MY FIRST TIME SNOW SHOEING

I had the majority of the day off like some of my co workers and we decided we should do something. However when it was decided and translated to be that we were rented snow shoes and going snow shoeing I had no idea what to expect (at all.) But anyway I got on the bus to the local supermarket where I met my friends and from there we all went to hire snow shoes for the afternoon (it was surprisingly cheap only 4 euros!.)



I got to the rental place and they brought out these sort of tennis rackets that you put on your feet and then they instructed us to go to the tourist office and they would give us a route. So we went along to the tourist office and we were told there is an "easy hour circuit route for families." We thought why not and lets go! We put on our snow shoes and started heading out to the forest. It was literally like walking with tennis rackets on your feet and apparently it was to stop you from sinking in the one and a half metre deep snow! (But it only saved us a few times and many times we simply just fell!

We were walking the family route with our limited time frame as we all had work this evening and the fact that we had no real experience with snow shoeing therefore we didn't think it would be that physically demanding. However boi were we wrong when we were suddenly faced with very steep hills with no real pathway covered in snow. Many times I would just sink or my feet would get stuck underneath me which proved very hilarious for my friends. But we continued going up and up and up and up! We didn't know how far we were from completing the circuit we just kept following the signs which were often covered in snow and also impossible to find.

As the route was a family route part of it was to find certain animal tracks along the way such as rabbit tracks or pheasant footprints in the snow! However it dawned on me that I was in the wild and away from civilisation when it asked me to look for wolf tracks and I am very happy to report that I didn't find any. We did meet other people who were snow shoeing on the way however it was often a competition about following the leader as the person who went first was doing the most physical work by making the pathway for the others to follow on.

After longer than an hour and many times I thought "what if I break my leg and cant get down again" we got to the top of the mountain! And we looked at the amazing view ahead of us and were very relieved that it was only down from now on. However down wasn't as easy as expected and it was incredibly steep which meant that you could fall so easily. But as the route was taking longer and longer it was getting darker and darker and we managed to see sunset but it also meant that our evening shifts were approaching fast! So we powered on and managed to get down the mountain (even though one time I was severely stuck in the snow and couldn't stand up and felt that I had given into the mountain and was defeated!) But we did it! And we have agreed that we will do it again and see different views and challenge our fitness levels! (But on days where the weather in nice and next time I am wearing more thermals!)

But overall my experience snow shoeing was highly enjoyable and I would recommend it! However now I just need to figure out what the real word for snow shoeing is rather than just using the direct translation of it!! Tomorrow I am skiing! Another post will tell you all about the adventures of that! (Hopefully I don't end up in A&E and I might actually have courage to go on the ski lift! Who knows)