MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Winter 2020

48 Dress up In addition to snowshoes themselves, consider revamping your wardrobe. Snowshoe racing, or training vigorously, should be done in what you’d wear for nordic racing. Stack tighter-fitting layers rather than bulky snowboarder gear, and remember that while the first few minutes will be chilly, you’ll warm up quickly. The training If you’re serious about snowshoe racing, you’ll want to approach it like you would a trail running event: Spend time on the “road” for speed, and hit the “trails” for technical work and distance. That means running some miles on flat fast-track like the Georgian Trail, then stomping up and down The Grind at Blue Mountain or the trails in Three Stage to work on your technique. Find your event You don’t need to wait for a race to start running in snowshoes on your local trails. But if you thrive on competition, you can check out snowshoecanada.ca to see the races in the series this year. Blue Mountain will be hosting Don’t Get Lost, a three-hour snowshoe race on January 18, and Dion Snowshoes is hosting a series in Milton this winter as well. Most races will be in the 5K to 10K range, though races like Don’t Get Lost are starting to push the boundaries in “ultra snowshoeing.” Take it further Tempted to go pro? The sport is growing worldwide. “There are a lot of elite mountain runners and cross-country runners swapping to snowshoe racing in the winter,” says Robinson. “There are races all over the world—Italy, France, and the World Championships in Japan. So in February, hundreds of racers from dozens of countries around the world will descend on a small mountain village [Myoko] to race.” SHOE THIS WAY Hone your stomp on any of these snowshoe-friendly trails. Scenic Caves Scenic Caves Nordic Centre is home to 10km of groomed snowshoe trails, including the famed Suspension Footbridge. sceniccaves.com Wasaga Beach Provincial Park Ten kilometres of snowshoe-dedicated pathways wind through the heavily forested 1844-hectare park near the popular Georgian Bay beach. ontarioparks.com Conservation Areas Ontario’s 36 Conservation Authorities collectively own and operate over 500 Conservation Areas with a total area of more than 150,000 hectares. Many offer ungroomed snowshoe trails open to the public. Find maps and details on Nottawasaga Valley: nvca.on.ca and Grey Sauble: greysauble.on.ca . The Bruce Trail Snow transforms the famed footpath into a ‘shoer paradise. The steep, tightly forested sections around the Blue Mountains and the Beaver Valley are best navigated in snowshoes (not nordic skis) and are popular and thus well-compacted. Download the Bruce Trail map app at brucetrail.org Highlands Nordic Seven kilometres of groomed trails, separate from the ski network, wind through the forests of the high Niagara Escarpment. highlandsnordic.ca County Forests Many County-owned forest properties boast public ungroomed trails easily accessed by snowshoe. Check listings here for trails in Bruce, Grey and Simcoe Counties: brucegreysimcoe.com/ activities/winter Sawmill Nordic Centre Cut through rolling land near Hepworth, sheltered by hardwood and evergreen stands, Sawmill’s groomed snowshoe-dedicated trails span 5km, separate from the main nordic network. bruceskiclub.ca ONTARIO TOURISM MARKETING PARTNERSHIP YANN ALLEGRE ON UNSPLASH