How to Snowshoe for Beginners: A Guide's Steps

How to snowshoe for beginners comes down to one instruction I give before the first step at Sulwald, above Isenfluh: spread your feet. Then you walk almost as you do at home. On our guided loop, the number of falls I see on an average morning is zero.

The first steps feel strange, the climb asks for a small trick under your heel, and the descent has its own posture. This guide gives each step as I teach it every winter near Interlaken, with the safety rules checked on 8 October 2026.

How do you snowshoe as a beginner?

Walk with your feet a little wider than usual, take normal steps, and let the snowshoes do the work. Your stride stays almost the same as on a pavement. You do not lift your knees high on a packed trail, and you do not shuffle either. Most beginners I guide walk at ease after 10 to 15 minutes.

Pierre Vetsch, founder and head guide, says: "Spread your feet."

That is the first thing I say at Sulwald, before the first step. A snowshoe is wider than a boot. If you keep your feet as close as in town, the inside edge of one frame lands on the other one and you trip. The most common beginner mistake is exactly that, as I explain in is snowshoeing hard for beginners.

Asked how many people fall on an average outing on our loop, my answer is short:

Pierre says: "None."

How do you put on snowshoes?

Put your boot in the binding, centre the ball of your foot over the pivot, then tighten the front straps before the heel strap. Snug, not crushing. Check left and right: the buckles usually sit on the outside of each foot. On our Snowshoe Tour, the snowshoes and poles are included.

Then comes the moment everybody notices. The front of the snowshoe stays on the snow while your heel lifts, and the frame slaps lightly against the sole at each step.

Pierre says: "The feeling of the first steps is a bit strange."

That feeling goes away on its own. Do not stop to fix it. Walk a hundred metres on the flat, look at the trees instead of your feet, and the rhythm comes back.

Insider tip: tighten the straps with your gloves off for ten seconds, then put the gloves back on. Bare fingers feel a loose strap that thick gloves miss, and a loose binding is what makes a snowshoe twist under the foot.

How do you walk uphill on snowshoes?

Shorten your steps, push the front of the snowshoe into the slope and let the crampon under your foot bite. On a steeper section, flip up the heel lift, the small bar under your heel. It keeps your foot flat and saves your calves. Lean slightly forward from the ankles, not from the waist.

The snowshoes we lend have that heel lift, and our guests use it on the climb of the loop. Flip it up with the tip of your pole, then fold it down again when the trail flattens: walking downhill with the bar up feels like wearing high heels.

The Sulwald Trail climbs about 170 metres in total, according to the federal trail data in our guide to snowshoeing in Interlaken. With short steps, the climb stays a gentle walk.

How do you walk downhill on snowshoes?

Bend your knees, keep your weight back, and put the whole snowshoe flat on the snow at each step. Do not lean forward to see where you are going, and do not lock your legs straight. The crampon under the ball of your foot holds you. On soft snow, you can even let yourself slide a little on each step.

Pierre says: "Knees bent, weight back."

That is what I tell guests on the descent. Leaning back feels wrong at first because on a summer trail you lean into the slope. On snowshoes, the crampon grips under the foot, so weight back keeps it biting. Plant your poles slightly ahead, keep your steps short, and the knees take less load. Do guests complain about their knees on the way down? Rarely.

How long should snowshoe poles be?

Set your poles so your elbow makes a right angle when you hold the grip, pole tip on the snow next to your boot. That one setting works for a whole easy loop. Many guides tell you to shorten the poles for the climb and lengthen them for the descent: that helps on long steep slopes, not on a gentle trail.

Pierre says: "Elbow at a right angle."

That is how I set them at the start of our loop. Use the wrist straps: put your hand up through the loop and grip both the strap and the handle, so the pole cannot fall in the snow. On the climb, the poles push you; on the descent, they keep you balanced in front.

Packed trail or deep snow: where should a beginner walk?

Stay on the packed trail. My verdict is simple: a beginner learns the technique in 10 to 15 minutes on a packed trail, and loses the rhythm in a few steps of deep powder. Off the trail, each step sinks, you lift your knees high, and the effort jumps. Deep snow is fun for a few minutes, with the guide in front.

There is also a safety reason. In Switzerland, about two people die snowshoeing every year on average, and most serious accidents are avalanches off the routes marked in pink, according to the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (BFU). Marked routes are protected from avalanches by their operators, but they are not groomed like winter hiking paths. The BFU adds a rule beginners often miss: do not blindly follow someone else's tracks.

The steps for each terrain fit in one table:

The table in words. On a flat trail: feet apart, normal steps, elbow at a right angle on the poles, and the mistake is keeping your feet too close together. On the climb: short steps, the front of the snowshoe pushed into the slope, heel lift up, the poles pushing you up; avoid leaning forward from the waist. On the descent: knees bent, weight back, snowshoe flat, poles planted slightly ahead; avoid leaning forward with your legs locked straight. In deep snow: knees higher, take turns in front, wrist straps on, and never follow other tracks off the marked route.

How does the day's snow change your steps?

It changes the pace more than the technique. On a crust frozen overnight, the crampons grip and your steps are short and sure. On fresh powder, you sink, you lift your feet higher and you slow down. On a trail packed by other walkers, it feels like a soft path. At 10:00 at Sulwald, I cannot promise one or the other.

Pierre says: "It depends on the day."

So I ask before going up. Peter, who works at the small cable car between Isenfluh and Sulwald, gives me the weather conditions before I take a group up. He also showed me a spot on the way to stop for the view of the mountains, where you can see Interlaken too. And on the trail itself, Sulwald gives me the state of the snow.

Fun fact: the red cabin where Peter works carries eight people or one cow, and it has run since 1975, as the Isenfluh and Sulwald sledding guide tells.

Your Questions About Snowshoeing Technique

How do you get up after a fall on snowshoes?

Roll onto your side, bring both snowshoes under you, parallel and across the slope, then push up with your hands or your poles. Do not try to stand up with the snowshoes pointing downhill: the tails dig in and you fall again. If the snow is deep, cross your two poles flat on the snow and push on the cross, it gives you a solid base. Take your time, a fall in powder never hurts much. On our easy loop above Isenfluh, the honest answer is that I rarely need to explain this: on an average morning, nobody falls. It is still worth knowing before you go alone on a marked trail, where the snow can be softer at the edges than in the middle.

How do you turn around on snowshoes?

Walk a wide half circle in small steps, like a car making a U-turn. Snowshoes do not like sharp turns: if you pivot on the spot, the tail of one frame catches the other one and you trip, which is the same feet-together mistake as on the flat. On a narrow trail, stop, turn one foot at a time, and keep your feet apart while you do it. Skiers know the kick turn, which works on snowshoes too, but a beginner does not need it on an easy loop. If the trail is too narrow for a half circle, step a little into the deeper snow on the side, turn, and step back onto the packed track.

How do you cross a slope on snowshoes?

Kick the uphill edge of each snowshoe into the slope so the frame stays flat, and keep your uphill pole shorter or hold it lower down the shaft. Small steps again. The crampon under your foot grips forward better than sideways. That is why easy marked trails, graded WT1 by the Swiss Alpine Club, avoid steep traverses: the SAC snowshoe grading scale describes WT1 as under 25 degrees with no avalanche danger. If a traverse feels exposed, it is a sign you have left the beginner terrain, and the right move is to go back to the marked route.

How often should you rest when snowshoeing?

Regularly, before you feel tired. The BFU lists regular breaks with drinking and eating among its five main snowshoe rules, together with taking enough time and never going alone. On a walk of about an hour and a quarter, like the Sulwald loop, one stop halfway is enough. Stop in the sun if you can, put a layer on as soon as you stop, and take it off again before you start walking, because the climb warms you up within minutes. On our tour, the long break comes at the end, at the table at Sulwald, with a cheese fondue and a drink.

Learn the steps on a guided loop near Interlaken

What worries most beginners is looking clumsy on the first steps. The first minutes feel strange for everyone, the technique fits in four instructions, and on an average morning nobody falls. A guide in front sets the pace, flips up your heel lift at the right moment and knows where the snow is best that day.

Our Snowshoe Tour with Swiss cheese fondue runs from Thursday to Sunday at 10:00, from mid-December to April depending on the snow, with 8 guests at most. It costs CHF 129 per person, or CHF 119 from 6 people, snowshoes and poles included, from age 10. The cable car from Isenfluh takes you up to Sulwald, the loop runs through forest and meadows, and the fondue waits at the end. For a second pot back in town, see where a local guide eats the best fondue in Interlaken.

How we made this: based on Pierre's interview of 8 October 2026, facts and prices checked at the official sources on 8 October 2026, written with AI assistance.

Source: BFU, snowshoe hiking advice, SAC snowshoe grading scale, and guided snowshoe walks at Sulwald with Swiss Local Adventures, 2025-2026.

*Written by Pierre Vetsch, founder and head guide at Swiss Local Adventures