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Snowshoeing 101! Watch my CTV segment on snowshoeing

January 13, 2017

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Snowshoeing 101! Shared my Snowshoe tips with CTV Morning Live Calgary viewers today. What to wear, gear and where to head out in the powder. Check out my snowshoeing blog post with all the snowshoe trail maps and avalanche awareness details at www.fitfrog.ca.

You can buy snowshoes at MEC Calgary and if you want to try them out first, then rent them and have the rental cost deducted from your purchase if you decide to buy!

CTV Morning Live Snowshoeing 101 Segment

WAtch a video on Snowshoeing at Burstall Lakes, Kananaskis

Snowshoeing in Calgary and the Kananaskis Rockies: Maps, trails and what you need to know

January 9, 2017

lori

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Snowshoeing is as easy as walking, but much more fun if you get off trail in the powder and explore. You can join me for a organized snowshoe in the Rockies or take to the trails on your own. Snowshoeing is much more fun when the snow is deep, and you could not walk there with boots alone. It is rare to have that much snow in Calgary, but on occasion we get a big snowfall in March and this would be a great time to head out in the city. If venturing out on your own in the Rocky Mountains, you need to be a good understanding of avalanche terrain and current snowpack conditions. Go to Avalanche Canada

To consider:

Know what mountain structure is above you at all times. You will need a topographical map (Gemtrek maps for the Alberta Rockies) to show the terrain as you might not see it through the trees.
Snowshoeing at the base of an avalanche slope is dangerous. Slopes can let go above you due to a cornice breaking off or if people are on the slope above. You might find yourself in this situation while snowshoeing around a mountain lake that is surrounded by slopes.
Do not snowshoe alone. While snowshoeing is a low impact sport and people do not tend to get injured from speed, when going off trail in the powder, it is easy for a leg to sink under a log or tree, and/or get a snowshoe stuck on a branch. Sometimes you cannot maneuver to get yourself out and need help.
Snowshoeing in the powder is the fun part, but you need to pay attention to your location at all times. Map reading, route finding and navigational skills are required for off trail exploration to avoid getting lost. Expect to have to pay attention to your location and do not depend on the designated trails below being obvious. When people use the area, they create new trails, and all of them start to look official.

There are many wonderful, designated snowshoe routes in the Kananaskis, and when Calgary has snow, you can explore in the city as well. Here is an overview:

Join us on the trails!

Club Fit Frog calendar of walks and snowshoe or ask Lori to plan a custom snowshoe for you!

Calgary and area

Confederation Golf Course: In 2016 snow will be made on this golf course and tracks will be set.
Shaganappi Golf Course
Sandy Cross Conservation Area (22 x and 130 St)
Any park that is covered in snow

For a full list of options check the City of Calgary website: ski and snowshoe

West Bragg Creek

The West Bragg Creek recreation area is multi-use. Cross Country skiing, snowshoeing, mountain biking (fat biking in the winter) and dog friendly activities area all supported in this incredibly popular (busy) area. You will see a map of the designated snowshoe trails here. This area is very close to Calgary, but the snow cover is minimal most of the year. While find for track-set cross-country skiing, it is not necessary to have snowshoes most of the winter. With the chinooks that role in, the snow becomes very packed and boots with traction devices suffice unless the hiker plans on going off trail into the woods and the clear-cuts. So, snowshoeing is best in this area after a fresh snowfall.

Kananaskis

The Spray Lakes Provincial Park and Peter Lougheed Provincial Park have the best snowshoeing within an hour-1.5 hours drive of Calgary. These areas are in a snow belt and the snow last until June. Even when there is not snows in Calgary and very little snow along Hwy. 40, there will be over a meter of snow in the Spray Lakes area. Designated snowshoe routes have been created, with signage to ensure that you do not enter avalanche terrain. This is the biggest issue once into the mountains. You need to know what avalanche terrain looks like so that you do not accidentally enter into it, or even walk at the base of an avalanche slope.This area is popular but much less busy that West Bragg. It is also more remote. When travelling on the trails in this area you should have the snowshoe trails maps AND the trail and topographical map in hand and know how to use it. It is easy to get disoriented with all of the unofficial trails that scatter the area. And if you do not know what an avalanche slope is, then DO NOT enter this area. You need to learn about avalanche terrain before stepping out.

Here is a great website with a review of 5 wonderful snowshoe trips in the Kananaskis.

CTV Walking Wednesday: Snowshoeing in Calgary and the Rockies!

February 18, 2016

lori

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Snowshoeing Rawson Lake, Kananaskis Rockies, Alberta — Rawson Lake, Kananaskis

I took CTV viewers snowshoeing on my latest segment. Watch the segment here!

If you want to know more about where to snowshoe, maps and trails, check out my post on where to snowshoe in and around Calgary. And for more info on snowshoeing, where to rent, what to bring, take a read of my snowshoe page on this website.

Snowshoeing is great exercise, just like walking but slower, in spectacular terrain. It is a wonderful family activity (bring the crazy carpets and the shovels for snow caves). It is a wonderful, FREE, outing that refreshes the mind and the body.

Eve snowshoeing the Canadian Rockies — Hogarth Lakes, Kananaskis

Moose car wash in the Kananaskis

December 14, 2015

lori

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Got a moose carwash on the way to our snowshoe in the Spray Lakes area of the Kananaskis yesterday. The car was licked clean, well, sort of. It was a wonderful wintery and slightly weird day!

Winter Snowshoe & City Walks Calendar!

November 3, 2015

lori

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The Club Fit Frog Winter Calendar of City Walks and Rockies snowshoe and Ski days in on-line. Join us for for powder-pouncing some winter fun!

Winter Calendar!

Chester Lake Snowshoe, the best Christmas present of all!

December 4, 2014

lori

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Give the gift of the Rocky Mountains this Christmas! I snowshoed Chester Lake in The Kananaskis Rockies, yesterday and it was absolute perfection. And abundance of glittering powdery snow, and mountain peaks all around. MERRY CHRISTMAS I say!

For details on snowshoe trails in the Kananaskis, check the Alberta Parks website. You can also join us, on our many snowshoe outings in December through March.

BE PREPARED, BE SAFE and HAVE FUN!

1. AVALANCHE AWARENESS- Be aware that the snowshoe trails in the park are created to keep you away from avalanche terrain. If you do not know what an avalanche slope looks like, DO NOT go into the mountains on snowshoes. You can easily walk into avalanche terrain without knowing it. Check the Avalanche Canada website.

2. Have the Gemtrek, Kananaskis map and the Snowshoe trail map. There are many, many, many alternative snowshoe trails created by people enjoying the powder. This can be confusing if you are not paying attention and navigating. There is signage for snowshoe trails created by the parks, so keep watching for those signs.

3. Take lots of clothing and lots of food. Read through our checklist on what to bring on snowshoe and ski days. And here is a list of where to rent snowshoes.

Be healthier in 2014 with these “revolutionary” treatments

January 7, 2014

lori

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From the Globe and Mail article on Jan. 5, Fifteen things Canadians can do to be healthier this year, here are two fantastic suggestions by two experts in mental and physical wellness; get outside and walk more! Living a healthy lifestyle is pretty simple stuff.

Try a revolutionary ‘new’ treatment

There is a super expensive new drug coming out. It reduces heart disease by 60 per cent, cancer by 27 per cent, Alzheimer’s by 50 per cent and arthritis by 47 per cent. It’s now our best treatment for fatigue and low back pain. It cures a third of erectile dysfunction, and cuts anxiety and depression by 48 per cent. People even lose weight on this stuff … Okay, it’s not new or expensive or even a pill. It’s walking. If I had to pick one thing, I’d say movement is the best medicine.

Mike Evans, staff physician at St. Michael’s Hospital, associate professor of family medicine and public health at the University of Toronto

Take it outside

Go for a noontime walk outside, especially in winter. Why? You get at least five times as much light as the brightest office (even on dark, stormy days). You get exercise (well, at least some activity). And you avoid big lunches (or at least have less time to eat). All of which helps your mood, memory and weight.

Raymond Lam, professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia and director of the Mood Disorders Centre, UBC Hospital

Merry, snowy Christmas!

December 21, 2013

lori

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Merry Christmas!

I hope you will join us on the snowy trails this winter! The snowshoeing and cross-country skiing is fantastic right now in the Alberta and British Columbia Rocky Mountains. The urban hikes in Calgary are great year-round. Come on out for a fresh walk and cup of coffee at unique local coffee shops in Calgary.

Check our calendar of events, the winter programs begin on January 7th. Come once or get a membership for the winter session.

Join us for a fresh, outdoor, active New Year!

Hope to see you on the trails in 2014,

– Lori

Snowshoe the Rockies (with the kids!)

January 17, 2013

lori

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It’s time to play in the snow! Grab your friends and your family, a duffel bag full of clothes, your backpacks, some snowshoes, a crazy carpet, a shovel (for building snow forts at the trailhead!) and a heck of a lot of yummy food and thermoses of hot drinks; you are going snowshoeing in the Rockies!

Snowshoeing is as easy as walking! It’s simply left, right and repeat. There is no skill needed, no technique. But you do need to have some cardiovascular fitness because it can be challenging when you step off the beaten trail. And that, by the way, if the best part (the whole point) of snowshoeing! Get into the deep, powdery snow! Play, fall down and pounce. Snowshoeing generally follows some well know hiking trails, but snowshoeing is not as much about destination as it is about playing in snow.

There are some wonderful snowshoe routes in the Kananaskis Rockies as well as in Banff National Park and Yoho National Park. The main thing to know about choosing a wonderful snowshoe route is to be aware of and to avoid avalanche terrain and to ensure that you have the topographical maps (and know how to use them!) so you do not get lost or end up in avalanche terrain. And remember, cellphones rarely work in the the mountains so the motto, “BE PREPARED” is a good one to follow.

Our next snowshoe day is this weekend, January 20th and our next FAMILY FUN club Fit Frog snowshoe is on Saturday, Feb. 9th! Both outings will be full of powder pouncing and route finding and having fun in the snow. And if you are keen to take a weekend away, join us for a Family Fun getaway in YOHO National Park based in tiny Field, BC on February 15-17, 2013.

SNOWSHOE PRESENTATION
If you want to know more, or see a slide presentation to help you learn all you need to know to get started snowshoeing, get in touch and I can come and speak to your group!

Come on out and join us! Make winter your new favourite season!