By Evan Midford, Website & Social Media Coordinator
Snowshoes have a long tradition as a transportation tool designed for traversing the snowy conditions across Canada. They date back centuries as ubiquitous for many Indigenous groups across the continent. Today we are familiar with snowshoes as a tool for getting around outdoors in the harsh Manitoban winters and for practical or leisure purposes. However, many people are unaware of the brief but widespread popularity of snowshoeing as a competitive sport. From the 1800s until the middle of the 20th century snowshoe racing was a popular pastime for many across Canada. Although snowshoes had been around for centuries, and very possibly were used in races and other activity by Indigenous groups, the first recorded instance comes from Montreal. So the story goes, a group of friends (a who’s-who of high profile Montrealers including the editor of the Gazette) would go out for leisurely walks into the woods on their snowshoes, and when it was time to return, race back to town to their favourite café, the first man to arrive receiving a free meal. From these humble beginnings the Montreal Snowshoe Club was formed, and by 1843 competitive races were being held, becoming quite the local spectacle.
Clubs continued to appear throughout the 1800s and early 1900s – in Ottawa, Montreal, across Quebec, and in Manitoba. St. George’s snowshoe club was founded in Winnipeg sometime in the 1880s, and much of its membership went on to found various other winter leisure clubs around the city, including the original Winnipeg Winter Club.
Snowshoe clubs were appearing at such a rate that a nationwide Union was founded in 1907, the Canadian Snowshoe Union. Its first convention was held in Quebec City in 1908, but it entirely based out of Quebec and Ontario. An organization known as the Manitoba Snowshoe Association independently came into existence also in 1907, the five clubs that originally formed the Association were the St. George, Holly, Y. Outing, Le Voyaguer, and Winnipeg Canoe clubs, each with their own complex tales to tell. In 1924 an affiliation was completed between the Manitoba Snowshoe Association and the Canadian Snowshoe Union, creating the “Manitoba Branch of the Canadian Snowshoe Union.” 10 years later the organizations jurisdiction extended to entirety of Western Canada thus: “Western Branch of the Canadian Snowshoe Union” was born. The acronyms M.S.A, M.B.C.S.U, and W.B.C.S.U. are commonplace on the many snowshoes related items at the Hall of Fame.
Looking at one Winnipeg club, the Holly Snowshoe Club, serves as one example for the type of activities clubs like these may have gotten up to. The Holly Club was one of the longest lasting clubs of its kind in the city, founded in February of 1905 it remained in operation until the 1980s. Its long-time president, E.J. Ransom, was instrumental in the creation of the M.S.A., and remained incredibly active within the Winnipeg snowshoeing community. In fact, a 1935 a publication of the W.B.C.S.U. handbook, E.J. Ransom who was still active in the Holly Club, was said to have been the “oldest active snowshoer in Western Canada” from his join date of the club in 1906. The Hollies were notable both for their competitive racers and meticulous record-keeping. Perhaps some of this secretarial thoroughness can be attributed to Mr. Ransom and his influence. Regardless, much of what we know about Winnipeg’s early snowshoe lineage is because of the Hollies, and their decades of meeting minutes are available for all to view at the Archives of Manitoba. Although the focus here has mostly been the competitive aspects of these clubs, it is important to note that these clubs were much, much broader than just racing. The Holly Club served as a sort of men’s (or ‘stag’) social club and organized regular trips and tramps through both the city and more distant towns, such as Portage la Prairie, Carman, and St. Norbert.
This Holly club photograph from 1924 showcases just how competitively successful the club was. Over two dozen trophies, primarily from local races, were taken home by Holly Club members this season, not an uncommon sight. Some of the trophies in this club photograph are in the Hall of Fame’s collection today. In fact the McLimont Cup (bottom right) and the Dingwall Trophy (second from left) are currently on display as part of our snowshoe exhibit!
Some of Manitoba’s most successful snowshoe racers competed as part of the Holly Snowshoe Club. These included the Dickson brothers of Tom, Terry, Lou and Bob, although their club allegiances tended to change over the years. The brothers were incredibly successful in their clubs’ races, as well as gifted track & field athletes. Terry likely would have competed at the 1936 Olympics in athletics but was not able to fund his travel east to compete in the Olympic Trial Finals. This familial dominance and rivalry can be seen in the 1941 national snowshoe championship, held in Winnipeg. Terry, now a member of the Winnipeg Light Infantry’s snowshoe group, defeated his brother Lou (the defending champion) in the five-mile race.
Eric Coy was also a successful Manitoban snowshoer and track athlete. He was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. Coy participated in snowshoe races as part of the Wanderers and the Aurora club. He first started his snowshoe racing career with the Aurora club, but by the mid-1930s had switched to the Wanderers. He won the W.B.C.S.U 100-yard race 3 times in a row with the Wanderers, and he travelled nationally and internationally to compete in snowshoe racing, although it is not clear how widespread his success was. His most obvious sports achievements though was his attendance as a track & field athlete at the British Empire games and the 1948 London Olympics. He did not medal in the Olympics but won multiple medals at the British Empire games throughout the 1930s and 1940s.
By the 1940s and 50s, we start to see a decline in snowshoeing’s prevalence as a winter sport. It is not entirely clear why this is, but it has been proposed that a growing interest in other winter sports, primarily skating, hockey, and curling, took participants away from competitive snowshoeing. What is clear however, is that the Canadian Snowshoe Union ceased to exist by the end of the 20th century, and the old guard of the Winnipeg snowshoe clubs were long gone by the time the Holly Club finally shuttered in the mid 1980s. Today snowshoeing is primarily for individual recreation and necessary transportation in rural and remote areas. However, snowshoe racing does live on as an incredibly popular competition in Canadian Special Olympics.
Although it is a sport much forgotten outside of Special Olympics today, Manitoba’s snowshoe clubs and races are an important piece of its early history. It helps tells the story of early 20th century leisure and recreation, and the development of the local sports and recreation landscape. Without the early prevalence of competitive snowshoe racing, who knows whether organizations such as the Canoe Club and Winter Club would have seen the later success that they did.
Check out this video to see some some footage of a Holly Snowshoeclub meet from the 1930s. Take note of a young Terry Dickson, early on in his snowshoeing career.
Come view the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame’s (145 Pacific Ave.) newest exhibit on snowshoe racing for a glimpse into Winnipeg’s early winter leisure. Features include the Holly Club, Eric Coy, the Dickson brothers, and more!
