Stomping through the deep snow with a sound of crunching under feet, it’s like stamping down on empty cardboard boxes. In the distance a mountain range cuts a jagged silhouette over the horizon with a hazy red sunset lingering over the snow covered mountain tops.
The ski slopes are deserted and the sun is well on its way down. The perfect time to go snowshoeing, when the last of the days weary skiers has finally skied their last run of the day and headed for a pre-dinner siesta. At Port Ainé ski resort we had ourselves finished a hard day’s skiing and snowboarding, with a few of the group picking up their skills with lessons whilst myself and others threw ourselves down the slopes at will. Needless to say, we were in need of a bit of a rest at the end of the day but before we chance to catch our breath, we found ourselves with poles in our hands and strange futuristic looking snowshoes clamped to our feet.
CLIMBING THE SLOPES
We set out with special walking poles in our hands and snowshoes dragging along the snow, up the ski slope and off piste through the trees. It’s a beautiful time to be on the slopes and I couldn’t help thinking that it’d be superb to take a snowboard up there and be the only boarder weaving down the to the resort.
After veering off piste through a tree lined area our guide stopped us to give us the lowdown on how to walk in snowshoes. Needless to say, the technique isn’t that different to wearing normal shoes but one intriguing little feature that I like to call “high heel mode” is where the snowshoe wearer can flip over a small metal part on the back of the shoe to elevate the heel of the foot. This allows the wearer to climb steeper parts of snow with less effort.
SNAKING UP STEEP HILLS
Our guide showed us exactly why it’s wise to snake up a steep hill rather than attempt to climb vertically, because you can apparently lose grip and easily fall down the hill like a novice. Upon finally reaching the top, my daydreams of being greeted with a fizzing glass of champagne vanished (wishful thinking) as soon as it had appeared, as the view out across the Pyrenees was simply breath taking.
SNOWSHOES
Way before people wore snowshoes there were already examples of animals that had evolved over time to cope with deep snow.
The Snowshoe hare is a great example of an animal that has adapted to be able to move quickly through deep snow with its abnormally large furry feet.
We stood overlooking Port Ainé resort as the sun seeped away behind the rugged Pyrenees leaving a red sky bleeding behind the snow covered mountain tops. Interrupting my attempts to capture the beauty of the scene with a photosphere, our guide, who was clearly passionate about snowshoeing in the mountains and the local habitat began to educate us on the local mountainous wildlife and their surroundings.
LOCAL WILDLIFE
Huddled around in a circle our guide held illustrations and photos whilst describing in detail the characteristics of the of the local species, their feeding habits, predators and how they survived out on the mountain side. His passion for the local habitat and conservation was expressed through his expressive tone and frantic arm movements.
CHANGING LANDSCAPES
Patterns in the local wildlife in the Pyrenees change with the seasons. Although you can spot signs of wildlife on the mountains in the form of their droppings, it’s rare to get a real sighting in winter months.
PORT-AINÉ SUNSET VIEW
The sunset spanned the horizon making it difficult to really capture its real beauty, although I tried my best capturing this 360 degree photosphere(below). We stood admiring the view for a while as the sun finally came down and it was time to wind our way back down to the resort.
Whilst taking the photosphere of the sunset I couldn’t help admiring a quint little van resembling postman pat’s nearly fully submerged in a thick cover of snow (take a look around the photosphere and see if you can spot it).
Presuming that all the hard work from snowshoeing up the mountain was already behind us, we were in for a bit of a disappointment as getting down proved to be a little more hazardous than on the way up! On our way to Port Ainé resort we crossed some deep snow, the perfect test for our snowshoes.
FALLING IN SNOW
As you’d expect walking on deep snow is much more difficult that on the flat compact snow of the pistes, as the daylight began to fade a few of us found ourselves losing grip on steep sections, occasionally tripping and some of us, falling in the snow. Thankfully, it was a pretty soft landing. It was a good opportunity to capture Port Ainé resort whilst sat demoralised in the snow, in the distance the resort resembled a cartoon snow swept log cabin with yellow lamps in the windows. It was an inviting view and after a couple of hours snowshoeing I was ready to get inside, get warm and sample a cold Catalonian beer.
Snowshoeing whilst very easy to learn is a completely different way to see and experience the mountains. When snowboarding and skiing you don’t have the same ability to really take in the beauty of the area without a lot of other people whizzing by.
It’s this uniqueness and the ability to wander off piste to places where you couldn’t on skis or a snowboard that mean snowshoeing is well worth giving a go. I also found it a great way to go up the mountain with photography gear without the worry of damage like when your snowboarding/skiing.
Our two hour evening trek cost €28 with guide, you can see more details on the snowshoe trek right here.
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