Backcountry only = decline in skiing ability?

[mall walker]

you fucker, it's dry as balls down here

[Angle Parking]

you fucker, it's dry as balls down here

I feel your pain. Pretty much all of BC got puked on heavy last winter except for a small dot on the map and we just happened to be that dot.

[grinch]

Can't fertilize a field with thread drift?

I can appreciate good bs

[Vitamin I]

skiing ice above 3000' exposure
tying a v-tread while on skis
nailing a turn above above an ocean so the photog nails the shot
not fucking up with a big pack way outside the safety room

"skiing" can be pretty big

Maybe you can do some of those things in a ski area, like at La Grave, or Chamonix, or the ocean at Alyeska Resort, etc.

.

[Cosmic Suncloud]

Maybe you can do some of those things in a ski area, like at La Grave, or Chamonix, or the ocean at Alyeska Resort, etc.

.

what parts of the la grave and chamnoix "ski areas" are you referring to?

tromso FTW

[grinch]

Skiing 50degree + is an ability you need to perfect in the bc. Over 100 vertical ft anyway

[Vitamin I]

what parts of the la grave and chamnoix "ski areas" are you referring to?

tromso FTW

Well, if you're looking to learn your skill of "skiing ice above 3000' exposure", then maybe you can do it in a ski area by just taking the lift at La Grave, get out, look for an unnamed never-skied section of 3000' of exposure between the named routes, get on top of it, find a patch of ice up there, and practice turning on that icy patch. Done.

.

[Cosmic Suncloud]

Well, if you're looking to learn your skill of "skiing ice above 3000' exposure", then maybe you can do it in a ski area by just taking the lift at La Grave, get out, look for an unnamed never-skied section of 3000' of exposure between the named routes, get on top of it, find a patch of ice up there, and practice turning on that icy patch. Done.

.

dans les hautes montagnes de France, c'est mètres. pieds américains malodorants.
pour moi, si c'est hors-piste, donc c'est backcountry, le sidecountry, c'est hors-piste, pareil. mais je suis un homme simple facilement confus sur l'interwebz.
mais c'est le ski, donc whatever sparks your arc

[SILENCER]

Last season was the first in which I toured more than inbounds. I got my cardio the best it's been in a few years, but on an early April inbounds day I was cooked by 1PM, while my buddies kept hammering. My skills did not decrease, but stamina did. This sounds dumb, but my goal this year is to ski better & harder. I have no idea which way it will tip (inbounds vs out day count) but when I'm inbounds I'm just gonna ski as hard as I can and cement fundamentals.

Overall, I have a young family now and my ski days have been decimated compared to years of yore. So I'm stoked even to be out on I-70 to ski boilerplate. Worst case, we edge hard, rattle some fillings and then drink hard afterwards. That will just mean my next touring day will be feel like a magic carpet. And especially here the b/c conditions are so freaking variable, inbounds mank busting and edging is almost always applicable and useful to hit that section of line b/c that happens to be soft, but is guarded by windbuff above and mank below. If I lived in Utah this might not be the same, but hey.

I do enjoy hammering inbounds, always will (esp with a couple budding groms coming up). A bigger percentage of my crew ski inbounds exclusively, so I still want to spend time with them. I never want to subtract that from my regimen, even though goal-wise it's skewed heavily b/c these days. I dunno. I guess the goals are different. Inbounds, it's "ski hard, joke on the lift, share the flask". B/C it's "bag new lines, make my lungs bulletproof, sharpen avy skills". And it's been said already in this thread, but being able to (largely) turn my avy brain "off" inbounds is a nice bonus. Keeps the wife happier too when she asks where I'm going.

FWIW...

[bodywhomper]

My ski ballet skills suffer if I only ski tour.

[dewam]

My ski ballet skills suffer if I only ski tour.

I find that early season backcountry involves much more ballet skills than I ever get on groomers. Especially after two or three skiers have already taken the only slot with out grass clumps or brush. Busting a new line often involves some unusual ballet moves to link the recoveries. Den

[Angle Parking]

meter feet potato french fry, we still all pizza’d long ago.

Une réplique élégante M. Alpy.

[digitaldeath]

Don't only resort skills matter?

If you don't ski at a resort, how do you even know that you are a good skier?







***Skier ability rankings are calculated at resorts

[bodywhomper]

I find that early season backcountry involves much more ballet skills than I ever get on groomers. Especially after two or three skiers have already taken the only slot with out grass clumps or brush. Busting a new line often involves some unusual ballet moves to link the recoveries. Den

But, for me, the ballet moves really get dialed at the resort. Legs crossed, spinny, moving kick turn on tip toes movements. I'm the guy doing ballet moves on the green runs while following the rug rats or just cruising the flats to the lift (kinda like shiffrin)....

[XCextreme]

We're missing the obvious compromise here fellas. Sled Skiing. You can cut the crowds, get heaps of vertical and a sled is more fun than a chairlift 9 out of ten times. 1 out of 10 it is a 400lb asshole that needs a lot of digging out.

[anotherVTskibum]

We're missing the obvious compromise here fellas. Sled Skiing. You can cut the crowds, get heaps of vertical and a sled is more fun than a chairlift 9 out of ten times. 1 out of 10 it is a 400lb asshole that needs a lot of digging out.

It's also a good way to make lift-served skiing seem incredibly inexpensive.

[TG]

Sled Skiing. You can cut the crowds, get heaps of vertical and a sled is more fun than a chairlift 9 out of ten times. 1 out of 10 it is a 400lb asshole that needs a lot of digging out.

and 10 out of 10 times it is an asshole doing it.

[grinch]

Somebody’s jelllly















Me

[zion zig zag]

I've been trying to talk friends into buying a sled for years.

[XCextreme]

Petrol Powered Freedom Ponies are the great. Second obviously, to skiing itself. But its a close race. A go pro mounted on a selfie stick photo finish close.

[Skidog]

It's also a good way to make lift-served skiing seem incredibly inexpensive.

I don't know. My season pass is 1k/yr. I bet I could have a nice sled in a couple seasons. Then it might be cheaper. Repairs though so.

Sent from my XT1650 using TGR Forums mobile app

[anotherVTskibum]

I don't know. My season pass is 1k/yr. I bet I could have a nice sled in a couple seasons. Then it might be cheaper. Repairs though so.

Sent from my XT1650 using TGR Forums mobile app

You can certainly get to some pretty damn cool places on a sled, and at this point I'm glad to own a couple of them, but the TCO since buying mine in April has made my dirt bike look economical. The startup cost varies from middling (if you're lucky enough to come into a good deal on an older but reasonably reliable sled and already own a pickup or suitable trailer) to moderate (somewhat recent but not new sled(s), decent open trailer) to huge (new sled, new enclosed trailer, upgrade tow vehicle to pull said enclosed trailer comfortably or put a sled deck on a larger truck). The cost to get to the trailhead is similar to dirt biking—you need to spend the time loading up the trailer, checking tire pressures, etc., and then take the fuel-mileage and time hit that comes from towing a trailer (unless you've just got one sled in the back of your pickup). Then after you unload you get to the actual operational cost and the potential time suck of ending up with a sled broken, buried, or both. Learning to ride a sled properly is a whole other skillset to build (and one that I'm still working on). Oh, and there's also the strong possibility of getting oil and grease on your ski clothes and making them smell like two-smoke exhaust.

If you consider dollars per vertical foot, there's absolutely no comparison. When you factor in quality of skiing, and the aforementioned places you can get to, especially if you're using the sled primarily as an approach vehicle, I do believe it can be worthwhile, but it comes with drawbacks.