Education

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.

It’s well and truly Spring in the Rockies. Skiers are getting out on the icefields, and tracks are being made on the steepest faces. As you break out that tiny skimo harness for the season, it’s probably a good time to review what most people carry and dangle off of that alpine lingerie. A lot of this gear has multiple purposes, but here we are talking about its primary function of glacier travel and crevasse rescue.

Marcus Baranow lives a quiet life in the hamlet of Lake Louise. His summers are spent maintaining campgrounds and his winters are simple: eat, sleep, ski. His nightlife consists of board games or working on one of his many solitary projects. Introverted by nature and isolated by geography, how is it that Marcus became the most followed skier in the Rockies?

“What’s in your pack?” always sparks debate. Here’s what I carry when I’m ski touring recreationally. Weight is always a factor but you only need to carry one first aid kit in the group. After years as a ski patroller, I’ve whittled my kit down to what I like to use and can bear to carry. It’s fairly minimal but I’ll have a much more substantial kit at the hut or in the car.

We’ve talked about how you can use the skills that are familiar to you on the resort to ski in backcountry terrain (Part 1), how do you equip yourself with the knowledge for safe travel in Avalanche Safety Training (AST 1) in Part 2, following the weather for where to ski and what aspects (Part 3) and last week we talked about what gear can make backcountry skiing more efficient and comfortable. Well we are at the point of putting it all together and getting out on the slopes. 

Next up on our Backcountry 101 is following the snow. We all know that backcountry skiing can be dangerous so it’s a good idea to keep tabs on the weather to keep on top of what the snowpack is doing.

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...

To many skiers, backcountry skiing sounds intimidating. Going to seldom-visited areas, dodging avalanches, skiing between cliffs and dangerous terrains sounds like quite the daredevil activity, but reality is different in most ways. Backcountry skiing is what you want it to be. It can be a safe and enjoyable activity . Beginners have a point though by saying this is all a bit confusing. What to start with? How to make this all look less overwhelming? The obvious and often heard answer is : Take an AST-1 course. This is a great idea, but there is a lot more to the backcountry skier's skillset. This Backcountry 101 will cover the different aspects of backcountry skiing as well as useful resources.