The place to find all The High Route's articles about building and refining your backcountry specific skills.
For The High Route readers, let’s assume at some point, a glacier is in your future. If that is the case, experience and education (not necessarily in that order) are key. Alex Geary’s “The Art of Glacier Travel Handbook” provides a jumpstart for glacier first timers. For the more experienced backcountry travelers, the handbook is a solid reference for improving awareness and skills on glaciated terrain.
A question from a reader asks about the relative safety of upholding and touring on-piste once the resort is closed for the day. In other words, let’s ruminate on after hours safety tools for the uphillist (is this a word?).
The High Route’s tips for using your backcountry radio properly. In other words, like a clear and concise pro.
What exactly is good etiquette when it comes to transition times? Is two minutes a golden rule we should aspire to? Asking for a newish ski tourist.
Keeping it simple in technical terrain is a mantra to make systems less complex and fail proof. Thoughts on connecting two ropes while ski mountaineering.
There are situations when having quick access to a stowed axe is desirable. Imagine you’re on that big and bad and burly line you’ve eyed all spring. The first few hundred meters of turns are steep, but the snow is forgiving and edgable. Then, a few turns ahead, a slick and shiny patch of blue ice elicits the international distress signal: puckering. Make the pucker factor in the steeps less puckery. Here’s how to master the shoulder axe carry.
