How did YOU get into backcountry skiing

[Kimmyt]

I've always been curious about this, as a mid-atlantican who is lucky if we get snow on the ground once or twice a year (and even luckier if it sticks around for more than a week!). And tradygirl's post in the Zen of Skiing got me thinking.

How did those of you who bc ski get introduced to the sport? Was it through a more experienced friend, a guided thing or another option? What skill level were you when you started to venture into the backcountry.

Just, you know... for future reference...

 

[MaryLou]

I'm not sure I'm a 'backcountry' skier, but I enjoy glades and unexplored woods. Actually...I LOVE glades.

Back before kids, when DH and I could ski alone, we started getting bored with trails. I can't remember what inspired us, but one time we had a week vacation at Stowe (VT) and started going off the trails. The woods were so deep with snow, and the way the trails are setup there - we could dip into woods and be certain we'd come out on a trail. We ended up spending so much time in those woods that vacation - they were pretty virgin, we'd find our own way out, not many tracks.

DH is addicted. He took many hikes this summer near our home mountain (Sunday River) so he could find safe places to ski woods. Last winter we had one ski day without kids (pathetic, eh?!) and explored. Some parts were quite hairy, and I seriously thought about my life/kids and how the eff someone would ever get me out if I busted a knee! We've turned the kids onto it too - our 8 and 12yo love to explore the woods.

I'm sure the experts have good advice - here's mine. Don't do it unless you know the mountain and the general terrain - there is one spot at SR in legal glades that will send you into a riverbed if you don't cut right early enough - not dangerous but a PITA walking along a riverbed in skiboots and gear. I'd also be sure the woods are totally surrounded by trails, so no matter which way you go, you'll come out on the mountain. Have a cell phone. Don't go too close to dark, just in case it takes you longer to get out than you expect.

Interested in the responses myself.

 

[BackCountryGirl]

I got started with more experienced friends, hiking in the Whites and doing Tuckerman. It moved on from there to getting a PSIA-E backcountry accreditation and doing a bit of out-of-bounds stuff in Vermont. I've always been a nordic skier and climber, so doing the skinning and climbing felt right. (ML, my daughter and I have hiked that creek bed, once by accident and the other times on purpose. Maybe some day I'll show you some of the more "secret" woods. Not in uniform, of course!)

 

[abc]

Here in the east, BC skiing is more about climbing than it is for skiing since there's not much in the way of "side country" to get started as in the west.

Skill wise, you can choose the terrain you ski so there's no need to get in over your head. Having skins means you can go UP to another spot if you don't like the one your skis are pointing at. Though being able to "handle" varied condition safely is very useful, probably more important than being able to "ski" in style of super steep or super gnarly stuff.

Best is to hook up with more experienced skiers. Depending on where exactly you're, there may also be BC ski clubs.

I've only done a few so I'm not going to pretend I know a whole lot. But I've been lucky the AMC has very active BC skiing factions I can go with.

 

[Snowflower]

I didn't do much BC when I lived in the east, just a bit OB at the resort and a little at Tuckermans. Now that I live in Colorado however, I'm out there all the time. Backcountry in the east always seemed really extreme and dangerous (maybe it's all the trees!), but here it's a pretty regular activity, even for friends who are pretty intermediate in their skiing skills.

I was lucky to have friends here in Colorado who took me out the first time and loaned me the equipment I needed. After that I was hooked and by the next season I had purchased all the avalanche equipment I needed and signed up for safety classes. I'm still not to the point where I trust my avalanche skills enough to go anywhere the least bit iffy by myself, but I'm plenty comfortable in safe spots.


One thing that is fantastic here in CO is the hut system. Last year was my first full winter here, and I managed to make 4 hut trips! I never thought I'd ever be doing something like that when I lived in the east!

 

[MaryLou]

I got started with more experienced friends, hiking in the Whites and doing Tuckerman. It moved on from there to getting a PSIA-E backcountry accreditation and doing a bit of out-of-bounds stuff in Vermont. I've always been a nordic skier and climber, so doing the skinning and climbing felt right. (ML, my daughter and I have hiked that creek bed, once by accident and the other times on purpose. Maybe some day I'll show you some of the more "secret" woods. Not in uniform, of course!)

I'll take you up on that! My DH would be so jealous if I actually found something he didn't know about...he he... Just signed my 3yo up for mini-RR (thanks for the kick in the pants)...I hope to see/meet you when the season gets rolling.

 

[abc]

One thing that is fantastic here in CO is the hut system. Last year was my first full winter here, and I managed to make 4 hut trips! I never thought I'd ever be doing something like that when I lived in the east!

Did you by any chance do a trip report?

I'd love to hear more about the huts.

 

[Snowflower]

I didn't do a trip report, mostly because I wasn't at the computer much last winter, so I really didn't post at all.

There are a couple of different hut systems here in Colorado as well as some independant ones. The most well known are the 10th Mountain Division huts which are mostly located in the high mountains south of Summit County and Vail and north of Leadville. Getting to the huts typically requires a skin up of anywhere from 1 mile to 7 miles and could include easy cross country type terrian, or more typically some advance steeper sections. Most of the huts are located just about treeline, which is typically 10-11,000 feet. They typically have a big common room downstairs and one or several common sleeping rooms upstairs. There is a woodstove for heat, propane cooktops and sometimes a wood stove with a baking oven for cooking. Water is obtained by melting snow and there are usually solar powered lights. No running water, flush toilets or showers. Most have outhouses, a couple indoors, but most requiring a little snowy hike, which can be dang cold in the middle of the night!

Most huts will hold 15 or so people (more or less), and it is possible to rent just one space rather than the whole hut, although on all of the trips I've been on we've gotten a group of people together and rented the whole hut so that we can have the place to ourselves. The huts are very popular and tend to fill up fast, in fact the 10th mountain huts hold a lottery in April to book trips for the next winter.

A typical hut trip for me would be 2-3 nights. Depending on how far in the hut is, the first day would just involve the ski in. The next full days we would ski around the hut, either going up higher, or if conditions were bad, maybe just sticking close to the hut. The last day we clean up and ski out. We cook communual breakfasts and dinners (we assign meal teams), and drink lots of wine and play lots of cards. It's really cool to be the only people for miles around and the night sky with no light pollution that high up is spectacular.

 

[Snowflower]

Oh and my avatar is a picture of me leaving the Fowler-Hillard hut at the end of my very first hut trip. The whole trip I kept saying to my husband "I just love this" and "I can't believe we're doing this" He's not so enamored of the uphill so he didn't have as much fun as I did, but he is signed up for all four trips with me this year (he only did 2 last year, I did the other two with out him), so maybe he's decided to like it!