Backcountry skiers earn their turns

By Stephen Hlawaty
Outdoors Columnist

Earn your turns. That's the mantra many backcountry skiers recite to rationalize slogging through knee-deep snow to make a few turns in undisturbed, virgin powder. While backcountry skiers get first dips on undisturbed powder stashes, the number of passes through these stashes is limited because of the time and effort it takes to reach them. Nevertheless, for backcountry skiers, quality is better than quantity.

There are a variety of reasons why skiers opt to forego lift-ser-viced ski resorts for the difficult terrain of Colorado's backcountry. Primary among these reasons is the opportunity to commune with nature on a more personal level than one might otherwise at a ski resort. Such a communion takes place far from crowded lift lines and slopes, booming lodge decks of burgers and beer, and assorted yard sales of skis, poles and hats strewn across ski runs. As such, backcountry skiers tend to be a solitary breed.

The struggle of climbing a mountain to ski where few have skied before is part of earning your turns. Theirs is an activity framed within a context of personal pride and accomplishment. The backcountry sets the stage for one of life's universal themes--man/woman vs. nature--and backcountry skiers rush into this passion play with wild enthusiasm, but not with reckless abandonment.

Skiing Colorado's backcountry requires careful consideration of personal abilities and limits, backcountry safety and preparedness, snow conditions, changing weather patterns and avalanches.

Owing to the amount of snowfall Colorado receives, its changing weather patterns and weak snow pack, Colorado has the highest reported avalanche rate in the country and leads the nation in avalanche fatalities, with 198 since 1950. While Colorado reports roughly 20,000 avalanches every winter, many go unreported. The fact that backcountry skiers have to contend with the possibility of avalanches is a reality, but being prepared and educating yourself to these dangers can go a long way in ensuring your safety and pleasure.

Backcountry skiers should never ski alone. Skiing with one or several partners is essential for safety. Each skier should be equipped and know how to use a transmitter/transceiver, avalanche shovel, avalanche whistle, probe pole (many ski poles double as probe poles) and climbing skins. Additionally, backcountry skiers should carry extra food and water, dress in layers and pack a first aid kit, compass and map of the area.

Colorado State University and local outdoor retailers often offer classes in backcountry safety, avalanche preparedness and transmitter/transceiver usage. It's a good idea to attend these classes before setting out on your first backcountry skiing adventure.

Backcountry skiing used to mean having to learn how to telemark ski, a Norwegian-style of skiing whereby your heel lifts freely from the ski (a la cross-country skiing) and your knees and legs bend forward (a la genuflecting) to make a turn. While telemarking has its advantages--lighter, more comfortable equipment and versatility--it also demands a great deal of leg strength and balance.

Recently, the use of randonee or alpine-touring (A.T.) gear has become quite popular. Such gear, while generally heavier, offers skiers more support and energy-transferability than its telemark counterparts. Moreover, randonee and A.T. bindings allow the heel to lift from its ski when climbing and then to be locked in place when descending.

That aside, there's nothing like keeping a perfectly balanced telemark turn, with lowered center of gravity, through deep, talc-like powder. Telemarkers, by positioning their bodies closer to the slope, can turn a 2-foot powder day into an over-your-head powder day. And the Cameron Pass area offers backcountry skiers many of these days.

The more moderate terrain of the Montgomery Pass area (trailhead roughly 2 miles east of Cameron Pass) offers beginner backcountry skiers a chance to test their mettle on a wide open powder field.

For more advanced backcountry skiers, the Diamond Peaks offer steeper and more challenging terrain. You should know that South Diamond Peak slides several times a year and has been responsible for a number of avalanche fatalities. Backcountry skiers can access Diamond Peaks from the top of Cameron Pass.

Combined, these areas deliver steep chutes, great glades and open bowls. The skiing is phenomenal and very accessible. With the rising expense of resort skiing, along with the rising degree of resort crowding, backcountry skiing offers us a chance to enjoy peace in motion among oceans of deep, undiluted powder.