Snowshoeing can easily turn into the winter sport of choice for anyone deciding to give it a try.

It's low cost, low risk, opens the door to nature's winter wonderland, and doesn't require hours of lessons."If you can walk, you can snowshoe," explained Franklin Klock, a naturalist at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center. "It's a 12-step process. You take 12 steps and you're an expert."Snowshoes allow people to venture into the woods after a fresh and deep snowfall by preventing a hiker's feet from sinking into the snow to a depth that would make walking any distance nearly impossible. It accomplishes this by spreading out a person's weight over a larger surface.A foot not only places about five pounds of pressure with each step, which is enough to crush powdered snow, but walking is made the more difficult as the snow collapses around the top of the foot.A snowshoe, which may measure 30 inches long by 9 inches wide, can reduce the pressure on the snow by a factor of seven or eight. In the softest snow, instead of sinking into the snow to a depth of three or four feet, the snow shoe would only sink a foot or two, and its construction minimizes the lifting of snow in the step that follows.Snowshoes have been around over 6,000 years, and a variety of snowshoe designs were developed by Native Americans, who used them in their winter bison hunts. Snowshoes were less likely to be used by the far north Inuits since they tended to travel over ice.Klock chanced upon snowshoeing as a solution to a work-related problem. He was responsible for feeding the animals, and when a major snowstorm blanketed Carbon County several years ago, he couldn't get to the animals."There was about three feet of snow and the road to the Center in our raptor mews was an impossibility," he said. "My wife and I shoveled for hours to get to the birds. I realized that the only way to do this would be on snowshoes. The Center bought a pair in preparation for the next snowstorm."When I started to use them, I realized the fun factor. I decided to get a set for myself and my wife. I touted my enthusiasm to everyone at the time. Since we got them, there hasn't been enough snow to use them again."Modern snowshoes are designed with an aluminum frame and a rubberized synthetic deck to stand upon, and ratchet-type strap bindings to attach a shoe to the snowshoe.The size of the snowshoe is related to the load - the weight of the person plus any pack he or she may be carrying. The binding adjusts to fit a range of shoe sizes. An adult snowshoe will range from 20 inches long for a person weighing 120 pounds to 36 inches long for a person weighing 260 pounds, and adjust for shoe sizes from 5 to 12.Modern snowshoes have metal crampons built into the bottom of the snowshoe. The crampons bite into ice and hard-packed snow, which is necessary to prevent falls going downhill and provide traction going uphill. Snowshoes should not be worn indoors as the crampons will damage flooring."For snowshoeing you need some depth," said Tom Marsden of Blue Mountain Sports in Jim Thorpe, an outfitter that rents snowshoes to the public and groups like the Boy Scouts. "The most fun with snowshoes is going into the woods when all the sticker bushes are packed down with the snow, so you can walk through the woods like you are on a trail."He said that the Broad Mountain offers great hikes for snowshoeing.Marsden was introduced to snowshoeing during a four-day winter camping trip to the White Mountains of New Hampshire when he was in college."You couldn't get out of the tent without putting you snowshoes on," he said. "It was 20 below zero and the snow was so deep, you'd go right up to your chin in snow. We had a lot of fun."The snow reveals the tracks of animals. On a snowshoe hike into the woods, you may see tracks of rabbits, bobcat, turkey, deer or bear. With this year's warm temperatures, some bears are able to find food and have not hibernated.A good way to get started in snowshoeing is to attend Winterfest at Hickory Run State Park. It takes place at the Sand Spring Day Use Area on Feb. 4 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather permitting. Along with festival events, snowshoes will be available to try out.Thinking of snowshoeing? Try it and join 5.5 million others who have discovered this form of recreation, fitness and adventure into the winter wonderland.