In my last post I talked about “traditional snowshoes”. These are the wood and rawhide devices that look so “old school cool” that people hang them on walls at rustic bars. If you’re traversing Greenland or packing out a caribou, you probably want traditional snowshoes. Also, if you’re traversing Greenland or packing out a caribou you shouldn’t be taking advice from some rando on the internet!
On to modern snowshoes. Traditional snowshoes aren’t rare but you can’t pick them up at a box store. Conversely, you can buy modern snowshoes just about anywhere, even Amazon. That’s a hint that they’re a different critter.
If you’re a svelte person, more likely to wear spandex than wool and are more likely to be “recreating” than “working”, modern snowshoes make a lot more sense. Slogging around with wood and rawhide is cool but it’s unnecessary for your needs. There’s nothing wrong with new technology and they’ll probably save you money.
Modern snowshoes are a lot tamer and yet in some ways look cooler. You can find 10,000 variants but they have similarities in appearance (if not specific design and materials). Some modern snowshoes are serious equipment and some are more like toys. They all look like something from the Jetsons compared to traditional snowshoes.
Modern snowshoes have a much smaller hoop, usually made of aluminum tubing or something similar. This is spanned by a piece of neoprene or similar artificial flexible fabric-ish stuff that covers most or all of the whole area. This is a big difference from the wider spread lacing of a traditional snowshoe.
Modern snowshoes are (usually?) lighter, cheaper to buy (unproven?), and still last a long time (though not as long as their unkillable ancestor). Being lighter and cheaper they’re the vast majority of snowshoes sold. Remember how I said all things are a compromise? The big traditional snowshoes may wear you out but the smaller snowshoes will sink deeper if the snow is deep and fluffy. Life is like that.
Here’s a photo of modern snowshoes from Amazon (I haven’t tested these myself). Just look at them! Compared to me clomping away like Jeremiah Johnson, someone on modern snowshoes looks like they’ve got jet powered footwear. They’re orange fer Chrissake! Kids and recreationalists who sneer at bent ash frames readily get on board with modern snowshoes. The ones in this photo even come with a carrying case and poles. I completely understand why people like modern snowshoes.
However, it’s all about floatation and compromise. Ready for me to say a statement that will piss people off? Here goes…
I theorize that the vast majority of miles hiked are done on traditional snowshoes. Yet the majority of sales are modern snowshoes.
Now I’m going to duck for cover as people hurl rocks at me.
Don’t worry though. There’s a time and a place for a simple easy to carry “backup snowshoe” or “recreation snowshoe”. If you’re running a trapline and cover most of the ground by snowmobile, it would make sense to have little snowshoes strapped on your sled and only use them for the last few hundred yards between the sled trail and the trap. Same for maple syrup operations on the wet slushy end of winter. Their small size makes them perfect as a backup in case your tracked ATV has an electrical gremlin and won’t start.
They’re also perfect where you need some flotation but aren’t trekking a million miles in deep drifts. A windswept lake with packed snow interspersed with open areas or a heavily treed area that doesn’t get a lot of drifting is where a small modern shoe is perfect. Same for where a trail is already broken for you. If eleventy zillion snowmobiles have packed the trail, modern snowshoes are an excellent option.
I’d probably go for them if I were climbing something steep and icy too. (Modern snowshoes can have more jagged gripping surfaces than the wooden framed traditional style.)
Also, they’re great when you’re light. Not everyone is dragging 50 pounds of beaver pelts across the Canadian Rockies. If you’re a light person on a short jaunt like birdwatching or whatnot, why go overboard?
So that’s my two cents and it’s worth what ya’ paid for it. If you’ve got modern snowshoes that are plastic and came from Walmart yet you used them to cross a glacier during a two week Dall Sheep hunt… I bow to your different experiences.
Also, lets back up and mention safety. Deep snow can kill your ass dead.
You should never be more than a mile from your truck wallowing around in deep snow without a plan; either modern or traditional snowshoes are better than playing Donner Party six miles out. Most people have no idea what wading through 5′ drifts can do to you. It’s horrible! Snowshoes aren’t obsolete! Unless you’re nine feet tall to stride through deep snow or have mastered the ability to hover, have a plan! Also, your snowmobile isn’t invulnerable.
I’m linking to a few YouTube videos comparing modern and traditional snowshoes: here and here.
More in my next post.