Winter Fun

There are many pieces of dedicated footwear for travel through snow and ice. One of the crucial innovations that was required to save lives in such regions was the snowshoe.

The examples for the first snowshoes came from local animals whose feet were adapted to the setting for over-land travel. A snowshoe rabbit’s hind feet were the muse for a pair of unique styles of snowshoe.

For those who like categorizing things the snowshoe can be broken down into 5 basic categories: bearpaw, Yukon, beavertail, Ojibwa and Western. This doesn’t take into account the various distinct sizes or overlaps in local names which can blur the lines involving the various types.

Snowshoes can be made both as wood-framed or the more modern metal-frame. Early models were webbed with animal hide and were made to look like animal tracks such as those made by the bobcat or lynx. Some were also made to look like bear tracks, even if bears left much deeper tracks than those made with snowshoes.

For over-land travel through soft, deep snow, there was not anything that could beat a well made pair of snowshoes.