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One last note: Endurance snowshoeing can certainly last for more than one day. For example, I recently undertook a three-day outing. We spent each day on top of the snow and two nights in small, backcountry cabins.

Fastpack It

Begin with backpacking, a sport in which you hike trails and live out of a pack on your back for two or more days. Then halve your pack’s volume and weight by removing most of the excess, luxury items. Don’t forget to double your daily mileage plan. Instead of hiking 10 miles each day, let’s shoot for 20. The result is fastpacking, the art of light and far foot travel through wild places that, among outdoor enthusiasts and especially trail runners, is experiencing a raging growth in popularity.

As the sport evolves, so does the range of appropriate equipment from which fastpackers can outfit themselves. Many gear companies now manufacture ultralight running backpacks, the lightestof-light tents and sleeping bags, as well as cook stoves that weigh just a few dozen grams. Putting the latest and greatest gear on your back for a fastpacking trip isn’t necessary, but you won’t travel far unless you pare down your pack to the bare minimum.

Fastpacking is your express ticket to backcountry camping. (Photo by author)

Most fastpackers spend a goodly portion of the daylight hours on the trail in a mix of powerhiking and running. For example, on steep, uphill climbs, fastpackers powerhike, while the flats and downhill sections are perfect for a decent running clip. Come late afternoon fastpackers empty their packs, then set up the ultralight tents, sleeping bags, and cooking paraphernalia with which they recover from the day’s work.

Fastpacking variants exist, like running with a small pack between established nightly dwellings, such as huts, yurts, or cabins. Hut-tohut fastpacking is exceedingly popular in the Swiss Alps, for example, where a well-established trail network and perfectly spaced huts provide fastpackers and other backcountry users a warm space to bed down for the night.

Supported, multiday running is another variant of fastpacking. One summer, for example, a Canadian ultrarunner organized a five-day run across Banff National Park for a small group of her friends. By day the group ran, with the end point of one day being the next day’s starting point. By night, instead of camping out in the bush, the group returned to the Canadian runner’s home for good times, great food, and comfortable sleeping quarters.

Stage Races and the Art of Attrition

As if running one ultramarathon isn’t enough, some ultrarunners run stage races, events lasting for multiple days with set distances to run each day punctuated by evenings of non-running recovery. Picture the Tour de France, the famous cycling stage race, then convert the race layout to running. Dozens of stage races exist with at least one on every continent, including Antarctica. Yes, should you have the burning (or, should I say, freezing) desire, you may enter a week-long race across a piece of the Antarctic continent.

Let’s look at a hypothetical six-day stage race typical of many taking place around the world. In this example, runners race each day for six days to cover a total distance of about 150 miles. Most of the running days are roughly 20 miles in length, with two being at a marathon or ultramarathon distance. Between each racing stage, runners camp in simple dwellings and spend their time sleeping, eating, enjoying social time with other runners, and otherwise recovering.

With this magnifying-lens exam, the key to success fast emerges: taking care of yourself all week so that you aren’t a victim of attrition. Stage racers must set a sustainable running pace for multiple days. Outrunning a certain competitor or time goal early in the week, for example, might leave you with leaden legs later on. Gearing your nutrition toward a week of effort is another critical aspect of success. While you may eat little to nothing during a single