Techniques Employed With Snowshoes
Snowshoes function best when there is enough snow beneath them to pack a layer between them and the ground, usually at a depth of 8 inches (20 cm) or more. However, contrary to popular belief, snowshoes perform poorly on very icy and steep terrain. Compared to crampons, snowshoes give relatively little grip on ice. It is common for novice snowshoers to climb up a steep slope to a summit and then have difficulty climbing back down, which tends to be more difficult than ascending. In icy conditions, summer hiking routes may require mountaineering skills and equipment, not snowshoes.
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Famous quotes containing the words techniques and/or employed:
“The techniques of opening conversation are universal. I knew long ago and rediscovered that the best way to attract attention, help, and conversation is to be lost. A man who seeing his mother starving to death on a path kicks her in the stomach to clear the way, will cheerfully devote several hours of his time giving wrong directions to a total stranger who claims to be lost.”
—John Steinbeck (1902–1968)
“It appeared that he had once represented his tribe at Augusta, and also once at Washington, where he had met some Western chiefs. He had been consulted at Augusta, and gave advice, which he said was followed, respecting the eastern boundary of Maine, as determined by highlands and streams, at the time of the difficulties on that side. He was employed with the surveyors on the line. Also he called on Daniel Webster in Boston, at the time of his Bunker Hill oration.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)