SNOWSHOEING FITS IN WITH SNOWY WINTER.(LIFE & LEISURE)

Byline: ERIC SHARP - Knight-Ridder

It's a boom year for snowshoe sales, perhaps to be expected during one the snowiest winters in years.

Snowshoeing, the art of ambulating in snow without sinking, is a sport with the aerobic benefits of cross-country skiing. Others use snowshoes for more practical pursuits, such as hunting.

Buyers, who once had limited choices, now can choose traditionalwood-and-rawhide, high-tech titanium-and-plastic, or mix the old with the new.

Basic shapes are: the round, flat bear paw, good for big people and thick woods; long, skinny models with turned-up toes, sometimes called Alaskans, that are fast in open …