Oh yeah! I got me some sliding snowshoes!!!!!
These bad boys are a cross between Backcountry skis, and Snowshoes.
In my zeal for bad ass dog activities under ANY circumstances, I’ve run into some snags with the tapering period before and after the snow season. My kicksled, is awesome for when it’s been snowing regular. But, if you hit patches of thin cover you’re carrying that rig. Not fun.
Oddly enough, the kicksled sucks in fresh deep snow too. The runners are are only about two inches wide, and so they just sink into fresh deep powder. Come to think of it, the kicksled is really only awesome on packed trails. Now, that said, on a packed trail, it’s about the coolest thing in the world!
But, I’ve run into problems on un-groomed trails. If it’s real deep, the sled sinks. Snowshoes don’t help, at least not for a pulling scenario!
The obvious answer is for big, backcountry skis!
Sure. But, here’s my issue with that. I wind up getting out of the skis, a ton during an excursion. To walk to the trailhead. To walk through a dry, or rocky patch. Or, even ditch, or ravine crossing.
The trail by my house is a perfect example. There’s two ways to access it. A 3/4 mile walk on the road, that even when the trail is beautiful, the road can be dry, and no good for sliding. Or, through a deep un-groomed field about 2 blocks long, and a ravine crossing.
Both options suck bad with a sled. And aren’t much better in ski boots.
Enter the “Sliding” snowshoes!
They are fat, and short like backcountry skis, so they’re great for breaking trail in deep snow. Plus, they’ll SLIDE like skis….. Which is good if there’s dogs pulling you! But the reason they’re way cooler than regular skis, is that they work with my regular boots! Which means, I can throw them on my back, and hike it, if there’s not enough snow! That means, there’s no risk in picking the wrong equipment. If there’s enough snow, we “skijor”. If there’s not, we are Canicrossing!
Bring on the snow! Or not, doesn’t matter.
BTW, if all that sounds like too much hassle for you, but you’d still like your dogs out on the trail…..
Give us a call. We’ll pull em for you.
Snow, or not.
3 Bad Bullies 
Are these ski/snowshoes easy to find? I need to look into this-what a great idea!
I got them from LL Bean. I think there’s a link in the article. But, they’re fun as hell. Just go to LL Beans website, and you should be able to find them pretty easy.