Most snowshoes come with a suggested weight that they will support, but this is often based on snow that is denser and heavier than the snow we get here. With our super fluffy, low density snow, you’ll need more surface area to support your weight when walking in the fresh stuff. Our standard snowshoes are 30 inches long and 8 inches wide, but we’ve got some 36 inch shoes too! If you want to get your own, and plan to use them in the Canadian Rockies, buy big.

It’s cold around here, and your feet are a long way from your heart. Winter boots have more insulation than hiking or work boots, and having warm feet makes you much more comfortable. If you don’t have winter boots, we provide overboots that are insulated with neoprene. They work great with low profile walking shoes or runners, which fit right inside our NEOs no problem!

Gaiters are a kind of nylon leggings, worn to cover the top of the boot and the lower leg. When you’re out in soft snow, you sometimes sink quite a bit, and it’s easy to get snow in your boots. Snow in the boots = cold feet, and gaiters keep the snow out. We provide gaiters for our tours.

Wear long-johns and nylon pants or ski pants on the bottom, and wool shirts, a fleece, and a shell jacket on top. You want stuff that you can take off and put back on easily, depending on the weather.

For your hands, we recommend mittens over gloves, as they are much warmer, and they rhyme with “kittens”. What’s not to like? Gloves are only good on milder days.

Not everybody likes to use poles while snowshoeing, but they can really help with balance, especially when walking in fresh snow. Poles can get you up and over rough terrain like snow-covered logs and rocks. Our standard kit during our trips includes adjustable poles, and we are big fans.

Ducks get a bad rap — they don’t actually have turned-out feet — but if you want to have a good time snowshoeing, you need to walk with your toes pointing straight ahead. If your toes point out to the sides, you’ll constantly step on the tails of your snowshoes.

Going uphill in powder snow is like climbing the side of a sand dune. Since the material under your feet is soft, you’ve got to shorten the length of your stride, and apply gentle foot pressure. If you take big steps, and push off really hard, you’ll end up sliding backwards.

Going downhill in powder snow is like running down the side of a sand dune (sound familiar?). You need to keep your weight over your feet, or else you risk pitching forward, or falling onto your bum.

There are no raised tips on the back of your snowshoes (like there are on the front), so even a couple of steps backwards will plunge the tails of your shoes into the snow. Pretty soon, you’ll be on your backside. So don’t walk backwards. Ever.