Snowshoeing and Snow Trekking

Speed isn’t everything. Of course there’s nothing like the exhilarating, spine-tingling sensation of hurtling down a mountain slope on a pair of skis or a snowboard, but that way you’ve little chance of coming across any of the shy wildlife that lives in the mountains. To do that, you’re better off strapping on a pair of snow-shoes and going walkabout into the wintry beyond. You can also reach otherwise inaccessible places in thick forest and climb up to some of the most remote alpine summits.

Snow trekking on a pair of snow-shoes is one of the greenest activities in winter. Even better, there’s none of the fuss of having to bother with the usual ski equipment. Just strap on a pair of snow-shoes and away you go into the crunching virgin snow. For an insight into what it's like to go snowshoeing, see Anna Shepard's article on Snow-trekking in the French Pyrenees.

We also highly recommend going snow-shoeing at night; snow trekking through hidden forest trails can be a magical, eerie experience: the snow glistens under the light of the moon and the crunch of powder underfoot is all you can hear among the hush of the trees.

Below are snowshoeing holidays in the Alps, Pyrenees and other mountains of Western Europe where you can enjoy all that powder and pine and fresh mountain air, but where your footprint will be only snow deep.