15 years of snowshoeing at Lüsnerhof

When the hustle and bustle of the pistes became too much for them, many skiers changed over to ski tours. Even when ski tours were no longer an insider tip and practising the sport required a high degree of expertise, extreme fitness as well as a high risk factor, people thought they were back in the penultimate century when everyone in the alpine villages tramped along from one farm to the next in deep snow wearing large-scale shoes.

In recent years, this reminiscence has given rise to a new kind of sport, known as snowshoeing. At last everyone is happy and has good reason for being so:

1. Breathe in pure nature; breathe out serenity.
   Tramp carefully through deserted, coniferous woodland covered in deep snow and across sugar-covered mountain pastures. The intention is to go for peaks, but in this case not mountain peaks but the peaks of serenity and inner freedom by experiencing profoundly the idyll of winter and the unconscious feeling of the basic values of life. At the latest, hustle and bustle is discarded at the start. After the first few steps, tranquillity and peace return.
2. Whoever can walk, can also go snowshoeing.
This sport does not require any outstanding ability and the risk involved is similar to that of hiking.
3. No competition,
   only your own feelings of happiness. It is not a matter of who can climb quicker or ski downhill better. In the case of snowshoeing everyone is at the same level. And man’s primal fear of being inferior or worse is blown away by the wind to give way to feelings of friendship and serenity.
4. No need for special equipment.
   To go snowshoeing you need water-resistant mountain or hiking boots that fit over your large-scale snow shoes. Then pick up your hiking poles and you are ready to go. Breathable clothing and shoes are useful and do not limit your experience of nature.

Interview NatureFitness, a magazine, with Franz Hinteregger