Winter & Special Considerations · 7 min
Travel: snowshoes, traction and ice
Why this matters
The hiking definition in 197.2(a) includes snowshoes, so winter travel is squarely on the licence. Choosing the wrong footwear for the conditions is the most common winter guiding error, and ice is where New York kills people who did everything else right.
By the end of this lesson you will be able to
- Choose between snowshoes, microspikes and crampons for given conditions
- Explain postholing and why snowshoe use is a courtesy and sometimes a rule
- Apply ice thickness guidance and cold water immersion response
The three kinds of traction
| Tool | For | Not for |
|---|---|---|
| Snowshoes | Loose or deep snow, breaking trail, anything soft enough to sink into | Hard ice, steep frozen slopes |
| Microspikes / traction devices | Packed trail, icy flats and moderate grades, frozen mud | Steep hard ice, and deep snow, where they do nothing |
| Crampons and an ice axe | Steep ice, frozen slabs, alpine summits in hard conditions | Anyone untrained. Crampons without self-arrest training are a hazard |
Most Adirondack winter days need at least two of these, carried, and the change is made on the trail as conditions change. Teach clients to make the switch before the ground demands it, at a safe stopping place, not standing on a frozen slab.
Postholing
Walking in deep snow without snowshoes leaves knee-deep holes that freeze solid and make the trail dangerous for everyone behind you, including snowshoers and skiers. DEC asks for snowshoes or skis whenever there is significant snow, and in the Eastern High Peaks Zone snowshoes or skis are required when snow depth exceeds eight inches. A guided party postholing a trail is a professional embarrassment as well as a hazard.
Ice
No ice is ever guaranteed safe. The commonly taught guidance for clear, new, solid ice is worth knowing, and worth treating as a floor rather than a licence:
| Clear ice thickness | Generally considered |
|---|---|
| Under 3 inches | Stay off |
| 4 inches | Foot travel, single file |
| 5 inches | Snowmobile or ATV |
| 8 to 12 inches | Car or small pickup |
All of that assumes clear, new, black ice. Cloudy, white or refrozen slush ice is much weaker, and so is ice near inlets, outlets, springs, current, pressure ridges, beaver activity, docks and anything dark that absorbs sun. Snow cover insulates ice and slows its growth while hiding every clue. Check thickness repeatedly as you go, not once at the shore.
If somebody goes through
- Do not follow them onto the ice. Reach, throw, row, go, in that order, and "go" is the last resort
- Extend a pole, a rope, a branch, a sled. Lie flat to spread your weight if you must approach
- The casualty should kick their legs flat behind them and pull themselves out the way they came in, where they know the ice held, then roll away rather than stand
- Cold shock is the first minute: gasping, hyperventilation, panic, and the risk of inhaling water. Useful movement lasts roughly ten minutes before hands fail
- Once out: shelter, dry, insulate from the ground, handle gently, evacuate. Treat as hypothermia even if they look fine
1-10-1 is the number to remember for cold water anywhere in New York: about one minute to get breathing under control, about ten minutes of meaningful movement, roughly one hour before losing consciousness from hypothermia. It says the same thing in three ways: the first minute is the one that drowns people, and there is more time than panic suggests.
From the field
A March pond crossing that would save two miles. You drill it at the shore and get five inches, then again fifty yards out and get three near a spring hole you could not see under the snow. You take the two extra miles. The shortcut was never worth the outcome on the other side of it.
This lesson is part of the NYS Licensed Guide Exam course. Open it in the course to answer the retrieval checks that go with it, track what you have read, and quiz the whole unit. Lessons, quizzes and the glossary are free.