Walking in a
winter wonderland
Walking in
a winter wonderland
If snowshoeing makes you think of walkers slogging along with tennis rackets strapped to their feet, think again. Today’s snowshoes are lightweight and streamlined, with excellent grip, allowing walkers to access spectacular mountain scenery in the depths of winter. And the awe-inspiring Alpine landscapes of the Italian Dolomites provide the perfect setting for a first snowshoeing adventure
WORDS LIZZIE ENFIELD
The expansive, manicured slope is crisscrossed with skiers as we hike a short way beside it before taking a path through the woods, heading steadily uphill through deep, powdery virgin snow. After picking our way through the shadow of the trees, we emerge onto a snowy plateau where our guide tells us the names of the surrounding mountaintops. They are called 'Neuner' and 'Cima Nove' in German and Italian respectively, meaning ‘nine’ and ‘top nine’.
He gestures to the surrounding mountains, counting onwards: ‘…Ten, eleven and twelve.’ He explains that the jagged limestone peaks were used as a sundial by the earliest inhabitants of the valley. ‘In winter, the sun is too low for the early hours, but on the solstice, it passes over Zwölferkofel – Cima Dodici in Italian – at exactly midday.’
We are in South Tyrol, in the Italian Dolomites, an area that was historically part of Austria, hence the dual languages. It’s a breathtakingly beautiful part of the Alps, with a panorama of limestone peaks that glow pink in the setting sun. In summer, the Alpine meadows and surrounding mountains are busy with hikers and climbers. In winter, they throng with skiers. But it’s also a place steadily gaining a reputation as a paradise for winter walkers.
The tranquil Kreuzberg Pass
The tranquil Kreuzberg Pass
The expansive, manicured slope is crisscrossed with skiers as we hike a short way beside it before taking a path through the woods, heading steadily uphill through deep, powdery virgin snow. After picking our way through the shadow of the trees, we emerge onto a snowy plateau where our guide tells us the names of the surrounding mountaintops. They are called 'Neuner' and 'Cima Nove' in German and Italian respectively, meaning ‘nine’ and ‘top nine’.
The tranquil Kreuzberg Pass
The tranquil Kreuzberg Pass
He gestures to the surrounding mountains, counting onwards: ‘…Ten, eleven and twelve.’ He explains that the jagged limestone peaks were used as a sundial by the earliest inhabitants of the valley. ‘In winter, the sun is too low for the early hours, but on the solstice, it passes over Zwölferkofel – Cima Dodici in Italian – at exactly midday.’
We are in South Tyrol, in the Italian Dolomites, an area that was historically part of Austria, hence the dual languages. It’s a breathtakingly beautiful part of the Alps, with a panorama of limestone peaks that glow pink in the setting sun. In summer, the Alpine meadows and surrounding mountains are busy with hikers and climbers. In winter, they throng with skiers. But it’s also a place steadily gaining a reputation as a paradise for winter walkers.
Writer Lizzie on her snowshoeing adventure
Writer Lizzie on her snowshoeing adventure
Many modern snowshoes are oval-shaped
Many modern snowshoes are oval-shaped
Footsteps in the snow
Winter walking usually takes two forms: hiking, often with poles and lightweight crampons, which strap on over your boots like galoshes, along defined walking trails; or snowshoeing, using specially designed shoes that allow you to head off-piste and far away from the crowded ski areas.
Snowshoes have evolved since the days of contraptions that looked like tennis rackets strapped to your feet. Contemporary snowshoes consist of teardrop-shaped, oval or almost rectangular frames, made from advanced lightweight materials like aluminium and carbon, into which you strap your regular walking boots. The surface area they cover spreads your weight and allows you to move across, rather than sink into, the snow, while metal teeth add grip in icy areas.
The technique is simple and takes only moments to master. You walk with a slightly wider stance than normal, lifting your feet higher to avoid dragging the snowshoes. Trekking poles help with balance and stability on the varied terrain. The shoes also have a metal clip, not dissimilar to those on clothes pegs, which you lift up to create a heel, making uphill walking easier.
While the technique is reasonably easy, snowshoeing can be strenuous, especially on steeper terrain or in deep snow. It can burn from 400 to 1,000 calories per hour, depending on intensity, terrain and individual fitness levels.
Footsteps in the snow
Winter walking usually takes two forms: hiking, often with poles and lightweight crampons, which strap on over your boots like galoshes, along defined walking trails; or snowshoeing, using specially designed shoes that allow you to head off-piste and far away from the crowded ski areas.
Writer Lizzie on her snowshoeing adventure
Writer Lizzie on her snowshoeing adventure
Snowshoes have evolved since the days of contraptions that looked like tennis rackets strapped to your feet. Contemporary snowshoes consist of teardrop-shaped, oval or almost rectangular frames, made from advanced lightweight materials like aluminium and carbon, into which you strap your regular walking boots. The surface area they cover spreads your weight and allows you to move across, rather than sink into, the snow, while metal teeth add grip in icy areas.
The technique is simple and takes only moments to master. You walk with a slightly wider stance than normal, lifting your feet higher to avoid dragging the snowshoes. Trekking poles help with balance and stability on the varied terrain. The shoes also have a metal clip, not dissimilar to those on clothes pegs, which you lift up to create a heel, making uphill walking easier.
Many modern snowshoes are oval-shaped
Many modern snowshoes are oval-shaped
While the technique is reasonably easy, snowshoeing can be strenuous, especially on steeper terrain or in deep snow. It can burn from 400 to 1,000 calories per hour, depending on intensity, terrain and individual fitness levels.
Discovering the Dolomites
We are walking in the Drei Zinnen – also known as the Tre Cime – valley in Italy, named after the iconic Drei Zinnen (Three Peaks) that tower over the landscape. Here, in partnership with certain hotels in the valley, the local Alpine school offers three free guided snowshoe walks a week, graded 'easy', 'medium' and 'difficult', with snowshoes and poles provided. The grading reflects the duration and ascent. To me, 'medium' actually feels slightly less demanding than 'easy', though we are out for five hours rather than three and ascend a higher peak. 'Difficult' is eight hours, and the ascents and descents are a little steeper.
It’s also perfectly possible, in the right conditions and if you are a competent mountain navigator, to head off on your own along paths marked on the map and waymarked with both signs and yellow rings around trees.
We emerge from the trees to cross a ski slope passing a World War I bunker hewn out of the rock, before entering virgin snow territory again. South Tyrol has a complex history, shifting between Austrian and Italian control, and it suffered heavy fighting during both World Wars. After World War I, the region was ceded to Italy, despite its German-speaking population. Post-World War II, it was granted a high degree of autonomy within Italy, in recognition of its cultural and linguistic ties to Austria while ensuring peaceful coexistence.
We leave the busy ski slopes, heading uphill again, beyond the top of the ski lift and onto a mountainside swathed in huge, ice cream-like mounds of snow, pristine except for the occasional deer tracks. We climb up steadily until we reach the summit of Cima dei Colesei, rewarded with the most spectacular views – a wraparound of snow-covered limestone peaks against an azure sky. I feel on top of the world, both literally and metaphorically. Across the pass, our guide points out the dramatic lines of the Cima Popera peak, and between where we stand and it, there is nothing suggesting the 21st century, or indeed any century since the dawn of time.
The Zwölferkofel (Croda dei Toni), another imposing peak in the Italian Dolomites
The Zwölferkofel (Croda dei Toni), another imposing peak in the Italian Dolomites
View through a cave of the Drei Zinnen/Tre Cime mountains in winter
View through a cave of the Drei Zinnen/Tre Cime mountains in winter
Discovering the Dolomites
We are walking in the Drei Zinnen – also known as the Tre Cime – valley in Italy, named after the iconic Drei Zinnen (Three Peaks) that tower over the landscape. Here, in partnership with certain hotels in the valley, the local Alpine school offers three free guided snowshoe walks a week, graded 'easy', 'medium' and 'difficult', with snowshoes and poles provided. The grading reflects the duration and ascent. To me, 'medium' actually feels slightly less demanding than 'easy', though we are out for five hours rather than three and ascend a higher peak. 'Difficult' is eight hours, and the ascents and descents are a little steeper.
The Zwölferkofel (Croda dei Toni), another imposing peak in the Italian Dolomites
The Zwölferkofel (Croda dei Toni), another imposing peak in the Italian Dolomites
It’s also perfectly possible, in the right conditions and if you are a competent mountain navigator, to head off on your own along paths marked on the map and waymarked with both signs and yellow rings around trees.
We emerge from the trees to cross a ski slope passing a World War I bunker hewn out of the rock, before entering virgin snow territory again. South Tyrol has a complex history, shifting between Austrian and Italian control, and it suffered heavy fighting during both World Wars. After World War I, the region was ceded to Italy, despite its German-speaking population. Post-World War II, it was granted a high degree of autonomy within Italy, in recognition of its cultural and linguistic ties to Austria while ensuring peaceful coexistence.
View through a cave of the Drei Zinnen/Tre Cime mountains in winter
View through a cave of the Drei Zinnen/Tre Cime mountains in winter
We leave the busy ski slopes, heading uphill again, beyond the top of the ski lift and onto a mountainside swathed in huge, ice cream-like mounds of snow, pristine except for the occasional deer tracks. We climb up steadily until we reach the summit of Cima dei Colesei, rewarded with the most spectacular views – a wraparound of snow-covered limestone peaks against an azure sky. I feel on top of the world, both literally and metaphorically. Across the pass, our guide points out the dramatic lines of the Cima Popera peak, and between where we stand and it, there is nothing suggesting the 21st century, or indeed any century since the dawn of time.
Snowshoeing through history
It was in the Dolomites that the world’s oldest snowshoe was uncovered in 2003 on the Gurgler Eisjoch glacier, close to Italy’s border with Austria. The shoe, made of an oval-shaped birch wooden frame with strands of twine tied across it, was originally thought to be about 100 years old. Subsequent carbon dating revealed it was, in fact, made in the late Neolithic Age, between 3,800 and 3,700 BC.
The world's oldest known snowshoe, at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology
The world's oldest known snowshoe, at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology
The discovery was made close to where, two decades earlier, the remains of a Neolithic hunter were found by German hikers and is evidence that our ancient ancestors used snowshoes themselves to traverse what would then have been a largely inhospitable region. The shoe is now on display at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in the province’s capital, Bolzano. Its owner may have used it to hunt animals, flee rival tribes or visit a pagan site of worship.
Nowadays, using snowshoes opens up areas of the mountains that would otherwise be off-limits to hikers in the winter snow season between December and March. Lower down the slopes there is also an impressive network of winter walking paths marked with finger posts and wooden arrows painted with red-and-white-striped tips.
The following day, we take the route that runs beside a stream, gently uphill to the end of the Fischleintal valley and Talschlusshütte, a mountain inn serving traditional Tyrolean food and a sublime apple strudel.
Snowshoeing through history
It was in the Dolomites that the world’s oldest snowshoe was uncovered in 2003 on the Gurgler Eisjoch glacier, close to Italy’s border with Austria. The shoe, made of an oval-shaped birch wooden frame with strands of twine tied across it, was originally thought to be about 100 years old. Subsequent carbon dating revealed it was, in fact, made in the late Neolithic Age, between 3,800 and 3,700 BC.
The world's oldest known snowshoe, at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology
The world's oldest known snowshoe, at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology
The discovery was made close to where, two decades earlier, the remains of a Neolithic hunter were found by German hikers and is evidence that our ancient ancestors used snowshoes themselves to traverse what would then have been a largely inhospitable region. The shoe is now on display at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in the province’s capital, Bolzano. Its owner may have used it to hunt animals, flee rival tribes or visit a pagan site of worship.
Nowadays, using snowshoes opens up areas of the mountains that would otherwise be off-limits to hikers in the winter snow season between December and March. Lower down the slopes there is also an impressive network of winter walking paths marked with finger posts and wooden arrows painted with red-and-white-striped tips.
The following day, we take the route that runs beside a stream, gently uphill to the end of the Fischleintal valley and Talschlusshütte, a mountain inn serving traditional Tyrolean food and a sublime apple strudel.
A warm Alpine welcome
Our base is at the family-owned and -run Hotel Drei Zinnen in the village of Moso, run by Frau Traudl Watschinger and built by her grandfather. The building, as well as being comfortable, is architecturally interesting: designed in traditional Tyrolean style by prominent Austrian architect Clemens Holzmeister, who remodelled Salzburg’s Festival Theatre and built the Ankara Parliament Building in Turkey. With interior frescoes painted by local artist Rudolf Stolz, who also painted the ceiling and walls in Moso’s church, the hotel is a prime example of what’s known as the Tyrolean Modern style.
It’s also exceptionally well-equipped for walkers, with a boot-room, walking poles for guests’ use, and sumptuous breakfasts and four-course meals that adequately fuel even the hungriest of hikers. We feast on speck (cured meat) platters, dumplings (canederli) in broth, and tender venison with lingonberry sauce, all washed down with an array of local wines.
The family-owned Hotel Drei Zinnen
The family-owned Hotel Drei Zinnen
There’s a wellness area with a sauna and whirlpool, plus, almost on the doorstep, a bus that whisks around the mountain roads, taking walkers to and from the trailheads. Our package includes a guest card entitling us to regional bus and train travel for the duration of our stay.
A warm Alpine welcome
Our base is at the family-owned and -run Hotel Drei Zinnen in the village of Moso, run by Frau Traudl Watschinger and built by her grandfather. The building, as well as being comfortable, is architecturally interesting: designed in traditional Tyrolean style by prominent Austrian architect Clemens Holzmeister, who remodelled Salzburg’s Festival Theatre and built the Ankara Parliament Building in Turkey. With interior frescoes painted by local artist Rudolf Stolz, who also painted the ceiling and walls in Moso’s church, the hotel is a prime example of what’s known as the Tyrolean Modern style.
The family-owned Hotel Drei Zinnen
The family-owned Hotel Drei Zinnen
It’s also exceptionally well-equipped for walkers, with a boot-room, walking poles for guests’ use, and sumptuous breakfasts and four-course meals that adequately fuel even the hungriest of hikers. We feast on speck (cured meat) platters, dumplings (canederli) in broth, and tender venison with lingonberry sauce, all washed down with an array of local wines.
There’s a wellness area with a sauna and whirlpool, plus, almost on the doorstep, a bus that whisks around the mountain roads, taking walkers to and from the trailheads. Our package includes a guest card entitling us to regional bus and train travel for the duration of our stay.
Peak perfection
On a non-snowshoeing day, we take the gondola/cable car from Signaue (€25, one-way, adult, not included in the travel pass) and walk to the Klammbach hut, where we find a large platoon of Italian soldiers enjoying a hearty lunch before they, too, head off along the hiking trails to Alpe Nemes. I feel slightly smug that we manage to keep up with them as we head towards the Kreuzberg Pass – but then they are carrying what look like 50kg backpacks.
As we wind our way through open country and forests towards the centre of Moso, my partner muses that in summer the snowy expanses would turn into flower-filled meadows, and the icy streams become paddling spots. He has been on a summer hiking holiday in a different part of the Dolomites and was a little sceptical about snowshoeing. But after a few days of pristine landscapes, easy-to-navigate walking trails, and encounters with other non-skiing walkers, he’s a convert.
I too feared I might suffer a bit of FOMO as we watched people shooting down the ski slopes. But when, on our final day’s snowshoeing, we hike 1,000 metres up the Val Sasso Vecchio valley to be rewarded with outstanding views of the Three Peaks, I think they're the ones missing out.
The majestic Three Peaks at sundown
The majestic Three Peaks at sundown
The Alpe Nemes hut and restaurant, Sexten (Sesto)
The Alpe Nemes hut and restaurant, Sexten (Sesto)
Best way to travel: happy snowshoe hikers making their way to Alpes Nemes
Best way to travel: happy snowshoe hikers making their way to Alpes Nemes
Peak perfection
On a non-snowshoeing day, we take the gondola/cable car from Signaue (€25, one-way, adult, not included in the travel pass) and walk to the Klammbach hut, where we find a large platoon of Italian soldiers enjoying a hearty lunch before they, too, head off along the hiking trails to Alpe Nemes. I feel slightly smug that we manage to keep up with them as we head towards the Kreuzberg Pass – but then they are carrying what look like 50kg backpacks.
The Alpe Nemes hut and restaurant, Sexten (Sesto)
The Alpe Nemes hut and restaurant, Sexten (Sesto)
As we wind our way through open country and forests towards the centre of Moso, my partner muses that in summer the snowy expanses would turn into flower-filled meadows, and the icy streams become paddling spots. He has been on a summer hiking holiday in a different part of the Dolomites and was a little sceptical about snowshoeing. But after a few days of pristine landscapes, easy-to-navigate walking trails, and encounters with other non-skiing walkers, he’s a convert.
Best way to travel: happy snowshoe hikers making their way to Alpes Nemes
Best way to travel: happy snowshoe hikers making their way to Alpes Nemes
I too feared I might suffer a bit of FOMO as we watched people shooting down the ski slopes. But when, on our final day’s snowshoeing, we hike 1,000 metres up the Val Sasso Vecchio valley to be rewarded with outstanding views of the Three Peaks, I think they're the ones missing out.
The majestic Three Peaks at sundown
The majestic Three Peaks at sundown
Walk it
Lizzie travelled as a guest of Inntravel (01653 617001), which offers winter walking in the Italian Dolomites from £1,071pp based on two sharing, including seven nights’ half-board accommodation, transfers to/from Innsbruck Airport and a local travel pass. Available from December until March.
Snowshoeing was provided in association with Alpinschule Dreizinnen.
Maps
Walking maps can be provided by the local tourist board and are available in many hotels.
Tabacco 010 map, Sextener Dolomiten/Dolomiti di Sesto is a topographic hiking map covering the Sexten (Sesto) Dolomites region.
For further guidance, Cicerone publishes a comprehensive guidebook on snowshoeing in the Dolomites.
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The gift of healthy feet
Find the right shoes before you hit the trail with a free Footmap consultation
Badly fitting footwear can worsen underlying foot, knee and back pain. But at a Footmap clinic, an expert will analyse your gait and use some of the latest techniques to improve your biomechanics. The free clinics are located in two of the best outdoor shops in London (in Kensington and Mayfair), giving access to a huge range of footwear – so Footmap can help you choose the correct shoes for your individual pathology. Plus, to give you another reason to visit, Footmap has teamed up with Altimus to offer you a second pair of shoes or boots at half price with every footwear purchase you make in store. For more information and to book your free consultation, visit foot-map.com or call 0203 633 5997.
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