Can’t snowboard? Great. Look like a fool on skis? Even better. For many, the easiest way to get out and enjoy winter weather is through the quickly growing sport of snowshoeing.

I set out during break to try snowshoeing for myself. The Summit at Snoqualmie Pass seemed like the best bet for trying the new sport. A little more than 50 miles from Seattle, Snoqualmie offers snowshoe lessons and rentals, as well as a myriad of trails that crisscross the mountain.

“It’s fun,” Snoqualmie employee Sky Risvold said. “You get to get away from the noise, explore the trees.”

Having also worked at Crystal Ski Resort, Risvold spent time snowshoeing at both summits. He said that unlike downhill snow sports, snowshoeing allows people to go places.

“I walk up with my snowboard on my back,” he explained. “At Crystal, backcountry is really far from the lift — it’s quicker to snowshoe.”

Besides a quick learning curve, one of the biggest draws for many snowshoers is the chance to get out and enjoy the outdoors. It’s what attracted first-time snowshoer Falon Waisath.

“Anything outdoors is fun,” Waisath said. “[We wanted to] just check it out to try it.”

Like most, they rented their gear; besides the shoes themselves, the only thing required is a pair of waterproof shoes or boots.

Snowshoes are odd. Shaped like little flat boats, they made my size-eight feet feel huge and uncoordinated. However, despite the new size of my feet, it didn’t take long to get the hang of the activity. After a few false starts knocking my feet together, I was able to walk smoothly, if not exactly gracefully.

I only fell once. In an attempt to be adventurous, I tried walking on the banks of the trail and immediately found myself up to my knees in powder. Turning around, I found myself on my face.

Once I got the hang of snowshoeing, I could appreciate the scenery around me. Snoqualmie has had a large amount of snow this year, and each tree was frosted with powder from snowfall the night before.

The best way to describe the experience is how C.S. Lewis illustrated it.

“If you ever read that book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, where they walk in the snow, it’s like that,” Risvold said.

The Summit’s Web site totes snowshoeing as one of the easiest sports to learn, as well as the fastest growing. The weekend I went was an indicator of the activity’s popularity, as by 2 p.m., almost all of the 70 rental shoes were taken.

“Today was really busy,” Risvold said. “Usually … we average about 40 [people] a day.”

Risvold emphasized snowshoers should be wary of their surroundings.

“Especially in Washington, you could be walking and could be buried. It’s like concrete if you get stuck in it,” he said.

The trail I took is one that cross-country skiers and snowshoers share. A word to all future snowshoe participants: stay out of cross-country skiers’ ways. Throughout the day, many repeatedly stated that snowshoes tear up the smoothly groomed snow. The best place to be is in a single file line, on the edge of the trail.

To get out of skiers’ ways, there are a few snowshoe-only paths but they are often not well marked or well-groomed. Sometimes they are no more than a few footsteps leading off the trail.

Wary of avalanches and getting lost, I preferred the margins of the cross-country skiers’ main trail.

However, Risvold said the activity is relatively easy and safe.

“I’d put my mom on snowshoes,” he said.

While snowshoeing was peaceful and the landscape was beautiful, I craved a little more, and like Risvold, would suggest using snowshoeing to get somewhere. Bring a sled or a picnic, or make the final destination significant — perhaps an ice hotel.

With great company and, as Risvold suggests, some wine and cheese, snowshoeing could be a perfect date or outdoors activity. Add in breathtaking scenery and it’s even better.

[Reach reporter Erika Cederlind at features@thedaily.washington.edu.]