Backcountry only = decline in skiing ability?

[zion zig zag]

So for the first time in a lot of years I didn’t buy a season pass. I wonder about a decline in over all skiing skill from not being able to spin lots of vertical in all conditions. I plan on 30-50 days but many will be 2000 foot one and dones I’m sure.

Personal obs and stories?

[Swine]

I'm in the same boat. First year I'll be without a pass and backcountry only besides a couple random tickets here and there. I have had one friend adamantly claim I'll be a shitty skier. I dunno, I guess I'm looking forward to less people and more time away from the rat race. Wanna tour?

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[garyfromterrace]

Great question. In my case I think there's a definite decrease in skills as my days on the hill (lift spinning and skiing 30,000 vert a day) for a hundred days a year have become a thing of the past. The tougher question is how substituting 50 days of lift spinning with 50 days of touring for an already very proficient skier (which I assume you are) would affect your skiing skill set. I think in the short term (a year or two) it's not going to effect you much, in fact your increase in fitness will offset any lack of downhill miles that you get. In the longer term though (say 3 or 4 years out, not buying a pass, getting way less vert miles) I think it would affect your skills.

Solution - do it for a year, then next year buy a pass. Zion zz, you don't have to thank me - just take me touring with you when I head that way please.

[zion zig zag]

I'm in the same boat. First year I'll be without a pass and backcountry only besides a couple random tickets here and there. I have had one friend adamantly claim I'll be a shitty skier. I dunno, I guess I'm looking forward to less people and more time away from the rat race. Wanna tour?

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You in Northern Utah area? I’ll get out.
Yeah I may pony up for a half price ticket on a good day or if I have friends in town. But honestly the last few years of having a pass I was only using it for about 10 days and only spending 2-3 hours skiing. I still think being able to ski multiple laps in a row reinforces good technique.

[Swine]

You in Northern Utah area? I’ll get out.
Yeah I may pony up for a half price ticket on a good day or if I have friends in town. But honestly the last few years of having a pass I was only using it for about 10 days and only spending 2-3 hours skiing. I still think being able to ski multiple laps in a row reinforces good technique.

I am. Hit me up anytime, most of my partners are too busy to tour during the week. And I try to avoid little and big on weekends, resort or not. I'm on the back, and would like to explore more outside of those two canyons.

[zion zig zag]

Solution - do it for a year, then next year buy a pass. Zion zz, you don't have to thank me - just take me touring with you when I head that way please.

Absolutely, as long as you offer the same in Terrace.

I can be from desk to lift, 3 laps and back to desk on a pow day in less that 3 hours. That's what I'll miss most.

[kalisto]

Haven't had a pass in.... I don't even know. Maybe 5 years? I get max 5 inbounds days a year. Compared to 50+ when I had a pass.

The biggest thing I notice is my general willingness to just point it. You can't just consistently charge when touring like you can when skiing inbounds, and thus, overall ability to charge decreases. I haven't really noticed my technical skiing ability get any worse or better, though I've subjected myself to lines that are generally more ridiculous than anything I could ski inbounds (without getting my pass pulled), so if anything, maybe I've gotten better in that regard.

[Zeedashbo]

I've been powder snobbing for about a decade now. The one for sure thing you lose is fast twitch/ downhill muscles. I've also lost some technique when skiing choppy inbounds snow but that might also be attributed to bad knees and riding on touring gear. On the plus side, your powder and natural snow technique goes thru the roof!

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[bodywhomper]

My experience is that it's all obvious stuff. First off, be careful because you might regress to skiing in jeans. It takes several tours to feel "warmed up." My downhill skiing specific anaerobic leg strength never ramped up (this is easy to supplement, if you make the time). Redeveloping that muscle memory balance point (and mental comfort level) for steep/technical terrain took longer into the season.

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[ASmileyFace]

I'm coming up on my third year of only going with the mountain collective and spending most of my days touring. (5-10 days inbounds/25-40 backcountry)

I wouldn't worry about it too much. As far as technical skiing ability, I feel like I'm a better skier than before. Long backcountry days force me to think more about the efficiency and quality of my skiing rather than brute forcing lap after lap under the lift. You're still on your skis all day and you are building different skill sets that will help you on those inbounds days too.

That said, there has been a decrease in my ability to ski inbounds all day long everyday. I went from a 70+ day lap after lap inbounds guy to touring so there was a small sacrifice in my case. I get tired quicker and can't ski hard inbounds day after day but that's not what my main goal is anymore so it's not a bad thing necessarily.

[grinch]

I went 18 yrs without a pass just touring averaged about 60 days of touring and skiing definitely suffered. Nice to have a pass the last couple years to scratch back some speed. First few years after not getting a pass where fine. I remember never falling on ups or downs then more and more just stupid little falls climbing through bush or descending through funky snow or alders and bush. Nice to spin some laps to have that speed and balance to take in the bc. Same on the bike. Just keeps the balance sharp when you need it. Every fall in pow is 5-10 turns of energy missed

[garyfromterrace]

Absolutely, as long as you offer the same in Terrace.

I can be from desk to lift, 3 laps and back to desk on a pow day in less that 3 hours. That's what I'll miss most.

You sir, can take that to the bank. Keep in mind though, I'm not back there full time for another 3 years (OK, may be 2.5 years). I would be happy to take you touring in the rockies near Calgary, it's just not as good (and I don't know the area as intimately) as in Terrace. Cheers!

[nortonwhis]

Your resort skiing skill set will definitely suffer. Charging thru semi-tracked pow, landing in bombholes etc etc. Just depends whether that matters to you. Alot of my friends prefer to tour these days, and now when we hit the resort together, they often back away from lines/cliffs/chutes that i have progressed to because they have stagnated. To me its incredibly noticeable. I also think it affects their confidence when shit gets gnar in the backcountry. They don't have the confidence I have when standing over a big line as i've been spending more time going downhill.

[DougW]

I don't ski that much bc, maybe 10-15 days this year so this is what I have seen in other people. Those who were great skiers in their youth , raced at a high level whatever, even if they now only ski bc are great skiers. Those who never skied much and esp those who started skiing bc and almost all of their days were bc , well those people suck bad. They never get enough miles to get any better.

[tmokes]

Yeah and when I hear splitboarders talk about picking gears for touring, I know they can’t keep up riding so they try to compensate by walking faster by spending tons of money to shave few pounds and get hard boots. When I see these people, I know they can’t ride! Take pounds off of yourself and not the gear you out of shape hippie soul pow turner! Hard boots? Really?

I enjoy backcountry hikes just as much as anybody else but more than anything, I really enjoy riding and you can’t beat lift access when it comes to more time on a board riding.


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[adrenalated]

So for the first time in a lot of years I didn’t buy a season pass. I wonder about a decline in over all skiing skill from not being able to spin lots of vertical in all conditions. I plan on 30-50 days but many will be 2000 foot one and dones I’m sure.

Personal obs and stories?

Yer gonna die.

For real, I've been skiing a lot more BC in the last few years and I feel like I haven't regressed, but I've stopped progressing.

Yeah and when I hear splitboarders talk about picking gears for touring, I know they can’t keep up riding so they try to compensate by walking faster by spending tons of money to shave few pounds and get hard boots. When I see these people, I know they can’t ride! Take pounds off of yourself and not the gear you out of shape hippie soul pow turner! Hard boots? Really?

I enjoy backcountry hikes just as much as anybody else but more than anything, I really enjoy riding and you can’t beat lift access when it comes to more time on a board riding.


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Cool story bro.

[Meadow Skipper]

Following this thread because in a year or couple-three I'm thinking I'll probably be almost all skinning for turns.

Some great perspectives here.

[XXX-er]

Obviously if you only tour you will be in great shape but you ain't gona get much practice skiing down hill ... kind of a no brainer

[jackstraw]

.



Cool story bro.

[emoji3]

Following this thread because in a year or couple-three I'm thinking I'll probably be almost all skinning for turns.

Some great perspectives here.

I'm on year 3 and the fucking burn man, the burn! It's not a loss of ability, it's a loss of conditioning. My goal this year is to do more squats and lunges. Also hit that p90x plyo tape (less the crazy jumping) and ride the bike for knee therapy.

[powdork]

i have about 300 days in the last three years and about 15 of those are inbounds. i don't feel like i lost skill but i do feel like it stops progression. when i'm skiing inbounds with friends i get totally worked. at the same time many of my resort friends get totally worked with a short hike. for me though the resorts destroy my already destroyed knee plus two skiing dogs make the decision easy.

ok, the dogs don't actually ski but that would be cool

[JerseyDave]

You may very well loose some resort centric skills, and gain some other skills. Most importantly you will notice you don't care because you will be so stoked not dealing with all the fuck-tards. No pass for me for 13 years and I don t miss it ever.

[NorCalNomad]

Yeah and when I hear splitboarders talk about picking gears for touring, I know they can’t keep up riding so they try to compensate by walking faster by spending tons of money to shave few pounds and get hard boots. When I see these people, I know they can’t ride! Take pounds off of yourself and not the gear you out of shape hippie soul pow turner! Hard boots? Really?

lol just did some touring with a dude who has been boarding since the days of most resorts banning it and he says his tlt6 hardboot setup is softer than his resort setup.

[garyfromterrace]

You may very well loose some resort centric skills, and gain some other skills. Most importantly you will notice you don't care because you will be so stoked not dealing with all the fuck-tards. No pass for me for 13 years and I don t miss it ever.

Well, there is that angle....

[claymond]

Yeah and when I hear splitboarders talk about picking gears

Yes, choosing the right gear while splitboarding is very important. Say you're trying to pull the skinner up Flagstaff in fifth gear. That's way too high, you'll overheat and bog down in no time. Gotta drop it into second or even first sometimes. But, coming out of White Pine trail head, I throw it into fourth gear soon as I cross the bridge. Otherwise, you may get passed by a snowshoer. It seems picking the correct gears is very hard for you, so I suggest sticking with soft boots and cars with CVT transmissions.

[rod9301]

I do believe that you will lose some skiing skill.

However, if you like to ski steep stuff, you will nail that a lot better than if you ski exclusively in the resort. There just isn't any steep stuff in a resort that's as long and steep as the stuff you will find in the Backcountry.

Personally, I ski 70 days in the resort, and 30 in the Backcountry.
I look at the resort days as training for the steep stuff I will ski in the back country.

I ski at squaw, resort wise.

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