Snowshoeing
"A Snow Walker's Companion"
by
Garrett and Alexandra Conover
The newest edition of the book previously published as
"A Snow Walker's Companion" and "The Winter Wilderness
Companion" made it's sales debut at the 6th Annual Traditional Winter Camping Symposium near Eau Claire, WI
1n 2005.
"Snow Walker's Companion" by Garrett and Alexandra Conover, published by Stone Ridge Press, will be available on Amazon and other outlets in time for Christmas/Chanukah shopping. The book now includes a color photo section and updated information on equipment sources as well as titanium stoves, GPS and sat-phone use and other improvements since the 2001 edition.
The Conovers are guides and writers who live in Northern Maine. They are credited with
"jump-starting" the interest in traditional winter camping and travel with the previous editions of the book.
- Hans Erdman
Red
Wool, a Ranger's Hat and Webs: 100 Year Old Traditions
by
Hans Erdman
I own four pair of snowshoes.
All the pairs have wooden frames. One pair, from Freeman's in
Turin, N.Y., has
neoprene webbing and "Sherpa" bindings, which I use mostly in wet snow
conditions.
My other pairs are a new pair of 48-inch long Fabers from the century-old
snowshoe builder in Loretteville, Quebec, that I bought from Cabelas last
season. I recently retired a beautiful pair of 54-inch long Fabers that were given to me by my parents
roughly 35 years ago. They were the first pair of snowshoes I ever owned, and
even today, the babiche (rawhide) webbing is still tight, the varnish only needs
an occasional touch up before the season starts, and they are enough of a work
of art to hang over the fireplace now that I am not using them.
I work as a state park ranger here in the North Star State, where part of my
duties include the grooming and maintaining the five-mile long cross-country ski
trail system and a two-mile snowshoe trail in Sand Dunes State Forest, near
Zimmerman, Minn. I am a very active cross-country and backcountry skier, when
there is snow. As I said, I've been snowshoeing since I was in high school,
about five years before I started skiing. Over the past couple of years, I have
developed a growing interest in "historical" snowshoeing, as well as
the traditional winter travel methods described by Garrett and Alexandra Conover
in their excellent book, "The Winter Wilderness Companion." (My wife refers to
their book as my Winter "constant" Companion. It is always either next
to my chair, on my desk or in my briefcase.) The newest edition of the Conover's
book, now titled "Snow Walker's Companion" is becoming
available in time for Christmas, 2005. I have nothing specifically against
"modern-style" aluminum, neoprene and/or thermo-plastic snowshoes.
They just don't make it for me, and at age 50, I just don't look very good in
stretchy Lycra either. (Because of my interest in historical snowshoeing,
however, I am considering buying a pair of magnesium and wire mesh U.S. Army
surplus snowshoes which have ice "cleats" built into the frame.)
I have used modern snowshoes, and have access to them at work, but I enjoy my
traditional 'shoes. I am used to the way they feel, and the way they travel over
the snow. The Freeman's are a foot shorter than the Fabers, and I use them for
"bushwhacking" between trails in the forest, and when traveling on
packed trail surfaces. I have also noticed that my wooden snowshoes provide much
better traction, without resorting to crampons. Another advantage of traditional
shoes is that the crampons are optional. I usually carry a four inch set in my
pack, which I can clamp onto the base of my 'shoes in just a couple of minutes.
More than once I have observed people who rented modern snowshoes in the park,
tramping around with a six-inch wide ball of snow stuck to the crampons making
movement very difficult. Frequently when the snow is shallow, we also hear
complaints that the fixed crampons on the modern snowshoes cause pain in their
ankles and arches of their feet.
About 100 years ago they didn't have any of those "new-fangled"
equipment and people just didn't run around town in what looks for all the world
like a neon colored Union Suit. (That's one piece long-underwear with a
button-up panel in and for the rear, for those who don't know.) But they did
have snowshoes, wool, and leather, and you know what? Those things are all still
working just fine for me, even today.
My typical snowshoeing "ensemble" consists of my Faber snowshoes,
Steger mukluks, green Johnson or Codet wool pants and a wool sweater over
original Duofold long johns, covered by a scarlet red wool C.C. Filson Mackinaw coat. Around my neck is a wool scarf, and on my head is either a flat-brimmed,
ranger-type Stetson hat, or a fur and leather "trooper hat" with ear
flaps. (I will admit though, that due to allergies, the "fur" in the
hat is synthetic.) On windier days, I will substitute a bright red, wool-lined
mountain parka for the Makinaw, but I am hoping to get a Empire Canvas Works
Arctic anorak later this season, which can be worn over the wool coat or the
sweater.
The mittens are one piece of equipment where I have to concede to progress,
wearing Polartec liner gloves under leather and nylon choppers with a Polartec
fleece inner mitten. In wet weather or changing conditions the mukluks are
replaced by Kamik Pac boots or leather hiking boots, on the neoprene-laced
Freeman snowshoes. If I am carrying my skis lashed to my backpack, they are
usually my Trak Bushwackers (which are no longer made. The Karhu
"XCD-Mountain" is very similarly sized) with Berwin bindings that can accommodate
whatever footwear I am wearing with my snowshoes. The choice of footwear is
flexible, also depending on the snow conditions I will encounter. All three
choices; mukluks, Pac boots and hiking boots can be used with both the leather
"H" binding on the snowshoes and the Berwin binding on the skis.
Why would the color really matter, you may be asking? To me it matters because
it is part of the history that makes up the outfit. I am originally from the
northeastern part of the country, (New York State) where the forest rangers and
game wardens traditionally wore red wool jackets during hunting season and in
the winter time. I still have an old red Johnson Woolen Mills jacket that is
identical to those that were issued to the New York State Forest Rangers and
Vermont Game Wardens for many years.
Although I have never been able to locate a source for the scarlet uniform coats
issued to Maine Wardens and New Hampshire Conservation Officers, the Filson coat
comes very close in appearance, and is very warm yet breathable. I wear the red
wool out of respect for those officers, among whose ranks I still have a number
of friends. It also helps to stimulate discussion about earlier
times, when the ranger or warden may have been the only law enforcement officer
in a remote Adirondack or Allagash Township. And of course, this year (2005)
marks the Centennial of the U.S. Forest Service, and there are many tales from a
marvelous history of rangers who have spent 100 years working for "The
Greatest Good" waiting to be told. The green wool pants are the same
color as my Minnesota uniform pants, and a heck of a lot warmer.
Finally, rather than using two ski poles while snowshoeing, I try to have my
hands free, or at most use a wooden hiking stick. That way I can still use my
hands when I am snowshoeing at work. "The Winter Wilderness
Companion/Snow Walker's Companion"
author Garrett Conover strongly advocates leaving your hands free while
snowshoeing, in order to facilitate grabbing, holding, pushing or hunting
without the hassle of dealing with ski poles.
As snowshoeing has gained popularity in the Twin Cities area, where I live and
work, my web and wood snowshoes are somewhat of an oddity, and never fail to
prompt discussion. (The same thing can be said of my short, wide Bushwacker
skis.) Usually, other snowshoers, skiers and snowmobilers think the 'shoes are
DNR-issue, which opens the door for a talk about snowshoeing history, and
anything else I want or need to talk to them about. So, if you are ever
snowshoeing in the woods of Minnesota or Northwest Wisconsin and happen to meet
another snowshoer who looks like a ranger from a century ago, stop and say
"hello." You're not seeing a ghost. It's probably just me, in my 1890s
traditional gear.
Resources cited in the article:
Arrowhead Toboggan
(and snowshoes): http://www.arrowheadtoboggan.com/snowshoes.html
Faber Snowshoes: http://fabersnowshoes.com
Steger Mukluks: http://www.mukluks.com
Johnson Woolens: http://www.johnsonwoolenmills.com
C.C. Filson Woolen Mills: http://www.filson.com
Codet Wool: http://www.themoosehunter.com/codet.htm
Trak Bushwackers: http://www.karhu.com
Berwin Backcountry Bindings: http://www.akers-ski.com
Kamik Pac Boots: http://www.kamik.com Garrett
Conover: North Woods Ways Classic
Wilderness Guiding US.
Forest Service Website: http://www.fs.fed.us
I was not able to find a reference for Freeman's Snowshoes in Turin, N.Y.
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