So You Want To Be A Backcountry Skier?

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Words by: Amy Jane David

So You Want To Be A Backcountry Skier?

Skiing is the best. Any style of skiing can be fun. One of my favorite modes of skiing is taking it to the backcountry. It provides the peaceful quiet of being immersed in nature without the manmade elements of a bustling ski resort. There’s a higher level of brain power required in making smart terrain, navigation, and avalanche safety decisions. The physical challenge of skinning uphill is rewarded by the sweet sensation of flying back down the mountain. 

Backcountry skiing involves quite a bit more planning, gear, and experience. In this blog, I’ll share a few top tips for venturing deeper into the mountains. 

The backcountry is a serious environment with more complex terrain, weather, and snow conditions. It’s important to be self sufficient in a remote environment because ski patrol is not coming to save your bacon if things go haywire. If you’re new to backcountry skiing, take an avalanche course and keep it simple to start. No matter how many years you have under your belt, it’s always a good idea to refresh and practice avalanche rescue, brush up on mountain weather, and learn about wilderness first aid. A list of avalanche courses is listed on avalanche.org.

Ski touring requires more gear than resort skiing, allowing you to both ascend and descend the mountain and be self reliant. The basic gear is touring bindings and compatible boots, climbing skins, avalanche rescue gear, first aid and repair kits, gps device, food, water, warm layers, sunscreen, a backpack to carry it all in, and quite a bit more. 

Keep yourself in check - make sure your competence outweighs your confidence. Now I’m not saying downplay how rad of a skier you are, but be diligent to focus on gaining education and experience in risk management and decision making. You can never know enough about snow safety, monitoring weather and avalanche conditions, navigating the terrain to mitigate risk. There’s a difference between the amount of risk you’re willing to take when hitting a jump versus the risk you’re willing to take in avalanche terrain. Even if we start out as expert skiers at the resort, we learn to walk again as soon as we begin backcountry skiing. 

In avalanche courses, a simple framework is taught for the flow of a safe day in the backcountry. It begins at home by reading the avalanche forecast for the zone you’re going to ski. Based on the avalanche hazards and weather for the day, plan a route that doesn’t expose you to the hazard with a few backup options. Consider the people in your group when planning the day to make sure everyone is on the same page considering route, fitness and ski levels. It’s wise to have an emergency plan, let someone at home know where you’re headed, and carry a satellite communication device in case things go sideways. 

Once you’re at the parking lot, it’s time to do a departure check. Ensure everyone has full battery power in their transceivers and check both the transmit and receive functions. Talk with your group about the plan for the day, how you’ll communicate, what radio frequency you’ll be on, who has first aid kits, food and water. Refresh how to do a thorough departure check here. Each person should also be carrying a shovel and probe and know how to efficiently handle avalanche rescue. Check out this video for a refresher on practicing avalanche rescue.

On the skin track, there’s no need to be a speed hero. Set a pace that allows easy conversation and minimizing sweating. If you’re soaked in sweat on the uphill, as soon as you stop to transition, you’ll get cold real fast. This is where the art of layering comes in handy. Consider three levels of layers: base, mid, and outer. Base layers are against your skin wicking moisture away (synthetic materials/wool), mid layers (fleece/down) are for insulation, and outer layers protect you from the elements. Add or remove layers throughout the day to manage body temperature. This goes for your head too - wear a beanie or sun hat on the uphill and helmet on the downhill. After all, your brain is your most valuable asset.

Monitor conditions along the route. I’m always feeling the texture and density of the snow with my pole while skinning up. Keep your eyes peeled for clues of wind loading, drifting, and snow blown off trees. Continue to communicate with the group and reassess the plan when necessary. Use the terrain to reduce risk. The safest skin tracks are set on terrain less than 30 degrees steep, away from avalanche run out zones, or along ridge lines. Depending on the avalanche danger each day, the route up can vary. Caveats to this are in the spring with low danger boot packing up couloirs.

Throughout the day teamwork is the ticket. Travel together, decide together, and listen to every voice. Communication is essential for making wise decisions in the mountains. This requires both listening and speaking with the entire group. It’s easy to voice your opinion, but can you listen and come to a group consensus? Listen to each other, listen to your gut, listen to the mountain. It’s always okay to turn around and come back to ski that dream line another day if conditions don’t line up. One of the best ways to learn is to debrief the day reviewing decisions, how to improve, when you were most at risk, and what was the best part of the day.

I’ve found creating balanced goals to be extremely helpful in shifting my mindset with ever-changing snow conditions. Being able to adapt with a fluid mindset, every day can be enjoyable and help tame the human factors that creep in while chasing that perfect line. I make goals in four categories: physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. For example, if your goal is to ski the tallest peak in Colorado by the end of March, but when you’re half way up the mountain, the wind picks up and you notice signs of unstable snow, you can shift your physical goal oriented mindset to an intellectual goal of recording the weather and snow conditions to submit to the avalanche center. Or shift focus to a social goal of connecting with your ski partner while transitioning to ski back down the low angle ridge line. Or shift to spiritual/emotional by changing your route to ski low angle powder in the trees while meditating, noticing all the colors, sounds, smells of the forest to connect with the environment more deeply. This strategy helps me manage the human factors of getting stuck in the “hero complex.” Every time you step into the mountains, it’s a success. 

Here are a few hot takes aka backcountry etiquette most people can agree on. When sharing your day on social media, avoid geo tagging the exact locations. If another group comes up behind you, step to the side to let them pass. Don’t ski down if another party is below you in avalanche terrain. Take note of the snow and weather conditions to submit observations to the local avalanche center like CAIC in Colorado. 

Backcountry skiing is one of the most fun and rewarding ways to experience the mountains. While it takes a lot of gear and gathering of knowledge, there are a lot of resources to help you gain experience. It’s a life long pursuit. My long term goal is OGP - old granny pow. That means keeping a solid head on my shoulders to make smart choices in avalanche terrain, keep moving my body outdoors, and be skiing happily into old age. That goal reminds me to pump the breaks on certain days and hit the gas on other days.