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North Vancouver, BC
Canada
38 Posts |
Posted - 03/16/2011 : 8:05 PM
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Honestly, I'm looking but have no idea where to start?
I can google it, but people are better than search engines (note to self: get search engines ahead). So what is the real people recomended way of getting started assuming the following:
1. You can downhill ski well inbounds
2. You are avi trained (on snowshoes)
3. You have the bravery to ask anonymously on the internet. |
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Calgary
165 Posts |
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Calgary, AB
Canada
101 Posts |
Posted - 03/16/2011 : 9:08 PM
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I grew up downhill skiing and did it all through high school and university. After that I lived on the north coast where there was no skiing before moving to Alberta. Coming here, I knew I was going to be heading out to the back country in the Rockies.
When I started, leather boots, very narrow telemark skis with three pin bindings and a cable were the game. A buddy and I started at the same time. We bought lift tickets and crashed and burned on the bunny hill for most of a season trying to get the hang of the telemark. Then one spring day we went to Lake Louise where all the runs were heavy slush. It was a transformation day for both of us and it was as though we learned everything we needed to know about weight distribution and balance in one day. We were linking telemarks down the blue runs with no problem. After that we never looked back.
I wore those old three pins on multiple trips to the Columbia Icefields and across the full Wapta Traverse in the days before the Scott Duncan Hut.
I'm still skiing on upgraded but 20 year old tele gear but I'm finally ready to bite the bullet and go AT. It's getting too tough to pick myself up when I go down. The last time I went up to the Wapta I was the only person there with tele gear. The big advantage of AT, of course, is being able to blast through questionable snow conditions where tele gear leaves you flailing.
As for where, do the trips everyone else is doing and get some backcountry experience before striking out on exploratory ventures. Fun will be had. |
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vancouver, bc
Canada
987 Posts |
Posted - 03/16/2011 : 9:12 PM
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| buy gear, join a club, buy the baldwin bible and some maps. book some huts, take some pictures. Play Safe! |
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Finally stopping that crazy suffering that is ice, climbing to concentrate on great ski tours!
3505 Posts |
Posted - 03/16/2011 : 9:47 PM
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| I'm a shitty skier that's too embarrassed to ski at the resorts, so I took up back-country skiing. |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
517 Posts |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
1422 Posts |
Posted - 03/16/2011 : 10:38 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by hpka
Honestly, I'm looking but have no idea where to start?
I can google it, but people are better than search engines (note to self: get search engines ahead). So what is the real people recomended way of getting started assuming the following:
1. You can downhill ski well inbounds
2. You are avi trained (on snowshoes)
3. You have the bravery to ask anonymously on the internet.
Now all you need is:
4. Backcountry skis boots bindings and skins ($2000)
5. Exploring the Coast Mountains on Skis by John Baldwin. ($40)
6. A reliable, compatible partner who you can trust with your life. (priceless)
I started via the club route through the VOC. |
Edited by - scottN on 03/16/2011 10:39 PM |
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Alberta-based choss climbin', flame throwin', rappel lovin', ass talkin' hater who doesn't like "Gumby" for a descriptor
6302 Posts |
Posted - 03/17/2011 : 04:24 AM
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assuming you know how to ski.
- start reading the avalanche reports EVERY DAY and keep doing so.
- get gear and take avy courses, you don't have to do it via snowshoes first
- find people willing to take you, question every thing
- get off your ass and get out there
Do NOT be a selfish prick and make sure you take a first aid course of some kind preferably wilderness oriented. People that have 0 f.a. training or knowledge that are out there skiing and climbing etc are....well i'll just call them douchebags. Practice with your beacon too...regularly. |
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Newton, bc
Canada
282 Posts |
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Newton, bc
Canada
282 Posts |
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Alberta-based choss climbin', flame throwin', rappel lovin', ass talkin' hater who doesn't like "Gumby" for a descriptor
6302 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2011 : 9:08 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by troutbreath
"People that have 0 f.a. training or knowledge that are out there skiing and climbing etc are....well i'll just call them douchebags."
you might want to edit that because it looks like "occupational first aid"
http://www2.worksafebc.com/Publications/OHSRegulation/WCBStandards.asp?ReportID=33295
I have a ticket and go backcountry skiing and only occcasionally let my douche bag fly.
??? What's the point of posting a link to WCB? I could care less what their opinion is as far as the topic at hand. Nowhere did I say anything about occupational first aid. My full quote was
quote:
make sure you take a first aid course of some kind preferably wilderness oriented. People that have 0 f.a. training or knowledge that are out there skiing and climbing etc are....well i'll just call them douchebags.
Having some occupation f.a., is still some thing, which is better than nothing. Is that a little more clear for you? |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
874 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2011 : 9:59 PM
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Just go.
It is not that hard. You will make mistakes, but that is how everyone else learned too. Better equipment will make the journey more enjoyable. If you survive the experience you can hang out on forums like this one and offer free advice too.
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30 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2011 : 03:05 AM
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| He understood, and was just suggesting you clarify from the sound of things. 0 f.a. is pretty close to OFA |
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Alberta-based choss climbin', flame throwin', rappel lovin', ass talkin' hater who doesn't like "Gumby" for a descriptor
6302 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2011 : 07:59 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by joshua
He understood, and was just suggesting you clarify from the sound of things. 0 f.a. is pretty close to OFA
I see, makes sense then. |
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north van, bc
Canada
940 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2011 : 1:05 PM
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step one. buy ski gear ~$2000
step 2. go to seymour. skin up trail, ski down ski runs. get used to stuff
step 3. go somewhere else. elfin is easy. |
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 | LeeL
Advanced Member
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Extreme ski tourin, mountain bikin addict who hikes at least once a year
2506 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2011 : 5:21 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by smac
step one. buy ski gear ~$2000
step 2. go to seymour. skin up trail, ski down ski runs. get used to stuff
step 3. go somewhere else. elfin is easy.
just wanted to chime in. That estimate of the cost of ski gear is seriously out of whack. |
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Finally stopping that crazy suffering that is ice, climbing to concentrate on great ski tours!
3505 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2011 : 5:47 PM
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If you bought everything new, but went "middle of the road" with G3 or BD skis, Dynafits and some Scarpa boots, you'd be at $600 (skis) $500 (bindings), $650 (boots) and $150 (skins) totaling $1900 plus taxes.
But, there is no reason to do that. I sold a cherry pair of G3 SpitFires with Dynafit TLT STs and good condition skins for $600. ($350 bindings/$250 skis/skins) Good boots can be had for $350 or so, bringing a good AT set-up to about a grand. |
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Vancouver
Canada
55 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2011 : 8:38 PM
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| I've got the gear i've got the book took a few days on the chairlifts, now I just need a trusty experienced companion :P |
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Topic |
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How did you get started backcountry skiing?
