Snowshoeing

"Some of Europe's finest highland scenery is found in Bulgarian Mountains"

Rough Guide `08

Bulgaria offers 7 major mountain ranges within very close proximity. The extensive network of hiking trails, guesthouses, chalets and the experienced mountain rescue service make visits possible all year round.

Snowshoeing is a popular, non-technical winter sport. However, the history of the snowshoe is based around necessity, rather than having pleasurable free time that it has now become. Without a reliable means of winter transportation through the deep snows, ancient tribesmen were limited to short soirees around their camps.

The advent of the snowshoe allowed the tribesmen to participate in long treks, and so allowed for effective winter hunting and transportation. These contraptions, initially manufactured from bent wood and animal skin, gave the hunters maneuverability to travel across deep snow, through thickly wooded areas and over steep terrain, all previously inaccessible.

Simple in design, the snowshoe effectively distributes the hiker's mass across a larger area of snow, thus allowing them to seemingly "float" on the surface of snow. Today's modern snowshoe has changed very little in design from its ancient prototype.

Snowshoes can help us get comfortably into the outdoors of Bulgaria.

The principles of snowshoeing are easy to learn with full instructions provided by our guides. Basically if you can walk you can snowshoe! Come and join!