Spring rolls in and the icefields open up. Lines get skied that only exist for a few weeks a year. It's also the time of year when more skiers than usual find themselves roped to partners on glaciated terrain for the first time, staring at a tangle of cord and hardware and wondering if they've brought the right stuff.
Ski crampons are traction for when skins stop being traction. Firm spring mornings, refrozen skintracks, wind-scoured ridges, sidehills, this is where a thin strip of steel becomes the most important thing in your pack.
Every skier and trail runner follows the weather to some extent. What's already a nationwide topic of discussion becomes a whole different story to us outdoors enthusiasts.
No matter where you find yourself in the scale of "we'll see when we get there" to "I follow every model religiously", there are some incredible resources out there to make your life easier and help you plan your next adventures. Here are our five picks.
Near the top of their climb, just metres below the cornice, the bootpack steepened, and the snow turned to facets covering rock slabs. It wasn’t a long or technical climb, but with skis A-framed on their backs, there was a moment of balance where Eric Hjorleifson and Harley Hegnauer were happy their packs weren’t heavier.
Second part of our Backcountry 101 series: Avalanche Training and awareness. Avalanche danger is one of those things that scare people off backcountry skiing or snowboarding the most. While it's impossible to eliminate completely the risk of avalanches, it is certainly possible to mitigate and reduce risks to acceptable levels to most skiers.
There are tons of resources out there to stay up to date on current avalanche conditions...
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