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? This series of Backcountry-101 articles cover the different aspects of backcountry skiing as well as useful resources.
Another awesome resource is to read Confessions Of A Ski Bum's "Getting Into Backcountry Skiing" series.
The SkiUphill Team
Part One: The Skiing
So you’ve made the decision. You’re going to start backcounty skiing where everyday is a powder day and each picture will net you hundreds of likes on the ‘gram. Here’s the problem; you don’t really know what it’s all about. We hope you like hiking. Read More
Part Two: Avalanche Training
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. Read More
Part Three: Follow The Weather
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. Weather and snow stability are closely linked. As you gain more experience you’ll find it’s possible to roughly predict snow conditions just by checking the weather forecast. Read More
Part Four: The Gear
So you’re reading this series and thinking “I got this.” You want to get some gear and start going out. Walking into a gear shop can be overwhelming. The bright colours, terms like ‘flex profile’ and ‘80 degree cuff rotation’ are getting thrown around in excessive amounts. It’s overwhelming. Good thing we’re here to help. Step one is to be honest with yourself in your skiing abilities and what you plan to do. Read More
Part Five: Getting Out There
We’ve talked about how to improve your skiing game to ski in backcountry terrain (Part 1), how to equip yourself with the knowledge for safe travel in Avalanch Safety Training (AST 1) in Part 2, to follow the weather and conditions (part 3) and last week we tried to make backcountry equipment less confusing. Well we are at the point of putting it all together and getting out on the slopes. Read More