Snowshoeing can be a great, and exciting way to travel when the snow falls. However, your likely to find little things that can cause you to experience discomfort or irritation along the way. A major annoyance I find myself experiencing, along with many I have talked with is the fact that from time to time you find the snowshoes throwing snow up at you as you hike… This can be quite irritating, especially if you aren’t using gaiters, or have snow pants that cover the upper portion of your snow boots well.
You see, the issue typically isn’t so much the snow being thrown at you each step you take. I mean, Yes, it’s annoying, but not a huge deal if you have the proper equipment. However, the real trouble comes when the snow that is thrown at you falls into and settles in your boots… Anyone who has experienced snow knows what its like to have snow fall inside your boots. For most it is dreaded largely because of the initial jolt of cold as it hits you skin.
But then over then next period of time you have to deal with a cold spot in your boot, unless you decide to pause and get the snow out of your boot. Then for the rest the day you have to deal with wet spots inside you boot… I mean overall it’s just uncomfortable and annoying, and that’s just one scenario. As i’m sure you along with many others have experienced snow getting into places it really shouldn’t be when snowshoeing.
Whatever your experience is I say we address the root issue of snow being propelled directly at us as we snowshoe, by the snowshoes themselves…
So, why do snowshoes kick up snow from time to time?? Well the simple answer is: Because your snowshoe bindings don’t articulate with your foot as you walk, the tail end of the snowshoe will act as a catapult each time you go to lift your foot to take another step. However, this is not the only perpetrator. Simply fast movement can cause a snowshoe to throw up snow. As snow can be catapulted up even with snowshoes that are equipped with an articulating binding.
Lets begin to dig up the potential delinquents that could be causing this annoying problem!
Causes For Snow Kick-Up When Snowshoeing
- No Articulating Binding
- Off Balanced Snowshoes (Heel lifts before toe)
- Design Flaw Or Damaged
- Lifting Your Foot Quickly (Runners)
- Jammed Binding / Conflicting
No Articulating Binding: Like we discussed above typically the biggest culprit to snow being kicked up as you snowshoe is the fact that the binding does not articulate with the movement of your ankle throughout each stride as you walk. By using a snowshoe that does not articulate with your stride, It becomes very easy for snow to be kicked up due to a catapult like effect either when you begin lifting your heel in order to take another step forward (The Tail of the snowshoe will kick up snow), or as you foot is mid stride in the air as you go to take another step (The Toe of the snowshoe will scoop snow and can tose snow up at you when you place your foot).
Off Balance Snowshoes: A snowshoe that is equipped with an articulating binding should essentially drag the tail of the snowshoe as you walk, and lift the nose each time you go to lift your foot in order to take another step. But if you using an off Balanced Snowshoe, this motion becomes improper which leads to a problem. Typically an off balanced snowshoe will tose snow up due to the nose not lifting as it should, resulting in the nose of the snowshoe scooping snow then kicking it up if your snowshoe isn’t planted completely as you put weight on it.
Design Flaw Or Damaged: Typically design flaws occur in cheaper or inexpensive snowshoes and / or boots. Simple design flaws or damage can wreak havoc on the user experience, especially if they are significant. Design flaws and damage can be anything from simple binding issues, to full out frame issues that can result in decking of the snowshoe flicking snow each step you take… Typically snow is kicked up due to flexible components of the snowshoe making contact with other parts, causing the flexible component to essentially flick snow up. If you have any damage on the snowshoe, or simply design flaws this can be cause for snow kick up.
Lifting Your Foot Quickly: Typically experienced by those who run in their snowshoes. Due to the size and shape of snowshoes it makes snow buildup on the snowshoe easy to occur And if your moving at a quick pace odds of snow getting kicked up are extremely high. There isn’t really a lot you can do about it, assuming you are not experiencing any of the potential causes listed on this post.
Jammed Binding / Conflicting: If you have a jammed binding, or conflicts with the binding, and the snowshoe itself it can be quite easy for problems to occur especially snow being kicked up. Typically Jammed bindings or conflicts are caused by the decking of the snowshoe not being aligned right. This makes your boot, or the binding snag on the decking causing it to catapult snow up from time to time. Conflict can also occur between the decking, and the binding straps.
Possible Solutions
- Upgrade Your Snowshoes
- Opt For A New Pair Of Snowshoes
- Inspect & Modify The Snowshoes
- Adjust Your Stride
- Add Weight
Upgrade Your Snowshoes: Simply put, cheaper snowshoes can cause you to have issues when on the trail. One being, snow getting kicked up. The main reason as to why people experience snow kick up is due to snowshoes that don’t have an articulating binding. Which, coincidentally this binding system is typically only found on cheaper snowshoes… My recommendation Is to go with a good set of snowshoe. They will likely cost more, but will last longer, and provide a much better user experience.
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Opt For A New Pair Of Snowshoes: If your using snowshoes that are heavily damaged, odds are they don’t function properly. If this is the case it may be more worth getting a new pair rather then trying to fix the current ones you have. Though this is all based on the amount of damage that has occured to the snowshoes. First I’d recommend you do the following.
Inspect & Modify: If you have a design flaw, conflicting parts, or simply damaged parts that are causing the snowshoe to fling snow up at you each step you take it could be a good idea to inspect the snowshoe and come up with a methodical plan to modify the snowshoe if you desire saving it. Now, before doing so make sure you won’t void any warranties and so forth. But I mean it the snowshoe is under warranty and you have a design flaw issue then of course simply contact the company and see what they can do.
Adjust Your Stride: Simply Walking or Running with a smoother pace can help to better keeps the snow on the ground. Simply adjusting your stride slightly can keep the snow from kicking up as much. But you shouldn’t do so drastically as bad form can cause other issues. But keep in mind if you are moving at a quick pace (Running) you should expect to get snow kickup just simply due to the fact that snowshoes easily buildup snow on them…
Add Weight: Simply adding a little bit of weight to the tail of a snowshoe can help an off balanced snowshoe to work properly. Now, “Properly” in terms of how a snowshoe binding / boot platform should articulate is by the nose lifting first with the tail dragging slightly across the snow. If your snowshoe does not do this, added weight to the tail (as far back as you can) will help for getting the nose up, and in turn keep the nose from scooping snow each step you take.
Conclusion
Given that there are many different potential causes that could be causing you to experience snow being kicked up by your snowshoes it makes it difficult for me to specify exactly what is causing this issue for you. However, the list above shows, and explains many of the most commonly experienced causes for snow kick up. Yet the two most common culprits are simply fast motion (Typically those who Run), and using a snowshoe that is not equipped with a binding that articulates with the angle change of the bottom of your foot as you walk.
Now, If you experience issues with snow being kicked up as you walk be sure to analyse the snowshoes as you go through the motions of either walking or running. If you have difficulty analysing the snowshoes you self, see if a friend will travel closely behind or at the side of you to analyse what is going on for you. Once you pinpoint the problem check some of the above ways to solve it.
I hope were able to find some value from this. If you have any questions be sure to check out the Outdoor Luxuriez Snowshoeing Lounge for further info regarding snowshoeing!
This Is Colt Signing Off!