Industry Experts Release Snowshoe Facts, Past and Present

Industry experts from snowshoeracing.com and rei.com recently released several historical and recent facts regarding the progression and advancement of snowshoeing throughout history. Featured facts include:

- It is commonly thought that a type of winter walking aid similar to snowshoes was used in the central Asian region around 4000 B.C.

- The earliest forms of snowshoes were essentially wood snowshoes made of branches tied together using rawhide.

- Originally used for hunting and other forms of survival, snow shoes eventually became more of a recreational activity by the late 1880s.

- Beginning in the 1900s, snowshoe design was altered by the use of wooden frames with a waved deck constructed of caribou gut or cow skin combined with rawhide bindings.

- A major innovation, the invention of neoprene style lacing in the 1960s significantly eliminated the problem of stretched out bindings.

- Features that include aerospace-grade aluminum frames, spring-loaded bindings, toe and heel crampons and urethane deckings are now standard on most snowshoes manufactured in modern times.