Tired of staying cooped up all winter? Strap on a pair of snowshoes and explore the terrain around you.
This story was originally published in the January 2016 issue of Wonderful West Virginia. To subscribe, visit wonderfulwv.com.
written by Shay Maunz
When people talk about snowshoeing, they tend to do it in almost poetic terms. It’s all about the hush of a forest cloaked in snow, the whisper of wind through the trees, the calming effect of a landscape covered in white. The most casual conversation quickly evolves into a meditation on a mental state that can only be achieved walking alone through a snowy forest. “Winter is magic,” says Chip Chase, owner of the White Grass Ski Touring Center in Davis, during one such conversation. “It’s ethereal. It doesn’t last long, it’s here today and—poof—it’s gone tomorrow. If you can get out there on snowshoes in the first moments after the snow, it’s something really special.” Mary Willis, who owns the Elk River Touring Center in Slaty Fork with her husband Gil, is just as smitten. “The farther out you get the quieter it gets,” she says. “The snow blankets the underbrush and everything becomes quieter and more magical. You know how snow is—it’s pretty enticing.”
Animals developed a body feature akin to snowshoes millennia ago. The snowshoe hare, for example, has feet that are almost comically big compared to the rest of its body, with a large surface area that keeps the animal from sinking into drifts. Without those wide feet, the hare wouldn’t be able to move through the powdery terrain during North American winters. Humans developed their own version between 4,000 and 6,000 years ago for much the same reason: The most efficient way to travel in a thick sea of snow is by moving over it, not through. Old-fashioned snowshoes consisted of big hardwood frames and latticework made from rawhide, and they were used for just about every winter activity imaginable. Native Americans wore them to hunt and fish, fur traders wore them to visit animal traps, and farmers wore them to the barn to feed the livestock. “They’re really good work tools,” Chase says. “They have a lot of utilitarian purpose.”
In the 1970s a more high-tech snowshoe was developed featuring lightweight metal, heavy-duty plastic, and neoprene webbing. “It changed the appearance of snowshoeing, because now you weren’t wearing this big wooden thing on your feet,” says Candice Bosworth, the executive director of the United States Snowshoe Association. “You were wearing something sleek and metallic with binding that didn’t take an hour to put on, and you could maneuver with them better because they were smaller. It modernized the concept of snowshoeing.” Today, most snowshoeing is done for fun. “We’ve come to a point in our society where we can play more,” Chase says. “We don’t have to use snowshoes for work because we don’t do that kind of work so much these days.”
There are plenty of ways to enjoy the outdoors in West Virginia, even during the most frigid of winter days— downhill skiing and snowboarding come to mind as well as ice skating and cross-country skiing. But the advantage to snowshoeing is that it can be done anywhere.
“The simplicity of it makes you more aware of what’s around you.”
Chip chase
A trail designed and maintained especially for snowshoes is nice but you don’t need one. A thick layer of snow covers most of the smaller greenery anyway, so there’s actually a lot less tricky maneuvering than during a warm weather hike. “It’s an independent thing to do,” Bosworth says. “You can go where you want, when you want, how you want—how long, how short. You can climb mountains with snowshoes on. You can walk through the woods. You can walk through the park. It’s an independent, individualized activity.” Plus, it’s easy. The same way “hiking” is just a fancy term for walking in the woods, “snowshoeing” is just walking with something strapped on your feet. A 3-mile walk in snowshoes may feel like 5 miles, but all that aerobic activity comes in handy—with the right clothing you’ll stay plenty warm.
As an antidote to long, drowsy winter days spent nestled inside, insulated from the beauty of this dynamic season we call winter, snowshoeing becomes a way to access the outdoors that we too often think of as off limits when there’s a foot or more of snow on the ground. “The simplicity of it makes you more aware of what’s around you,” Chase says. “You notice deer and birds and terrain and things you would normally just whiz by in a recreational ski situation. You just take it all in.”
WHERE TO GO
Blackwater Falls State Park
More than 20 miles of trails are open for snowshoeing along an
8-mile gorge cut by the Blackwater River. Rentals are available.
1584 Blackwater Lodge Road, Davis, 304.259.5216
blackwaterfalls.com
Canaan Valley Resort State Park
In addition to downhill skiing slopes, some hiking trails are open
to snowshoers and offer exquisite mountain views and a trek
through swaths of wilderness. Rentals are available.
230 Main Lodge Road, Davis, 304.866.4121, canaanresort.com
Elk River Touring Center
Snowshoers have access to 3 miles of maintained trails bordering the Monongahela National Forest as well as another 22
miles that crisscross the Highland Scenic Highway. Beginners
will find snowshoe rentals for adults and children, plus guided
tours and lessons.
US-219, Slaty Fork, 304.572.3771, ertc.com
Pipestem Resort State Park
Fifteen miles of trails are open to snowshoers. Pipestem is
home to beautiful scenic overlooks of the Bluestone Gorge.
3405 Pipestem Drive, Pipestem, 304.466.1800
pipestemresort.com
Timberline Four Seasons Resort
More than 9 miles of groomed trails are available for snowshoeing
through the higher ranges of the Allegheny Mountains.
254 Four Seasons Drive, Davis, 304.866.4801
timberlineresort.com
Snowshoe Mountain
Twenty-five miles of cross country trails as well as rentals
are available, and Snowshoe offers excellent access to the
backcountry.
10 Snowshoe Drive, Snowshoe, 877.441.4386
snowshoemtn.com
White Grass Ski Touring Center
Visitors will find nearly 40 miles of trails between 3,200- and
4,400-foot elevations, plus cross country gear rentals and sales.
Whitegrass picks up some 160 feet of annual snowfall, and the
property covers 1,200 vertical feet.
643 Weiss Knob Ski Road, Davis, 304.866.4114, whitegrass.com