Why don't people in the UK use snowshoes?
I was recently in the mountains of Snowdonia in thick snow. It was about 2 foot (about 0.6m) in places. It was a lovely day just after Christmas so it was quite busy too (even a few snow boarders on the Carneddau). Everyone was postholing up the slope (me included). It was hard work!
It occurred to me that snowshoes would be perfect in this situation. At the same time it occurred to me that I have never ever seen anyone in the UK use snow shoes, or for that matter a shop sell them.
Is there a practical reason for this or is it simply because snow in the UK is so transitive?
Bear in mind that most of the slope was of a lesser gradient than above
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In addition to the good answer by Aravona, there are two important reasons:
Snow shoes are impractical on steep terrain because they put a lot of stress on your ankles.
If you are going to buy equipment for going up snow-covered mountains, there is a much better solution: mountain skis with skins attached. Skins increase the grip tremendously.
Example:
Skis with skins are better than snow boots because
a) skis have a larger surface area, so they sink less in deep snow
b) you have small metal objects you flip up under the heels of your ski boots, making it much less stressful on your ankles. The experience is similar to walking up stairs.
c) when you are finished going up, you remove the skins and can go very fast down
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This is really interesting, and I think it might be similar to why we don't generally have snow tires / chains etc as a common item here in stores. Certainly the South rarely gets snow, with Wales, The North and Scotland being more likely to get snow days.
From the MET Office:
The UK gets on average 33 days of snow fall or sleet a year (1971 - 2000). Most of this is snow falling on higher ground where temperatures are lower.
Also from the MET office:
How much snow settles?
Much of this snow fall does not settle, and the figures for snow on the ground (snow lying) are much lower. On average across the UK there's only 16.5 days a year when snow is on the ground, compared to 27.7 days in Scotland. Again, most of the snow on the ground can be found in mountainous areas.
Without going too in depth into marketing... stores are very likely to sell what they know a consumer is likely to buy, and in numbers. If you'll note snow shovels and sledges turn up in UK stores in winter and certainly in the South they are plastic, and not likely to be used (or last if they are!). They will sell well when people are going to panic buy and therefore the quality can be low due to an unlikeliness to sell but not many people will panic buy snow shoes. The stores we have would prefer to cater to weather they can guarantee we will have... rain is more common all year round - you're more likely to find waders than snow shoes in our stores.
Ideally if you want something that companies like Blacks, Millets (acutally owned by Blacks), Sports Direct, Go Outdoors, Trespass etc might consider specialised, you're better off buying online as they might not keep the items in stock, as here I would say they would very likely come under seasonal stock.
As a note Blacks (and others) have 'Snow Boots' but they certainly look more fashionable than servicable, being more like very winter wellies... So lack of continuous snow and availability would be why people are less likely to use them.
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Snowshoes are available in the UK, but generally you have to go to more specialist mountaineering shops. I doubt any of the high street chains stock them, instead look at the smaller independent shops. Especially those shops located close to mountainous areas, where snowshoes could be more useful. eg
- Braemar Mountain Sports have a few models
- Icicle, in Windermere, claim to have the largest range of snowshoes in the country
- Needle Sports, in Keswick
Or Decathlon list a reasonable range of snowshoes, including several own-brand Quechua models (fairly cheap). This is probably because Decathlon are a French company. And I suspect they won't have many of these in store, you would have to order online.
Other than that, it may be best to buy online. It seems the MSR snowshoes are quite widely available from UK online shops.
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