UKC

I use snowshoes very regularly in the Pyrenees for winter hillwalking. I would expect to see some snowshoes in the British hills in winter as well as the landscape seems specifically designed for their use (when there is enough snow of course)... but for some reason they seem to have quite a bad reputation in the isles.

I might be ignorant here (not a euphemism, I think I really miss something, maybe the nature of snow? - I'm far from being an expert), but is there any reason why Brits are reluctant to use snowshoes? I have seen people struggling to walk in the Peak District hills with ice axe and crampons when snowshoes would have done the job pretty well I assume.

I am thinking about bringing my snowshoes back from France if the winter is cold but if there is any reason not to do so, I'd like to know! Areas of interest would be the Peak, north Wales and lakes if that makes any difference.

In reply to drolex:

I have used snow shoes in the Cairngorms occasionally, but the snow is rarely deep enough for them to be useful outside of Scotland. When you get the conditions they can be very useful but don't expect that to happen very often.

In reply to drolex:

i have noticed them more over the last few years, they make sense when we get really snowy winters. However, we get lots of icey winters, which are not really snow shoe conditions, which is why I think there are more people using crampons than snow shoes. I have some, and do use them when it's the right day for them

In reply to drolex:

They're useful sometimes, but only during the normally-brief period between heavy snowfall and consolidation.
Last winter in Scotland however was an exception, we used ours several times over the season.

In reply to drolex:

I've also used them occasionally in Scotland, having bought them to use in Pyrenees. Certainly useful on occasion - I think maybe conditions tend to change more quickly (as you walk along) in the UK, so you don't always get long bursts of deep soft snow like you might in the Pyrenees - so maybe more taking on and off.

But always very satisfying when you walk casually past someone struggling to break trail in knee deep snow