Ice Spikes

As a dogwalker in Oslo in Winter, ice spikes (brodder) or spiked shoes (piggsko) are a necessity.

Not only do ice spikes allow us to access steeper and more challenging terrain, but they also stop us from getting injured.

I can actually count on one hand how many dog walks since the beginning of December I have gone on without either spikes or spiked shoes….. 1 walk!

Of late I have felt the need to swap my walking shoes for some city trainers as the ice melts downtown. I was starting to get some quite funny looks as I clicked and clacked along downtown on my way to pick up and drop off dogs.

Up in the woods though and you won’t get far literally without them.

After what has been a quite long and good winter, there is still a good amount of hard snow and ice out there. And even when you get to the untouched, deeper snow on steep climbs far into the woods it is lovely to be able to kick your spikes into the base layer to get extra grip.

I am fully aware that there is a stigma to wearing spikes. A lot of younger norwegians will feel inadequate if they have to put them on. Clearly they are not a cool accessory for the younger generations.

I absolutely look at them in a different light.

As I put on my hefty spikes and my climbing harness to which I attach the dogs it’s certainly feels like I’m going into a high mountain adventure.

When I lived in the mountains I would look at people with crampons and harnesses in awe.

And so it is with this sense of accessing otherwise impossible terrain that I gleefully put on my spikes to be able to give your dogs extra adventure.

Just for the record I have two pairs of spikes shoes (waterproof boots and running spikes) and 4 pairs of ice spikes (varying sizes of spikes and varying sizes to fit over trainers, mountain boots and gummi støvler (Wellington boots).

So look to the added adventures you can have out in the snow, spike up and go explore in safety.

Doggies: Milli, Haraka, Lucy, Kimba and Tiki