Snowshoes are a type of footwear that allows travellers to walk over snow without sinking in because they spread the weight of the walker over a larger area than the foot.
Originally, snowshoes were made of natural products such as a hardwood frame with rawhide latticework that looked liked small tennis racket.
Nowadays, the main users of snowshoes are no longer fur traders and trappers but runners and hikers who want to pursue winter exercise.
The design and the materials used for snowshoes have developed markedly over recent times with aluminium a popular material to use while more and more models of composite construction are now being seen using mixtures of polyurethane-type materials.
