Resort To Backcountry, Making the Transition

BY Dustin O'Reilly

Backcountry touring is a fantastic sport and a great way to enjoy fresh lines without the crowds. You aren’t alone if you are thinking about this upcoming winter season and considering leaving the resorts behind. Either for the first time or your fifth season there is so much to learn and the fall is the perfect season to sharpen your knowledge base, start training and update your gear.

A good place to start is with fitness and now is the time to begin building up your stamina to the standard necessary to break trail with the best of them. You’ll rely heavily on your quads, glutes, hamstrings and hips to get you into the backcountry and to descend deep powder slopes. Squats, leg presses, steep hiking trails and staircase sets are all great strength builders for your legs. Cardio and endurance are also essential. There aren’t ski lifts to shuttle you back to the top after a burner of a run, so cardiovascular heavy activities like running, biking, hiking and interval training will help you keep up lap after lap. Plan on thirty minutes or more to start a cardio workout. Many great athletes seem to “forget” to keep their core up to spec as well. Core muscles, as well as the muscle groups around your hips and lower back, are important to help you maintain good body position. Your overall technique will thank you for the time you spend doing all those crunches, leg lifts and planks. When scheduling a workout routine, plan on training roughly three days a week, rest days are vitally important for recovery.

Assess your technical ability and fitness level honestly, since your safety depends on it. An injury in bounds at a resort, while still very scary and dangerous, usually results in a quick ski patrol extraction from the slopes. An injury in the backcountry is dangerous not only to yourself, but to your partners and the search and rescue teams that may have to evacuate you. Not to mention a rescue in the backcountry can take several hours or even days. Stay on terrain appropriate for you (and your groups) skill level. This isn’t the place to showboat how rad you shred, as being safe often means skiing to the level of the weakest member of the group.

Even more important than your athletic ability is your knowledge base and understanding of the terrain. The first step is to take an avalanche awareness class. Reputable organizations have begun to offer online webinars, classes and have even moved part of their avalanche certification process into a virtual classroom. Many of these resources are free to the public, so don’t write off your access to information because you spent all your cash on some sweet new powder sticks. Additionally, if you have attended classes or been certified in the past it is still important to stay fresh and up to date with your knowledge. An avalanche certification is not a “one and done” path to backcountry safety. This is an everchanging environment and so should be your understanding of it. Conditions should be monitored every day for at least a week before you plan to venture into an area. Check your local avalanche report frequently, watch the weather and observe the environment every time you go out, and when you get home, submit your observations to your local organizations and groups. I am choosing not to delve into specifics of slope angles and snowpack assessment here, instead I want to encourage you to seek professional resources on the topic. I will have a few listed at the end of this article I strongly encourage you to explore after this.

As you begin to dive into the culture, you may find yourself among a new social landscape as compared to your usual resort crew which is exciting! However, only venture out with people you trust and strive to be a good partner yourself. Being a trustworthy partner means being mindful of your surroundings such as weather, snow conditions and who is around you (especially above and below). Make thoughtful decisions as a team and communicate clearly. Enjoy the challenge of taking care of yourself and your group in this awe-inspiring landscape. Community is important within all outdoor recreation so ask around to find your local touring groups. We all rely on each-other for information, partnership and support!

Safety equipment is absolutely essential every time you embark out into the backcountry. The three “must have’s” on any adventure are a transceiver, probe and shovel. Never go without them, and never go with someone who doesn’t have them. These tools are both for your safety and the safety of your partner. Before leaving the car, it is a good idea to perform a quick beacon check on each other to ensure everyone has their beacon and that they are on and have a fresh set of batteries (and don’t forget to finish by switching the last beacon back to “transmit”).

More recently there has been a lot of development in safety gear such as “air bag” backpacks which you can deploy in the event of an avalanche to help keep you on top of the snow pack and if you do become buried there are products like the “avalung” that can keep a supply of breathable air available. In addition to your usual medical kit consider bringing some survival gear as well. A simple fire starter, survival blanket, a good knife and a small tool kit can make all the difference when something goes wrong. A good pro-tip is to wrap some tape around your poles or water bottle for quick repairs! This saved the day for me once when the tail clip on my skins failed.

For many of us the most exciting part of getting prepared for the season is the gear! As adventurers this is the closest we get to that James Bond-esque suit up montage as we lay out, clean and test all of our equipment. Let’s start with probably the most vital of your kit which, outside of safety equipment, is going to be layers. Your trusty combo of a cotton t shirt, hoodie and ratty old jacket may have served you well for years at the resort, but more technical, breathable and moisture wicking layers are essential in the backcountry. Start with a tech layer base, merino wool shirts and bottoms are fantastic for this. Then an insulating layer, puffy jackets typically have the best warmth to weight ratio. Then an outside waterproof jacket, I often prefer non-insulated shell jackets, but those of you who run a little colder than myself might prefer more insulation or additional layers. Prioritize versatility with your layering, since you will be hot on the uphill, then usually experience a lot of cold wind at the top, and (hopefully) face shots on the way down! Look for ski pants with vents, as you will want some airflow down there while skinning or hiking. Never layer socks, a common mistake, one pair is all you want and do not tuck your leg layer into your boot. Too much fabric in your boot will cause a loss in circulation in your feet making them colder and painful.

For uphill access there are many different approaches and subsequently a vast selection of equipment to choose from. On the most budget friendly end you can simply purchase a pair of snowshoes and hike your resort skis up the hill. This can be a great start, however, it is very slow and will not gain you very rewarding access into new terrain. Of course, you can explore the age-old art of dropping a knee and jump on a telemark setup, there may be a bit of a learning curve involved but you might just get hooked! The most common method is to have a backcountry specific setup using an alpine touring specific boot, tech style binding and lightweight ski. Additionally, though regular ski poles can work fine, an adjustable length touring pole allows for more versatility. You often want to lengthen your pole while skinning along flat ground mimicking how cross-country ski poles work. To have a complete and trustworthy setup, you are probably going to have to spend a fair amount of cash, but if you start assembling your kit in the early months you can find good deals on gear and spread out your purchases over several paychecks.

Once you are feeling prepared to venture out with your gear, knowledge and safety equipment all sorted. There is still the ultimate question of where to go? One obvious solution is to hire a guide for a day or go on a guided group trip. For many this is the best way to have an amazing adventure while feeling safe and learning from an experienced professional as well as a great way to meet partners. A good tip this year is to sign up early in the season as online registrations have increased tenfold already. If you have friends with experience, this too is a fantastic way to venture out, though be clear and honest about your knowledge and ability level and understand that you are a team when you are out there.

Often new users begin by venturing out into what is commonly referred to as “sidecountry”. These areas can be fantastic and are just outside of the resort boundaries, usually accessed via a gate, often with little to no hiking or skinning necessary. However, don’t be fooled by the appearance of safety in these areas, because an avalanche doesn’t care if you are 100 yards or 100 miles from the nearest groomed run. Always be aware of the terrain you are exploring and the potential for hazardous conditions.

The experience of backcountry touring is a joy that I hope everyone can experience. Similar to resort skiing, there is something for everybody to enjoy from wide-open basins to technical glades to cliff drops and couloirs! However, unlike the resorts there are no lifts, no lodge and most importantly… no ski patrol! Your friends are your only support system, so knowledge and preparation are essential. I hope you have found the information here useful and I encourage you to further you interest by exploring the resources listed below. Now, go slash some pow!