Skis vs snowshoes
It depends on the snow cover, etc. In our country (winter snowfall usually between 200-300 inches per season), both are used. Cross-country skis work best on some sort of trail - i.e., firm base.
Snowshoes come in various designs - traditionally something like these:
Alaskan Style
Much like a large Ojibwa in general shape and function, the Alaskan's upturned toe, large surface area and sleek profile excel at covering open trail distances through any depth of snow.
Fastest, but least maneuverable, snowshoe.
Ojibwa Style
Of all the many shapes we could make, we feature and recommend the Ojibwa, with its pointed tail, highly efficient pointed toe and ''nesting'' shape. This beautiful design comes down to us from thousands of years of challenge and survival. It is strongly preferred by Canadian and US snowshoers and winter guides as the top design for beginners to start on, best for general day trips and for serious expeditions.
More maneuverable than the Alaskan (but not in close quarters - sapling whips, etc. because of the sharp prow).
Huron Style
If your grandfather snowshoed, most probably it would have been on a pair of Babiche-laced (rawhide) snowshoes like these. Country Ways brings this tradition back with these 12" x 46" Huron-style “Drift Busters”. Great looking snowshoes for over the mantle, outside an entrance, or on any wooded trail! Yes, they are as reliable and quiet as ever, especially in the deep snow. Select quarter-sawn white ash is steam bent and the babiche is hand laced by our skilled craftspeople in patterns developed over many hundreds of years.
My dad's choice - which I've adhered to.
Green Mt. Bearpaw
A fine example of the traditional and much-loved New England mountain snowshoe.These Green Mountain (or modified) bearpaws are quite oval, rounded at both ends with a slight lift to the toe. Ideal for outdoor work projects - surveying, orchard pruning, traplines, dense brush and winter campsites where you need to turn in your own length. Often used as expedition spares carried on the back of a pack. Harder walking for long distances than pointed tail snowshoes.
This modification is longer than the traditional bearpaw (which is roughly 2/3 the length, but same width), which is the ultimate cedar swamp snowshoe.
A shorter form of New England bearpaw was probably used by Roger's Rangers in the "Battle of the Snowshoes". That book's cover shows a TdM trooper (French Colonial Marine), a French-Canadian militiaman and an Indian auxilliary - all using Huron-style snowshoes. The First Battle (1757) involved French infantry (TDY'd to Canada) from the Languedoc Regt. (who were not snowshoe-equipped - "The French reported that they were at a disadvantage, since they were without snowshoes and floundering in snow up to their knees."), plus some French-Candadian militia and Indians. The Second Battle (1758) involved mostly Canadian Indians as auxilliaries to approx. a "platoon" (~30 men) of Colonial Marines.
At least two 1757-1758 encounters involved snowshoes - see Wikis, Battle on Snowshoes (1757), and Battle on Snowshoes (1758). Roger's g-g-granddaughter found several original documents reporting on the Second Battle of the Snowshoes, 13 Mar 1758).
Regards
Mike
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