Get Fit and Fabulous…Outdoors with Snowshoeing

I found the experience exhilarating, the freedom snowshoes gave me to climb or descend any snowy terrain. Even in a resort setting the trails had a remote feeling as if the rest of the world was far, far away. Snowshoeing gave me the opportunity to really experience nature up close and personal. The views and the vastness were all mine and I achieved it with my own two feet.

I started snowshoeing about 7 years ago while training for a hike up Mt Whitney. In those days people laughed at us, but no more. The sport is one of the fastest growing winter sports, and for good reason. Recently Lynn Swan, chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness, endorsed the sport as well as the centers for Disease Control. I was even asked to do a segment for ABC-7’s ‘View From The Bay’ recently about snowshoeing. So the word has spread about this great sport and it is finally getting its due.

What initially attracted me to snowshoeing was the ability to take my then young daughters on a day-long outing into the backcountry in the winter. One winter we went with a hired guide that had us pull the girls in a sled that hooked to a harness on your hips and they got pulled behind. A baggie full of goldfish and they were loving watching the winter white world slide by. For older children they make snowshoes with bear paw or dinosaur tracks that make it fun for the little ones.

Plenty of ski resorts now actively encourage snowshoers to ascend their mountains while skiers and snowboarders schuss down. As skiing has gotten more expensive this is an inexpensive alternative outing for a family where you can share valuable family time talking and laughing and if you are lucky watch a small creature scamper into a little burrow in the snow. Most Nordic centers boast miles and miles of groomed terrain with varying difficulty levels for everyone.

Girlfriend trips from November through March are a wonderful way to stay connected with friends and put some variety in you fitness routine. For those of you just getting started I would recommend going to a resort until you have taken a course on avalanche danger and know what to look for. We head for the Pacific Crest Trail. It is a wonderful way to take in all the beautiful scenery that surrounds you in the mountains. Nature has a medicinal affect on our minds and our bodies, and afterwards you can step back into your hectic pace refreshed and renewed. An added bonus is that snowshoeing burns between 450 and 1,000 calories an hour depending on the terrain. Take a backpack with lunch because after snowshoeing out a mile or so you will want to sit for some lunch (you will have earned every bite), and hopefully you will have brought that thermos full of hot cocoa.

Full moon snowshoe hikes are really the ultimate sensory experience. Still…quiet…glistening snow are the hallmarks of this outing. As your eyes adjust to the light of the full moon you can see your group slip in and out of the shadows, playing like young children in the glistening snow. If you are up for an adventure this is a wonderful date outing, one you won’t soon forget.

Some essentials for an outing:

  • Snowshoes are very inexpensive to rent and I suggest you give that a try to start
  • Any waterproof hiking or snow boots work for snowshoeing
  • Snowshoe poles or hiking poles ( with snow basket) are helpful
  • Sunglasses and sunscreen are essential
  • Gaiters help keep feet dry
  • Eat high-calorie foods for energy during the outing (betcha don’t hear that often) and drink fluids throughout the day

A couple of places to check out: