Snow Shoes: Sport of the Day

SNOW SHOES, equipment used to move across the surface of snow; also, a type of sport ('snowshoeing'). Snow shoes make it possible to walk in soft snow. They consist of lightweight, elongated, oval wooden frames on which leather thongs are strung. The decking is usu. divided into 3 parts, and has an elaborate weave. The middle part of a snow shoe, where the user's foot is, has denser decking, additionally strengthened with two cross bars to bear the body weight of the user. The remaining parts have thinner decking that allows loose snow to pour through it but 'floats' on more packed snow. Snow shoes are fastened to one's feet using special leather bindings that allow the heel - much like in cross-country skis - to 'detach' from the shoe, with the toes attached permanently. When running, one has to lift the front part of the shoe off the snow first, and then drag the rear part along the surface.

One may reach speeds of up to 5mph (8km/h). Snow shoes have no standard sizes; usu., they are about 3ft. (1m) long, and 1ft. (0.5m) wide.
History. Snow shoes as we know them today descend from those used by Native Amer. Indians and the Inuit. When Europeans arrived in N.America, snow shoes became part of the standard gear of trappers, lumberjacks, farmers and sportsmen. In Canada, snow shoe races became quite popular. Since c.1840, a group of people from Montreal under the leadership of N. 'Evergreen' Hughes went on excursions using snow shoes. In 1843, the same people established the Montreal Snow Shoe Club that initiated systematic trips, combining those with cultural activities. During an outing - a 'tramp' - the participants would stop at an inn at the half-way point to have a meal, sing and recite poetry. The Montreal club also organized the first competitions along 2-mile courses, with obstacles such as tree trunks or fences 4ft. (1.2m) high. In the 1860s, there were more snow shoe clubs set up in Canada, in such places as Montreal, Ottawa or Quebec, which was essential in establishing the interdisciplinary Montreal Amateur Sport Association, which in turn was instrumental for the development of Can. sport in general. In the 1890s, snowshoeing became Canada's most popular winter sport. The international Tecumseh Cup competition was organized, and the equipment was improved (among other things, the weight of the shoes fell from 4lb. (1.81km) to 1.5lb. (0.68kg)). Between 1883 and 1889, the Montreal Amateur Sport Association organized the Mardi Gras carnival, which was a week of games and sports. The growth of skiing and Eur. winter

sports diminished the interest in snowshoeing at the turn of the 19th and 20th cent. However, the Can. Snowshoe Union was established in 1907, responsible for the co-ordination and development of snowshoeing in that country. Outside of Canada, the largest association for snow shoe users and fans is the Amer. Snowshoe Union of Lewiston, Minnesota. Snow shoes have been less popular in the Eur. tradition, even though they can be encountered in the northern countries. In the Carpathian mountains of Eastern Europe, another type of the snow shoe, known as >KARPLE, was used in the past.
W.E. Osgood & L.E. Hurley, Snowshoe Book, 1971; 'Snowshoeing', The Canadian Encyclopedia, 1985, vol. 3, PAT-Z, 1712. src:world sport encyclopedia