Snowshoes. Who knew they can bring out the kid in you? Late-afternoon weather ideal. A couple of feet of snow on the ground. Sunny skies, 35 degrees, light wind, high, thin clouds. Both the ditz and the geek wore Fitbits.
Earlier in the day the geek had purchased a shiny new pair of Tubbs Xpedition snowshoes http://tubbssnowshoes.com/snowshoes/xpedition-mm at Sam's Outfitters in Brattleboro, VT. http://www.samsoutfitters.com/index.asp The knowledgable salesman gave us a brief overview of what to expect in backcountry snowshoeing. We're in the southern Green Mountains of Vermont, so not exactly wilderness, but within minutes we can be in deep woods, on historic logging roads with fairly steep terrain.
First obstacle: the giant snow pile at the end of the road created by the town plow. The ditz, who proceeds with trepidation when large objects are attached to her feet, chose to put her snowshoes on after the snow pile.
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| Obstacle Number One |
This proved a slight miscalculation on her part, as snow fell into her boots. On his snowshoes, the geek "floated" high on the surface of the snow, the inside of his boots snowless. Once on level ground, and deep in snow, naturally, the ditz strapped on the snowshoes. She had owned them for five years but had never used them. In fact, the product tags had only shortly before been removed. The ditz's snowshoes, Winter Walkers from L. L. Bean http://www.llbean.com/, are "ideal for fitness walks and family adventures." They are no longer available, but similar ones are.
The bindings are easy enough to figure out, so we were soon snowshoeing. The snow was deep, soft, untouched. Lift one foot, set it down, and sink about six inches. Lift the next foot, now with the added resistance of some soft snow that clings to the shoe, and put it down. The ditz led for a while until she grew tired of breaking trail, then the geek, until he grew tired. The snow-filled forest of hemlock and pine and hardwoods and rock and fern (The ferns are buried, but we know they are there because we can feel them collapse under the snow.) soothed our New York City-jangled nerves, on this, our first day of vacation.
Suddenly we heard a great "whumpfing" sound as the snow beneath us shifted. The sensation was similar to being on a frozen pond and hearing the ice crack. Once we actually saw the snow shifting its layers around us in addition to hearing a great "whumpf." We were in no danger of an avalanche, but we remained vigilant, as should you.
If you are ambulatory, you can snowshoe. It's the cheapest outdoor winter sport after pond skating. Sturdy winter boots you already have in your closet will work in the simple bindings. Poles are a nice addition, especially if you are going to be climbing some steeper areas. Already own downhill ski poles? Use them for snowshoeing, as we do. Snowshoeing requires balance, so expect a good workout of your abdominal core, your vestibular system (That's in your ears!), and your proprioceptors. We encountered some fallen trees that we had to step over and one fallen tree we had to step under. We tried to limbo. Maybe next time.
The cardio benefits are off the charts. A study published in 2002 in "The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research" found that snowshoeing required 50 percent more calories than previously thought. Clearly, the people who thought snowshoeing was the same as regular walking had never tried it. Runners who run with snowshoes in the winter can significantly improve their V02 Max, according to a study performed at the University of Vermont. http://www.roadrunnersports.com/rrs/content/content.jsp?contentId=300158
On her second day out the Ditz wore her Garmin http://www.garmin.com/en-US GPS and heart rate monitor for a 1.5 hour snowshoe. Forty-eight percent of the time she was in the endurance range; 45 percent of the time she worked at tempo; and 2 percent of the workout she was at threshold level. For you math people, yes, there were a few minutes in the recovery zone too. There was an elevation gain of 800 feet. We were breaking new trail for part of the time, which takes more energy. We climbed some pretty steep terrain, to our minds anyway. Coming down requires more vestibular work, which triggers the quadriceps and the calf muscles to work harder on the descents, to keep you from free-falling. The core will work hard on the descents too, to stay upright.
The Fitbits recorded 2500 steps and 30 floors. With practice and varying conditions, the Ditz could develop a great cardio fitness routine on snowshoes. Perhaps what she likes as much as anything is the chance to be outdoors and commune with Mother Nature during the "quiet" season.
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| Trail after two passes by two people |
Send me photos of your snowshoeing adventures and I'll post them here.
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