By Jodi Hausen,Staff Writer

FARMINGTON – Just because there isn’t snow on the ground doesn’t mean Ken Cram doesn’t think about it.

The Wilton man makes wooden snowshoes by hand, about 10 to 20 pairs a year, he said Tuesday while demonstrating his craft at the Farmington Fair.

Using white ash he handpicks and cuts himself, he has the logs cut into wide boards and cuts them to about 10 feet. He soaks them in water for six days and steams them for about five hours before bending them over a form for the frame. He only has about five minutes to shape them before the wood cools and becomes too brittle to bend, he said. It’s one of the most challenging steps, and he often solicits assistance from a friend.

“If you had four hands, it’d be great,” he said.

After a frame is shaped, he installs two or three spreaders, depending on size, for extra support, and the frame is complete. He finishes the wood with a coating of amber shellac and marine-grade varnish.

Then the weaving and tying begins, probably the hardest skill of the process to learn. He had a good mentor in his friend and neighbor, 88-year-old Ralph Smith, who can no longer manage the rigors of the craft. Cram has been creating the winter walkers for about six years, he said.

He weaves the platform out of twisted nylon cord in front and back and neoprene in the center, where the most wear occurs. He makes bindings, also called harnesses, out of neoprene as well.

He makes three models – one in two sizes. They cost between $100 and $150 a pair and are available at Aardvark Outfitters in Farmington or by phoning Cram at 645-3333.

A retired telephone repairman, Cram, 55, said he enjoys the hobby which, when he sells enough, pays for a hunting trip – another of his passions. If he makes 20 pairs in a year, its a busy year, he said.

“I really respect anyone who can do this,” Lois Hall of Farmington said while watching Cram weave and pull neoprene through a frame.

He may be the last snowshoe maker in Franklin County.

“It’s a dying craft really,” Cram said.