshoeing is starting to make sense to me. When the alternative is to sink up to your knees in cold wet stuff with every exhausting step, strapping a pair of tennis racketty things on your feet is suddenly a very attractive solution. By helping redistribute your weight the snowshoes keep you safely on the surface so you can enjoy your wintery hike with relative ease.
I went on an excellent hour-and-a-half-long hike around my favourite nature preserve today with my Japanese friend. She enjoyed it so much that when we got back to the visitor centre she immediately signed up to become a Friend of Five Rivers - totally unprompted by me - so that she and her family can enjoy the benefit of free snowshoe hire for the rest of the season.
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