Friendly advice for those backcountry skiing first-timers and never-evers—What do you wish someone had told you when you started backcountry skiing?
A text of termination dust landed on my favorite group chat. I know it’s only August (when I began thinking about this), and the photo was from 62 degrees north latitude, but nevertheless gave me an ear-to-ear grin. Across North America, it’s time to get stoked for winter.
Over the past decade, the backcountry boom has flooded trailheads, skin tracks, and gear shops alike with a deluge of enthusiasm from newcomers to ski touring. COVID amplified this but has been a long time coming. The sticker shock of a day pass at your local resort, slow and steady gear innovation and accessibility, ever increasing beta availability, and social media have all paved the way for more folks to get into the backcountry for the first time.
A few times a year, I’ll get a note from a friend of a friend asking for gear advice to get started touring, info on where to go for their first time, or asking about signing up for avalanche education. These are all great questions that most new off-piste skiers face. In case you fall in this boat, here are some answers from a few long-time crushers out there.
What do you wish someone had told you when you started backcountry skiing?
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