January, 1922 
11 
behind. A common way of testing for 
unevenness of balance is that of laying 
a snowshoe on the floor and placing your 
fingers under the forward part of the 
central, heavy filling. The forward part 
of the shoe will be slightly lifted but the 
tail should remain flat on the floor. If 
the tail comes upward it means that the 
shoe is too evenly balanced for your 
purpose. 
S OME snowshoes are as flat as a pan- 
cake on the bottom, but as a rule 
there is an upward curl at the front end. 
This curl tends to easier walking. In 
the long, narrow racing type of snow- 
shoes the toe of the shoe is sometimes 
turned up as much as four inches. But 
in the all around, shorter shoe, the curl 
should not be more than two inches high 
and preferably less. 
The special domain of the tailed type 
which I have just described is either a 
flat country or a pleasantly rolling coun- 
try not too thickly timbered. The tailed 
snowshoe under such conditions is the 
only suitable type. But when you get 
into tangles of thick, heavy underbrush 
or begin to climb the steep slopes of 
mountains, you find that the tailed snow- 
shoe is not without its shortcomings. 
In the brush, the long tail catches and 
throws you. While climbing a steep 
grade the tail, because of its weight, 
droops down hill and this makes it diffi- 
cult to dig one’s toes into the side of 
the mountain for a firm purchase. There 
is a constant tendency to slip backward. 
When descending the mountain, the re- 
verse is true, although the tails are just 
as much in the way. In this case, you 
try to dig your heels in to prevent too 
great speed, but the presence of the tail 
seriously interferes with the proceeding. 
The tail, which is such a great help 
while snowshoeing in the lowlands, be- 
comes a nuisance on the heights. So, by 
the simple expedient of doing without 
tails we have webbed feet which are far 
better suited for these particular condi- 
tions. This is the other general type of 
snowshoes and it is commonly known as 
the “bear paw.” 
The bear paw is an evenly balanced 
shoe and for this reason it is quite 
as much out of place in the open 
lowlands as is the unevenly balanced, 
tailed shoe on the heights. But it 
is the only thoroughly satisfactory 
shoe for the mountains. The con- 
struction of the stringing of the bear 
paw is similar to that of the tailed 
shoe, except that in some instances 
the front and rear light weight 
strands are eliminated entirely. The 
shape of the frame, as a rule, is like 
that of a slightly elongated letter O, 
although this also is open to slight 
variations. 
The test for unevenness of balance 
which I have mentioned in connection 
with the tailed shoe does not apply to 
the bear paw, for in this case you want 
even balance. Likewise, the bend at the 
front should be very slight, not more 
than three-quarters of an inch high. A 
greater curl at the front is a serious 
drawback when digging one’s toes into 
the side of a steep slope. For persons 
FOREST AND STREAM 
weighing up to one hundred and seventy 
pounds, a bear paw twenty-seven inches 
long and thirteen inches wide, or say, 
twenty-four inches long and fifteen 
inches wide, will do. A heavier man 
needs a shoe that is thirty inches long 
and fourteen or fifteen inches wide. 
The respective spheres of usefulnss for 
the tailed snowshoe and the tailless bear 
paw are so wide apart that it is wise to 
plan to own a pair of each of these types 
of webbed feet. 
A GOOD foot binding is an important 
** adjunct to the snowshoe. The most 
simple harness is a length of wide, flat 
lampwicking looped over the toe, the two 
ends run through the stringing on either 
side, then passed diagonally across the 
toe and fastened above the heel. But 
unless one knows to a nicety the knack 
of tying and adjusting a home-made 
harness of this kind, it is likely to give 
trouble. The average snowshoer will 
find the manufactured harness more sat- 
isfactory. 
In selecting a harness, get one that can 
easily be gotten out of in a hurry after 
a tumble and that is flexible enough not 
to wrench your foot. Make sure that it 
will neither chafe the feet nor allow the 
toes to work forward and come into con- 
tact with the forward crossbar while go- 
ing downhill. A strap that is too tight 
across the tops of the toes will wear 
these to raw meat and if your toes come 
constantly in contact with the crossbar 
you will suffer another kind of agony. 
Bear paw model used in the East 
My poor toes almost ache at the very 
thought of an agonizing mountain trip 
I once took wearing a harness having 
these shortcomings. 
The most satisfactory type of harness 
I have found is a simple leather pocket 
or toe cap, open at both ends and lashed 
to the stringing of the shoe. The toes 
fit into this and the straps from either 
side run back around the ankle. 
Fairly high, soft-soled moccasins, large 
enough to accommodate three pairs of 
wool socks without binding the feet in 
any way represent the favorite type of 
snowshoeing footgear. There is no bet- 
ter boot for the purpose, in my opinion, 
although there are those who prefer flat 
soled rubber hunting-boots. Ordinary 
rubber arctics can sometimes be worn, 
although these are not recommended for 
steady use. Whatever the boot may be, 
it must be devoid of a heel. The grind- 
ing of a hesl completely ruins the snow- 
shoe stringing in no time. A useful tem- 
porary expedient when there are no heel- 
less boots about is that of laying a square 
block of sole leather over the stringing 
upon the spot where the heel will descend 
and fastening this with thongs of the 
stringing. 
Snowshoeing looks easy and it is easy, 
immediately a beginner finds his snow 
legs. As a rough estimate, I should say 
that within an hour after a person puts 
on snowshoes for the first time he is 
reasonably at home on them. There are 
few sports that can be learned so quickly. 
The reason for this is that ordinary 
walking and snowshoe walking are 
fundamentally the same. At the same 
time there are noteworthy minor differ- 
ences. 
When walking on a city pavement, the 
heel is only slightly raised, but in the 
snowshoe stride the heel is raised very 
much higher. Indeed, at the moment 
when the rear snowshoe is about to be 
brought forward, the bottom of your rear 
foot is practically vertical. During the 
greater part of the forward stride the 
heel is above the stringing and even 
when the snowshoe is planted forward 
and the heel sinks down upon the string- 
ing, too much weight must not be placed 
upon the heel or the tail of the shoe will 
sink deep into the snow. 
In bringing the rear foot forward, 
there are two tendencies to be guarded 
against. One is to keep the feet far 
apart and the other is walking with the 
feet too close together. In one ca.se, 
you will use up a lot of energy and in 
the other, bark your shins. Somewhere 
between these two e.xtrcmcs is cor- 
rect. The rear shoe should come up 
with a forward and outward move- 
ment, just enough to clear the other 
ankle. When both snowshoes are 
on the snow, the rear narrow part 
of the forward shoe and the wide 
front part of the rear shoe should 
fit close to each other, hut not 
quite touch. The correct snowshoc- 
ing stride gives this result. 
'TO the beginner, snowshoeing is 
likely to prove tiring work. 
Thigh and calf muscles which have 
not been exercised for a long time 
come into play and it is wise to take 
things in a leisurely fashion at first. In- 
stead of tying the muscles into hard 
knots, allow these to relax. Let the hip 
action be loose and easy, and slightly 
bend the knees. 
Tumbles will come, one of the first 
when the beginner tries to make his first 
turn. Lhiless I am greatly mistaken, he 
{Continued on page 42) 
