Snowshoes - Szklarska Poręba

With snowshoes in the snow wilderness

People of the snow have discovered that if you spread your weight over a larger area, you can easily wander over the fresh, deep snow.

Snowshoes make it possible to move in any terrain. Even on the strongly inclined icy slopes, as they are equipped with steel teeth, like crampons and the movement technique is easy to learn. They make the unknown, unbelievable world of great white open to anyone. They are lightweight, durable, effective, and safe.

They do not require learning, nurseries, quick connectors. Everyone can wander, be it a child, or even a disabled person. Of course, at a different pace, but on the same road as a professional marathon runner. Snowshoes are a great adventure. Though their impact on health is not to be overlooked. During the journey they activate the muscles that fall out of use easily: abdomen, chest, back, thighs and buttocks.

In the Karkonosze and the Jizera, the snow shoes first gained popularity among mountain guides and photographers - or those who wished to explore the mountains closer, unlike the popular tourist trips. That is because snowshoes can go in winter, where there is no chance to get without them.

Because the wild beauty and majesty of these mountains can only be known in winter when the summer paths are trampled with snow and ice cover. So far, moving beyond the beaten trails was impossible, dangerous and exhausting, in soaking shoes and waist-deep in the snow. The snowshoes changed the situation completely. You can walk over a meter of snow without a fight.

You do not suffer, do not stagger, no time wasted. You can safely walk on icy, wind-blown slopes. Quickly, reliably, safely. Sit in the shelter over mulled wine while the "real tourists" will continue to dig drifts in the snow.

Snowshoes help make new friends, because people can go side by side and talk freely while skiers, must stop to exchange a few sentences.

And what is very important – snowshoe hiking is a completely organic sport, and in no way affects the environment.

Text by Grzegorz Kapel

More photos in the author’s gallery of Zygmunt Trylański.

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Organization of snowshoe hiking in Karkonosze and the Jizera Mountains: