Winter is just around the corner, and while for many that means things like seasonal depression, higher utility bills, and forced contact with loved ones, not everyone takes the dropping temperatures so negatively.
Hugh Swertly is one such frost fanatic, and he finds that the coming promise of snow adds an extra spring in his step—as well as his shoe. Swertly is a member of the Madison Cryo-pedics Society, a community organization dedicated to the art of snowshoeing. To him and his compatriots, winter means a chance to bond with the rare friend over proper decking materials, toe cord placement, and the annual teardrop versus v-taper debate.
“Yeah, it’s a good time. But I’ll admit, sometimes I get a little too into it,” Swertly said. “There’s just something about a good traverse with da’ boys that can’t be beat; the first trek of the season is better than my wedding day.”
Swertly’s wife, Barbara, reports that more than once she has caught him staring at the weather forecast in a dark room, stroking his favorite pair of Neoprene-laced V-forms and whispering, “Soon, darlings… soon.”
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