Snowshoeing in Shallow Swiss Snow

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When I went snowshoeing as a child I was photographed and it was used by the St Cergue Tourism board. I still have that poster in a room. Since then I went snowshoeing a few years ago and didn’t really enjoy it. The snowshoes didn’t feel comfortable. A few weeks ago I saw that people were planning a snowshoeing trip so I checked that they were set to my snowshoe size but skipped. Yesterday I finally went up with that group.

Going to the mountains in Winter makes sense because of the thermal inversion. If you stay by the Lac Léman you will be under the clouds and it will be gray. If you go up to the mountains you will drive across the clouds, into sunshine. That’s when you get to enjoy the advantage of life in Switzerland.

As I drove up I was struck by the lack of snow. Sometimes when I went up you had a meter or two of snow but this time it was 30 to 40 centimetres, not more. In effect snow shoes were not needed.

This didn’t stop me from playing with them anyway. I got to work on two things. The first was to practice carrying snowshoes effectively. I tried one method and it bothered my legs. I tried a second method and it endangered my face, and finally I tried a third method and that was the right one. This may seem like an absurd thing to worry about but if snow is hard to find then you want an effective way to carry them.

Aside from practicing with carrying them I also tried wearing them and walking around. This time they felt good. They felt anchored to my shoes so I could walk, run, and turn around and walk on a slanted slope without issues. This time it was fun.

Originally I had joined another group. They were going to walk in Fribourg, which is a nice town to visit. The issue is that I didn’t feel like visiting a museum, and I didn’t feel like spending two hours on a train.

I intended to go on the Fribourg walk, until I saw the snowshoe hike. It was much closer to home and it allowed me to take care of a chore, as well as hiking. In effect it was convenient.

I woke at 6 just so that I would have plenty of time to decide which activity to do.

I spoke to someone who seemed a little prejudiced against me for signing up for two things on the same day but I then said that because events often have waiting lists it makes sense to sign up, and then decide which event to go to, once we are on the active, rather than waiting list. Without the waiting list system I could just sign up the night before.

More than once I have been on the waiting list and not been part of the active group. My rule is to quit the night before, at a reasonable time, so that others have time to get ready to participate.

It’s also a cruel irony that the things I want to do are often simultaneous. The weekend I have nothing to do I have nothing to do, and the next weekend I am double booked.

And Finally

Snowshoeing is a nice sport, especially when the snow is fresh and you’re first to walk a route. Within two or three people it becomes absurd. Snow gets compacted and solid enough to walk on with hiking shoes within a day or two. Yesterday I would have been fine without snow shoes. Having said this, it was a good opportunity to re-familiarise myself with the experience of snowshoeing. It was also an opportunity to walk with a different group of people and meet new people.

I am happy with the choice I made.