Traditional Snowshoes

I really like using my light weight aluminum Tubbs Snowshoes but there is something special about older traditional wood and rawhide shoes. I have had a pair of wooden shoes made in Minot, Maine since I was a kid. This winter I took them out of storage, wiped the dust off, brushed on some varnish and headed out in the wonderfull deep snow we have had this year. Really brought back memories. Then I came across this website which I thought I would share.

http://www.ilovesnowshoes.com/

I still have my first pair of wooden shoes. I had to re-string then on occasion and varnish them every year, but I loved them. They where tough, but in my early 20's if I saw a small cliff nearby, for some reason I felt the need to jump off of it and they didnt care for that.

Friday I used my wooden 10x36 on a solo bushwhack peak where the extra flotation was great and with no tracks didn't have to worry about the width. I relaced them once with neoprene and once with nylon cord, but the nylon straps on the bindings are too chafed (replaced one already) to trust them on long trips.

Haven't used my 13x28 (like the Boston AMC used to require on 4k in the 70s) in years, they are great uphill in deep powder but rarely see that anymore.