High-tech, schmigh-tech . . . just give me the old-fashioned sports that conjure up Canadian winters past by MARTIN SILVERSTONE SNOWSHOES, SKATES, AND DOGSLEDS are legends of the Canadian winter. These low-tech travel methods were ideal for traversing ice and snow and provided easy access to the unexplored reaches of Canada’s frosty landscape. Think these ways of getting around are a thing of the past? Wrong! What’s old is new again. Dashing Through the Snow First Nations people wove animal gut and wood strips into shoes for instant mobility when hunting in knee-deep snow. Learning from their aboriginal allies, European settlers relied on rawhide and ash racquettes for surviving the harsh Canadian winters. Snowshoes still ruled the backcountry late in the 19th century, when local clubs hosted moonlit excursions throughout Quebec. Soon thereafter, the popularization of motorized vehicles left snowshoes out in the cold as both sport and a mode of transportation. In the past 10 years, however, snowshoeing has been reborn, thanks to the invention of light, space-alloy frames with stable bindings that improve traction and manoeuvrability. Snowshoeing is for everyone who loves the outdoors. If you can walk, the experts say, then you can snowshoe, and the gear is less expensive than state-of-the art skates or skis. So strap a pair of modern snowshoes over your favourite boots and head out into any glade, treed path or pristine beaver pond with snow too deep for skiing or hiking. Mont Ste-Anne, Quebec Thirty minutes from Québec City, Mont Ste-Anne has a number of snowshoe-only trails. Telephone: (418) 827-4561 Web site: www.mont-sainte-anne.com/eng/activite/hivernal.asp Algonquin Park, Ontario The rough Shield country of Ontario’s premier park is ideal for exploring by snowshoe, and a number of trails can be accessed from the West Gate off Highway 60. Telephone: (705) 633-5572 Web site: www.algonquinpark.on.ca/ Grouse Mountain, B.C. Grouse Mountain above Vancouver has taken snowshoeing to new heights with its snowshoe park, featuring a spectacular Pacific Rim overlook. Access is often free, and everywhere that rents skis will rent snowshoes for as little as $15 a day. Telephone: (604) 984-0661 or 980-9311 for snowshoe guides Web site: grousemtn.com/winter.html O’er the Ice We Go Skates made from sharpened bone were once used by ancient peoples to cross frozen lakes. In Canada, which boasts more natural outdoor rinks than any other nation on Earth, skating made an easy transition to recreation in the mid-1800s, when it was introduced by British officers. Skating still ranks high for fitness, especially for lower-body strength, balance and muscle toning, and best of all, in the wide open Canadian outdoors everyone within earshot gets to join in one endless, freewheeling game of shinny. Lake Louise, Alberta There is little argument when it comes to the most scenic skating in the world. Chateau Lake Louise’s outdoor rink is surrounded by the Rocky Mountains and offers skating around the clock, with hot chocolate served every evening beside a roaring bonfire. Telephone: (403) 522-3511 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan At Meewasin Skating Rink, a firepit warms skaters on the bank of the South Saskatchewan River. Telephone: (306) 665-6887 Winnipeg, Manitoba In view of the famous intersection at Portage and Main, Winnipeg’s River Trail allows skaters to glide over two of Canada’s greatest rivers: the Assiniboine and the Red. Telephone: (204) 987-1970 Montréal, Quebec The best-kept skate secret in Montréal is a bike path around Ile Ste-Hélène that is iced Zamboni-smooth as it twists and turns among the trees and quaint pagodas of the historic island. Telephone: (514) 954-0738 Mushing All the Way For centuries, dogsleds have offered Canadian adventurers a reliable long-distance shipping system in winter. Each First Nations culture had its own version of the dogsled — Inuit used a heavy komatik to run over rough terrain, while aboriginal peoples in southern Canada adapted the toboggan to move through deep snow. Even the RCMP, until 1969, used dogsleds for conducting some of its northern patrols. Once again, open sleds pulled by a team of panting hounds are holding their own against motorized transportation. The self-reliance, speed and romance of dogsledding has been preserved among racers, who keep their animals fit and raise a little kibble cash by offering the general public multi-day wilderness trips and half-day outings. Sundogs Sled Excursions Two hours north of Saskatoon, outside of Waskesiu, Sundogs is a family-oriented dogsledding company. Telephone: (306) 989-2041 Web site: www.sundogs.sk.ca/ Chenil Siberlou Located 90 minutes by car north of Montréal, Chenil Siberlou specializes in taking visitors on half-day runs through rolling Laurentian terrain. Telephone: (819) 278-3291 White Wolf Wilderness Expeditions Like many kennels, White Wolf is mobile and able to transport its dogs and sleds to a central location in a kennel truck for your own private half-day to daylong mushfest. Telephone: (705) 522-0290 Web site: dogsled.bizland.com/dogsledding.htm Martin Silverstone is the former editor of Equinox and a regular contributor to Explore.