Winter’s Oldest New Sport

Snowshoeing is opening up a whole new winter world for non-skiers and skiers looking for something new.

Robb Report, November 2000

Copyright 2000 Dale Leatherman

    It snowed all week – a string of cold, grey, dreary days during which the dogs preferred to stay curled up by the fire, and so did I. Then the sun rose in a cloudless, china blue sky and the backyard looked as if it had been dusted with diamonds. The dogs and I agreed – the woods would be spectacular.

    But while they would be happy to follow in my footsteps, I wasn’t eager to push my way through knee-deep drifts all day. So, I pulled out the snowshoes I’d bought the year before. These simple contraptions, a few ounces of lightweight metal and fabric, had given me the ability to go anywhere in the snow. I buckled them over my heavy winter boots, and the dogs and I went out to seize the day.

    Snowshoeing, one of the oldest activities known to man, has become the trendy new sport of winter. It has been embraced by those who never liked the idea of strapping slippery boards on their feet, as well as skiers and snowboarders who are simply looking for a change.

    The mystery is not why snowshoeing is suddenly so popular, but rather what took the renaissance so long. Unlike most other winter sports, "bigfooting" requires no skill, no infrastructure, and very little equipment.

    Early humans developed snowshoes so that they could walk on top of deep snow for hunting and gathering. By the end of the twentieth century it was a new sport, and rising fast in popularity. Two years ago, the Snowsports Industry America (SIA) recorded the sale of 112,000 pairs of snowshoes in the U.S. Last year sales more than doubled and nearly 900,000 people were hooked on the sport.

    While these figures are small compared to 8.8 million alpine skiers, 2.5 million cross-country advocates and 2.5 million snowboarders, it still represents a significant number of people who are enjoying snow in a new way.

    Winter’s oldest sport is also its simplest, though you can expect a workout burning more calories per hour than running. Anyone who can walk can snowshoe. . . .