January, 1921 
FOREST AND STREAM 
sion of the step, after the web is plant- 
ed on the snow. 
Correct balance (or maybe I ought 
to say lack of balance) in the snowshoe 
while learning, and an occasional one 
after mastering the trick. Learn to 
fall easily; sometimes one’s efforts to 
save himself cause a wrench and strain. 
is essential to correct, easy walking. 
The tail should drag, even when you 
lift the front end quite high in step- 
ping. A shoe that does not so act is 
not properly “balanced.” It will tire 
you rapidly and cause many falls. 
In some ways a curled up toe in the 
beginner’s shoe helps him, but he is 
almost sure to prefer the flat, or ap- 
proximately flat webs later, so he will 
make no mistake in beginning with 
them. He will not stumble so much 
with a curved toe, and the snow cannot 
accumulate on it so rapidly; but to 
offset these advantages, the shoe is 
comparatively stiff, and utterly useless 
when it comes to hill-climbing. It is 
bound to sink deeper in the snow than 
a flat pattern. In some parts of Can- 
ada they use an extremely curved shoe, 
often as much as eight inches, and I 
have it from a trapper who tried this 
pattern that they are extremely stiff 
and fatiguing. Further, such a toe 
often strikes the knee of the walker. 
A T first you may be annoyed at the 
packing of snow on the web, espe- 
cially right under the foot. The 
closer the weave of filling the worse this 
will be; but the trouble can be lessened 
by painting the filling wtih hot mutton 
or venison tallow. 
One expert snowshoer explained the 
smoothness of his stride by saying that 
he walked “with his hips.” The be- 
ginner’s inclination is to bend the 
knees more_ than necessary, knowing 
that half of the ascending shoe has to 
pass over half of the stationary one. 
Study to bend the knees no more than 
necessary, cultivate a free hip action, 
set the feet directly forward, and keep 
the heel well up in stepping — and you 
cannot avoid a good stride. 
Of course you will get falls — many 
The snow is soft, and unless you twist 
yourself awkwardly a tumble won’t 
harm you; it just adds to the fun. Use 
a staff on the hills; it will be of fre- 
quent assistance while learning. Walk- 
S NOESHOES demand reasonable 
care, if they are to last and give 
reliable service. As you doubtless 
know, it is injurious to the webs to dry 
them near the fire. Deer skin particu- 
larly, will not stand this. Dry them 
outside when the weather is favorable, 
and do it after every day’s use. 
Waterproof varnish will prevent the 
frames from becoming water soaked, 
but be sure the wood is perfectly dry 
at the time of application. I do not 
favor varnishing the filling, though I 
knew a sportsman who claimed excel- 
lent waterproofing results from coating 
it with gum shellac. 
Breaks should be attended to imme- 
diately; always have extra strands of 
rawhide with you, and be sure that 
these have been thoroughly stretched. 
You must not jump with snowshoes; 
unlike skis, they will not stand much of 
this. Be careful on rough ground, in 
crossing logs, etc.; throwing your 
Bom 
ing on the webs is like some other 
sports, “a good game even if you lose.” 
You may never become a champion at 
it; but you can’t fail in securing some 
SJioeStrap 
excellent exercise, a kind that strength- 
ens important muscles and tones up 
every organ in the body. 
weight on the shoe when one end of it 
is elevated on an unyielding object may 
break the frame — anyway, it will cause 
the shoe gradually to take on the unde- 
sirable rocker shape often seen. Don’t 
“coast” in the webs; you will be tempt- 
ed, when you find well-crusted snow 
cn a hill, but such use quickly wears 
out the webbing. 
D O not use a leather shoe on snow- 
shoes. Hunting boots with heel- 
less rubber bottoms are not bad ; 
but moccasins are best of all — easiest on 
the feet and well adapted to the tying 
thong. I suggest the Chippewa mocca- 
sin, as its toe is particularly well 
shaped. For hosiery, use two or three 
pairs of lumbermen’s woolen socks. 
The size of the snowshoes chosen will 
depend mainly on the character of the 
ground to be covered; and naturally, 
the wearer’s weight is a modifying fac- 
tor. While there is an endless variety 
of shapes, shading into each other by 
easy gradations, snowshoes may be 
roughly classified into two types; the 
long, rangy shoe for straight-away 
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