A guide to snowshoeing for bushwalkers

Snowshoeing originated thousands of years ago by the the First Nations people of the Northern Hemisphere as a way to travel over deep winter snow. Today snowshoe designs have evolved utilising aluminum and modern composites materials. 

How to use Snowshoes

There’s nothing too scary about them. You strap your shoe in, and you just walk.

• The large surface area keeps you above the snow, so your feet don’t get wet
• The foot area pivots so the metal bit under the toe grips really well
• There are metal rails along the bottom so you don’t slip.

The snowshoes that are ideal in Australia are tough plastic-ey designs, making them durable on Australian rocks, sticks and icy snow conditions. There are other types of tennis racket snowshoes in the world which are fine for a metre of powder but unfortunately that usually isn't the case in our climate. 

Snowshoes have “heel raisers” which make walking up hills much more pleasant – a bit of metal goes under your heel and “raises” it.

Other gear you will need

(and probably already have in your kit!)

• Hiking or Ski poles - Just attach powder baskets 
• Shell wear
• Base layers and Insulation 
• Gloves

Check out our Snowshoe range or hire a pair to try it out on your next snow adventure.