PARIS, Nov 13 — Combining the advantages of snowshoes and skis, hok skiing, a Canadian innovation, will be increasingly visible in Europe's ski resorts this winter. A straightforward sport that enables skiers to climb and descend backcountry tracks and forest paths that are not equipped with ski lifts.

Lovers of nature and the wilderness will likely be charmed by this new discipline, invented by a duo of French Canadian and American ski enthusiasts.

Inspired by a centuries old technique practiced in the Altai mountains of Siberia, it combines the benefits of snowshoe hiking and Nordic cross-country skiing. As in Telemark skiing, only the toe of the boot is attached to the ski binding, while the heel remains free to move at all times. The skis are short and equipped with climbing skins, and bindings that can attach to snow and hiking boots.

Designed for powder snow, hok skis are ideal for slide-free climbing and forests where hok skiers can make faster progress than snowshoe hikers. They also offer an excellent introduction to skiing for non-skiers, who may well be tempted to take up this physical but low intensity sport. 

As to the technique required, hok skiers keep their knees bent to put all of their weight the front of their skis. Thus reflexes acquired cross-country, Nordic or even Alpine skiing will confer much of an advantage. When the friction of the climbing skins causes them to slow down, hok skiers push while shifting their weight from one foot to another before once again bending their knees.

For those curious to try out this new sport, several French ski resorts are now renting hok ski equipment and organising introductory classes. And the discipline is also gaining ground in the Vercors, Jura, Massif Central, and Vosges mountains which have long been popular with snowshoe hikers.

In the Chartreuse mountains, for example, visitors can join in full or half-day hikes, or take advantage of weekend offers put together by the local tourist office, which include two nights of bed and breakfast accommodation, hok ski hikes on Saturday (morning and also a special moonlight evening hike) Sunday and equipment hire (price: €274).

In the Jura, the Nordic ski school in Rousses is offering supervised treks for groups limited to eight people. 

In Auvergne, hok skiing is riding high. Last winter, the village of Valuéjols in the Cantal acquired 11 pairs of American brand Altai hok skis, eight of which were financed by the internet crowd funding site Ulule. Three snowshoe trails with varying levels of difficulty that traverse sections of the surrounding Ché forest and mountain pastures have been marked out in the area. — AFP-Relaxnews