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JAK
03-20-2013, 05:53
Perhaps the last good snowfall of the year here. Half done my paper route in 6" of fresh snow and taking a coffee break. Decided on a footwear change. Thought it would be fun for people to post their experience, footwear strategies, and trudging tactics in various snow conditions and depths.

When is light streamlined footwear better than boots, snowshoes, skis, etc? Not that you always have much choice when struck by a chance snowfall on otherwise clear or trampled trails. How much does just a little bit of fresh snow slow you down? How about 3", or 6". When is better to lift your foot? When is it better to drag your foot? Again not much choice, and within a km or so your body will find the best motion for the conditions.

I am heading out for the last half now. Switched from my winter boots to my light sneakers. Gortex socks would be ideal but it will only be about 40 minutes so I can afford to get my feet wet. Hope you all enjoy the thread. Hope to hear some more of Teepee Walters swimming in 3 feet of snow stories, with 70 pounds of gear, uphill in both directions. Great stuff.

JAK
03-20-2013, 08:10
Been thinking about sewing nylon sock sleeve to the top of my trail runners as built in gators.
Not sure how best to deal with the tongue and lace area.

JAK
03-20-2013, 08:24
The light sneakers worked way better than the boots though, even more so when trudging through snow than normal without snow. Also the best motion seems to be a combination of sometimes lifting your feet more and sometimes dragging your feet through the snow more, depending on conditions. Your body will come by it naturally, but it's worth thinking about a little. Traction makes a difference even in snow, not so much to keep from falling as reducing the energy required. The nice thing about a good long trudge is even in conditions where you might get slowed down to 1 mph or less, if you do it efficiently you can do it all day using just enough energy to stay warm while burning body fat and not depleting glycogen reserves or getting sweaty or exhausted. Can be a good strategy. Sometimes you still have to hunker down and wait it out, but a slow trudge is a good strategy if you are prepared for it.

Sandy of PA
03-20-2013, 08:28
Look into Dirty Girl gaitors, gives the same effect but removable.

JAK
03-20-2013, 08:31
I've heard of those and they sound awesome. Would like to try a pair.

DeerPath
03-20-2013, 11:49
Look into Dirty Girl gaitors, gives the same effect but removable.

DITTO... Just got a pair and much easier to put on than regular gaitors.

dzierzak
03-20-2013, 12:30
Used Dirty Girls for years with both boots and trail runners. Keeps a lot of crap out of the shoes.

Malto
03-20-2013, 17:31
Dirty girls are not good snow gaiters IMHO and I have done hundreds of miles of snow in them and love them for general dirty and rocks. They do little for postholing and with fresh snow they wouldn't keep snow from collecting in the mesh of trail runners which is my biggest nemesis with snow travel. With 3-6" of fresh snow my walk doesn't change a whole lot. I slow down a bit on the uphills because I seem to slip back a couple of inches per step but I make up for it on the downhills where the slipping is forward increasing my pace. Now back to gaiters..... My ideal snow gaiter would cover the entire mesh part of my trail runners. I have looked at making them but haven't put the effort in to figuring out how to reliably attach them to the shoe.

RockDoc
03-20-2013, 18:38
Dirty girls are OK for fairly dry conditions, but for hard usage I would get something a little stouter and better made; I've had good luck with runfunky.com gaitors. I've used both for many years, but dg's only for dry/warm conditions because they are very light lycra fabric. Either brand has colors that will get lots of comments on the trail.