When putting on snowshoes, left is distinguished from right by which way the loose ends of the binding straps point: always outward, to avoid stepping on them repeatedly.

Snowshoes function best when there is enough snow beneath them to pack a layer between them and the ground, usually at a depth of 8 inches (20 cm) or more.

Snowshoeing can be done anywhere there is sufficient snow. There is no need to go to a special area of any kind, although such areas may offer some amenities not found in the typical woodlot or golf course.

Walking in snowshoes
It is often said by snowshoers that if you can walk, you can snowshoe. This is true, but snowshoeing properly requires some slight adjustments to walking.

The method of walking is to lift the shoes slightly and slide the overlapping inner edges over each other, thus avoiding the unnatural and fatiguing “straddle-gait” that would otherwise be necessary. A snowshoer must be willing to roll his or her feet slightly as well. An exaggerated stride works best when starting out, particularly with larger or traditional shoes.

New snowshoers find the learning curve to be quite steep. It helps that accidental, humiliating falls are far less common to snowshoeing than other winter sports.

Turning
Walking skills are easily transferrable to straightforward snowshoe travel, but this is not always the case with turning around. While a snowshoer with space to do so can, and usually does, simply walk in a small semicircle, on a steep slope or in close quarters such as a boreal forest this may be impractical or impossible. It is thus necessary in such circumstances to execute a “kick turn” similar to the one employed on skis: lifting one foot high enough to keep the entire snowshoe in the air while keeping the other planted, putting the foot at a right angle to the other (or as close as possible for the situation and the snowshoer’s physical comfort), then planting it on the snow and quickly repeating the action with the other foot. This is much easier to accomplish with poles.

Kick turns do, however, put considerable strain on the hip muscles, and if many have to be made during a snowshoeing trip, these can be very sore the next day.

Ascending
While the cleating and traction improvements to modern snowshoes have greatly enhanced snowshoers’ climbing abilities, on very steep slopes it is still beneficial to make “kick steps,” kicking the toes of the shoes into the snow to create a kind of snow stairs for the next traveler to use.

Alternatively, snowshoers can use two techniques borrowed from skis: the herringbone (walking uphill with the shoes spread outward at an angle to increase their support) and the sidestep.

Descending
Once a trail has been broken up a mountain or hill, snowshoers often find a way to speed up the return trip that manages to also be fun and rests the leg muscles: glissading the trail, or sliding down on their buttocks. This does not damage the trail, and in fact helps pack the snow better for later users.

Great distances can be descended by glissading, and any number of methods to control one’s speed and direction are available to the experienced snowshoer: the shoes, poles, hands (if properly gloved), body English and self-arrest techniques.

In situations where they must break trail downhill and thus cannot glissade, snowshoers sometimes run downhill in exaggerated steps, sliding slightly on the snow as they do, an option sometimes called “step sliding.” If carrying poles and properly experienced, they can also employ skiing techniques such as telemarking.

This article was supplied by Wikipedia.org

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