An additional insulative layer such as fleece should be stored in your backpack for the stops along the trail. Otherwise, the caloric expenditure of snowshoeing is usually more than sufficient to maintain body temperature. Hydration: It is important to constantly be aware of the need to stay hydrated, especially during the dry winter months. Even indoors, the consistent dry air will steal moisture from areas of high moisture content, including the human body, your pet, and your wooden furniture.
Native people recognized this, and developed skin moisturizers from indigenous animal and plant sources to maintain moist skin during the dry winter months. We need to do the same, and also drink plenty of water throughout the day. It is easy to see some of your moisture escaping you during exhalation, as a cloud forms with each breath.
This looks impressive near bovines and other quadrupeds, but they too need to constantly re-hydrate as well. The need to stay hydrated cannot be over-stressed during the winter months. Many of us do not drink enough water year around, but we have silly reasons for being dehydrated during the winter.
We do not want to stop and pee in the cold conditions of the outdoors, a situation that is likely to come about anyhow, as our urinary bladder constricts due to the colder outside temperatures. Some of us feel that the cold temperatures of many beverages will and unfortunately they do reduce your body temperature.
You should then drink warm beverages if this could potentially become a problem resulting in hypothermia. Where to Go: The beauty of snowshoeing is that you do not need a trail or pay a user fee to enjoy an hour or a day. Any area with public access that is covered with snow is a viable snowshoe adventure.
Snowshoers are able to traverse areas that would be all but impossible to traverse during other seasons, as the snow depth and frozen water provide the floatation necessary for the snowshoes. It is certainly easier to snowshoe on packed trails, but users should spend some time off trail to truly take advantage of the floatation and maneuverability of the snowshoes.
Sudden immersion into ice cold water should be avoided. Impact on the Environment: The depth of the snow will protect the vegetation from damage and impact from the snowshoes. Once above treeline, it is still of utmost importance to stay on the designated trail, as the fragile alpine vegetation is even more vulnerable to damage caused by human impact.
The traction devices can mare exposed rock above treeline, in the same way as crampons. Snowshoeing actually provides a welcome relief to non-hibernating animals, as the snowshoe trails will harden up overnight, making it easier for animals to traverse a region the following day. The slow speed of snowshoers does not seem to startle wildlife in the same way as cross country skiing and snowmobiling. Eventually, these blocks got longer, as people who lived in Scandinavia, where snow is on the ground frequently, discovered they could use these blocks for skis.
In this manner, snowshoes formed the foundation for the first skis as well. As people started to cross into North America, snowshoes continued to evolve. Many of the tribes in this area introduced the idea of snowshoes to those who came to visit.
Sometimes, these snowshoes were incredibly long, as they were made from trees and timber. Furthermore, snowshoes took on many shapes and forms. Some were round while others were square, and some snowshoes were fat and wide, while others were long and narrow. They quickly discovered that snowshoes took different forms for different conditions. As time went on, people continued to explore the wilderness, and snowshoes played a critical role in this.
Eventually, snowshoes became a great form of both leisure and exercise. They were used by military units who had to patrol the wilderness during the winter. They were used by explorers who needed to chart the rest of North America and even used by clubs that wanted to hold races and hikes. Virtual Museum Learn more about the history of snowshoes in Canada. Search The Canadian Encyclopedia. Remember me. I forgot my password. Why sign up? Create Account.
Suggest an Edit. Enter your suggested edit s to this article in the form field below. Accessed 12 November In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Article published March 07, ; Last Edited June 03, The Canadian Encyclopedia , s. Thank you for your submission Our team will be reviewing your submission and get back to you with any further questions.
Thanks for contributing to The Canadian Encyclopedia. Some native snowshoe makers developed lightweight racing shoes with a small, narrow design, until the Montreal snowshoe club set a limit in , requiring that snowshoes had to weigh at least 1.
More relaxed snowshoe hikes, including women and children, were also a fixed part of the social scene in French Canada and the Eastern United States up through the s and s. Snowshoeing seemed to have fallen out of popularity across most of North America until advances in materials attracted a new generation to the sport. In the s, snowshoe designers experimented with a variety of materials to make durable, lightweight shoes.
A Canadian company, Magline, developed a magnesium snowshoe in the late s that used webbing made from steel airplane cable coated with nylon. Aluminum snowshoes arrived around the same time, as well as snowshoes made of new materials, such as Lexan, which is the trade name for polycarbonate, the material used in astronauts' helmets.
Even manufacturers of traditional wood-framed snowshoes experimented with manmade materials in the lacings, for example switching from rawhide to nylon coated neoprene. The new materials surpassed the old, because they did not require extensive care and maintenance. Wood and rawhide shoes had to be revarnished periodically and the webbing waxed, or else they would lose their water resistance.
And like all wood products, they were subject to shrinking and swelling with changes in humidity. New materials, however, eliminated these problems. Traditional snowshoes are made of a hard wood, usually ash. The webbing material is rawhide, which is strips of denuded animal skin.
The animal from which the webbing material was retrieved was traditionally moose, deer, or caribou. But in the twentieth century, most manufacturers switched to cow hide. At least one United States manufacturer imported water buffalo hide for an extra-tough webbing, but cow hide is generally the cheapest source for acceptable quality rawhide.
Some manufacturers continued to make wood frame snowshoes even after new materials grew popular, but they switched to neoprene for the webbing. Most snowshoes today are framed in aluminum, usually in an alloy form that is both ultralight and very strong. Some manufacturers coat the aluminum with powdered plastic. The deck, or section on which the foot rests, is made of various materials, usually neoprene, polyurethane, or a composite material such as polyurethane coated with nylon.
The material for the binding, which holds the snowshoe to the foot, is usually similar to the decking material. Other materials used may be plastic for some straps, rivets, or eyelets, steel for rivets, and aluminum or other metal for the cleat fitted on the bottom of the snowshoe.
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