Michael-JSkisHI. My name is Michael and im in Australia. I'll keep this short. Im at a school where we choose an assignment for the year. So i chose backcountry skiing. I need information, photos, safety precautions, safety gear, recommended ski width, Do's and Don't's. Anything that relates to backcountry skiing.
If you have anything that might be useful and that won't cause you too much trouble could you please. send me the link or just post it below.
thanks :)
I'mma be nice.
Information; Backcountry takes many different forms, i'll give you some research/video names for each). Either hike up a mountain yourself, take the lifts and venture out of their area(look up "backcountry skiing for pictures or whatever") , heliski (last frontier, whistler), catskiing(whistler, italy, etc etc). just look up online different websites will explain each of these. general video recommendations are; The Faction Collective S1E2 (Mostly backcountry powder), Apogée (2015) (about Jp and Andersson, both very famous backcountry riders. It's a video tribute to them but you get the idea of backcountry skiing), Few Words (2011) (classic and cliche but whatever, Candide's great film debut. youtube for free). There are hundreds more, look them up on youtube, vimeo or look at past threads on newschoolers.
Safety stuff;
If you go backcountry you need radio transmitter (ARTVA in Italian), probe and shovel. Maybe also a ABS backpack or Avalung system. (look up online for better explanation).
Avalanches; Big risk, may bury you or worse slam you against rocks and trees. To be sure and avoid avalanches check the snowpack (vimeo video explaining diff tests; "Fracture character in compression tests") and be sure to take the safest way up a face or canal. it's never risk free but brains and general awareness of the mountain should save you every time.
Gear;
Safety stuff
Skis;
Long and wide; width in the center up to 12 cm, sometimes even more. Bigger surface area under the ski gives you better floating on fresh pow which is very much like water in a sense. (armada JJ, Line magnum opus, volkl shiro, scott scrapper, faction eleven etc etc.)
Poles with big rims under again for surface area if you need to push yourself.
Do's;
-Respect the mountain; Don't drop trash or whatever
-always go with someone else, they can and will save your life
-always read up on snow bulletin and use your best judgement on where to go.
-if you're new to a place always go with a local or a guide
-read up on laws in the area. Here in Abruzzo, italy it was illegal to ski powder backcountry next to skiing complexes but thanks to a petition and group started by my father and his friends (Abruzzo freeride Freedom) we got it legalized and hope to expand all over Italy, but i'm digressing
Dont's
-never ski too close to trees. sometimes it can snow so much that snow covers part of a tree but doesn't pile near the bark. it's hard to explain, but i t creates a tree well. look at the picture included.(Picture from Tim Firnstahl's "Heliing; The World's Best Skiing")
-don't follow other people's trails. they are not a guarantee of safety example;( "skier follows path right off the mountain cliff", youtube)
-NEVER, NEVER, NEVER ski backcountry alone. Like ever.
This is all i can come up with now but it give you a great start for whatever this assignment is supposed to be.
:)
