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Women’s backcountry week?

rivarunnamomma

rivarunnamomma

Certified Ski Diva
I am looking for a guided women’s backcountry trip/clinic for my sister and I somewhere in western Canada or US this season. We are both fit, advanced skiers but she has virtually no skiing experience outside the ropes (other than a heli drop or two) while I have lots. She has AST-1 so we don’t need full on “avalanche” training but ideally the guides would incorporate tips on backcountry travel into each day so I don’t have to be the “teacher”. (We get along much better doing yoga or drinking wine.) You know - kick turns, efficient transitions, route finding etc. Ideally, stunning terrain that is “accessible” for her, ie. not too steep or scary. No crampons! A bit of alpine, but more about sweet turns than climbing to couloirs. The perfect package would be:
1. Close to a decent airport (30 min?)
2. Smaller, less busy really cute ski town (not a resort)
3. All ages (we are mid-50s)
4. Yoga
5. Good food/wine in the evening
6. Fun, funky lodge accommodation (smaller, “realer” the better).
7. Female guides (obviously)

Any suggestions?
 
ilovepugs

ilovepugs

Angel Diva
@echo_NY didn’t you do a week in the valhallas touring with women? I can’t remember the name of the company?
 
Elizabeth.I

Elizabeth.I

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
rivarunnamomma said:
I am looking for a guided women’s backcountry trip/clinic for my sister and I somewhere in western Canada or US this season. We are both fit, advanced skiers but she has virtually no skiing experience outside the ropes (other than a heli drop or two) while I have lots. She has AST-1 so we don’t need full on “avalanche” training but ideally the guides would incorporate tips on backcountry travel into each day so I don’t have to be the “teacher”. (We get along much better doing yoga or drinking wine.) You know - kick turns, efficient transitions, route finding etc. Ideally, stunning terrain that is “accessible” for her, ie. not too steep or scary. No crampons! A bit of alpine, but more about sweet turns than climbing to couloirs. The perfect package would be:
1. Close to a decent airport (30 min?)
2. Smaller, less busy really cute ski town (not a resort)
3. All ages (we are mid-50s)
4. Yoga
5. Good food/wine in the evening
6. Fun, funky lodge accommodation (smaller, “realer” the better).
7. Female guides (obviously)

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Girls Do Ski out of Revelstoke would be worth considering, although it doesn't meet a lot of your criteria....they don't include lodging or yoga or exist close to an airport but you could always find a nice place to stay in Revy and they have great restaurants and bars! They have backcountry camps for varying degrees of experience. I've done their expert resort camp and all the instructors are amazing and very encouraging. It's a great environment and they make everyone feel comfortable, no matter their ability level. Plus Revelstoke is a super cute ski town and the backcountry around the revelstoke resort is excellent.

www.girlsdoski.com

Women's Backcountry Ski Camps — Girls Do Ski

At Girls Do Ski we have 6 different Backcountry Camps to ensure we can provide the best and most focused learning experienced for our guests.
www.girlsdoski.com www.girlsdoski.com

So not everything you're looking for, but all guides are amazing and supportive women, the ski touring location is great- lots of powder, and Revelstoke is a super cute ski town with really nice amenities. I think it's really hard to find a women's camp to meet all those criteria because not a lot exist, but then again, I'm only well-versed in local camp options. I hope you find something perfect that fills all your criteria!!
 
echo_VT

echo_VT

Angel Diva
ilovepugs said:
@echo_NY didn’t you do a week in the valhallas touring with women? I can’t remember the name of the company?
Click to expand...
it’s a 5 hour drive and up to 7 hours if it’s snowing. In Canada, the terrain is steep and scary, and no hut I know guarantees you won’t need crampons but early season is best from what I understand to avoid crampons. But I bring mine each time because it’s on the list. I also don’t know anything that’s 30 min near an airport except for SLC but I don’t know of backcountry huts in Utah. For huts, Colorado would be good but that’s also way more than 30 min out (4 hours?)

I would definitely take the sister outside the ropes first and see how it goes. Somewhere where you know the area. It would be sad to go, and she can’t do it. I ended up going with northwest mountain school to stevens pass in order to get used to going uphill and familiar with terrain choices, snowpack and transitioning. This is also just under 2 hours drive. I also went up my local hill to practice (Hunter mtn) which is great for getting familiar with the equipment and getting in the elevation gain.
 
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echo_VT

echo_VT

Angel Diva
Backcountry babes. I’ve been meaning to do a trip with them.

backcountrybabes.com

Guided Private Splitboard & Ski Trips in Colorado, California and Alaska

Want to learn how to get into the backcountry with a private guide? Check out our private guide section to book a backcountry touring with an instructor.
backcountrybabes.com backcountrybabes.com

They don’t have any trip near an airport but they do private guiding out of Tahoe. It’s still 45 min from the Reno airport, so it’s not under 30 min.
 
P

Pequenita

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I was going to suggest Backcountry Babes, too. I've done a few local (Tahoe) things with Emily, the owner, and think she's fantastic. They also have trips outside of the Tahoe area.

Something I would consider when planning a guided backcountry trip is if it's at altitude and whether you live at elevation. Not from an altitude sickness perspective, but from the perspective of, if you are in a group that lives and exercises at elevation and you're coming from sea level, you need to make sure you can stay with the group. I live at sea level, and there's basically been only one time that I wasn't at the back of the skin track, and that's because it was dumping and the guide was breaking trail through 8" of snow.
 
Last edited:
rivarunnamomma

rivarunnamomma

Certified Ski Diva
Thanks ladies. My sister skins/skis with her dogs out the back door every morning, and skins to reach nice lines within her resort so is familiar with the basics so we’re not starting at ground zero. I’ll check out the recommendations. Keep them coming if someone can add to the list.
 
rivarunnamomma

rivarunnamomma

Certified Ski Diva
echo_NY said:
Backcountry babes. I’ve been meaning to do a trip with them.

backcountrybabes.com

Guided Private Splitboard & Ski Trips in Colorado, California and Alaska

Want to learn how to get into the backcountry with a private guide? Check out our private guide section to book a backcountry touring with an instructor.
backcountrybabes.com backcountrybabes.com

They don’t have any trip near an airport but they do private guiding out of Tahoe. It’s still 45 min from the Reno airport, so it’s not under 30 min.
Click to expand...
Tahoe is worth an extra 15 mins
 
rivarunnamomma

rivarunnamomma

Certified Ski Diva
Pequenita said:
I was going to suggest Backcountry Babes, too. I've done a few local (Tahoe) things with Emily, the owner, and think she's fantastic. They also have trips outside of the Tahoe area.

Something I would consider when planning a guided backcountry trip is if it's at altitude and whether you live at elevation. Not from an altitude sickness perspective, but from the perspective of, if you are in a group that lives and exercises at elevation and you're coming from sea level, you need to make sure you can stay with the group. I live at sea level, and there's basically been only one time that I wasn't at the back of the skin track, and that's because it was dumping and the guide was breaking trail through 8" of snow.
Click to expand...
Good point!
 
M

Mary Brosnan

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Hello! I've also been looking for an all women's backcountry trip this winter. Unfortunately my touring experience is limited to a couple of guided day trips during resort trips out West so I'm still a true newbie. My husband has taken several backcountry trips with San Juan Mountain Guides out of Ouray, Co. He has been talking with them about organizing a women's trip because he knows how much I love learning in an all female environment. They have access to a beautiful hut called Red Mountain Lodge which is a short skin from the road about 20 minutes north of Ouray. I think the closest airport is in Montrose about an hour away. I was actually going to reach out to this group to see if I could find a some women interested in organizing a trip. I know they have a wide variety of terrain so if we had a couple of guides it could work to have a range of experience levels in the group.
 
arbusch

arbusch

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
It doesn't meet all your requirements but definitely in a cute small town and the owners are friends of mine and the wife guides with her husband a lot. If you get enough friends you could make it an all women's trip and they are great backcountry teachers. I backcountry ski with them a lot and enjoy them when they are not working in the backcountry.

I bet they be willing to customize the trip to your needs. The nearest big airport is Boise. I would check out Eagle Cap Mountain Guides.https://eaglecapmountainguides.com/
 
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