FAMILY

skiing – like shallow snow, or through dense trees, willows, boulders, ridges. I also have noticed quite a few skin tracks at popular locations traveling under avalanche paths. Often the danger is low, but when people are accustomed to the skin track going a certain direction, they will return to that spot and go the same way. Please, even if the avalanche danger is low, put your skin track in a safe location for future users. Try to keep the skin track mellow. Some people seem to like skinning straight uphill, and yes, it might be faster, but it is hard on your back and hips and personally, I find it incredibly boring because you are forced to look down at your skis rather than, if you kept it just a little more sideways, you could enjoy the scenery. I rarely use my highest heel lift unless I’m in deep snow and maneuvering around trees or rocks. As you skin uphill, occasionally look below to make sure that your skin track footprint is only using a small section of terrain. Avoid kick turns by looking ahead so that you make a gentle turn where the terrain isn’t as steep.

FEEL THE SNOW. Get a routine down for switching to downhill mode. There are some people that take forever to get ready and then there are those who treat it like a race. I fall somewhere in between. Give yourself a little room from your friends so that when you whip that skin off from the bottom of your board or ski it doesn’t smack them in the face. I won’t go into details here, but it is worth learning how to leave your skis on while taking off your skins. It is faster and also safer if you are standing on a side slope where you might have trouble getting back into your skis.

AT THE TOP. Get a routine down for switching to downhill mode. There are some people that take forever to get ready and then there are those who treat it like a race. I fall somewhere in between. Give yourself a little room from your friends so that when you whip that skin off from the bottom of your board or ski it doesn’t smack them in the face. I won’t go into details here, but it is worth learning how to leave your skis on while taking off your skins. It is faster and also safer if you are standing on a side slope where you might have trouble getting back into your skis.

AND THE FUN PART, SKIING DOWN. Take it Slow - Probably the number one problem I have had with novice backcountry skiers who are expert ski area riders is that they descend way too fast. Backcountry snow is full of surprises and there are plenty of hidden obstacles and variable snow where speed is not your friend. One moment you could be dancing through the powder and then suddenly it transitions to breakable crust. Take it slow. Finish your turns. Show respect. Conserve the Powder – Especially this busy, low snow season, fresh tracks, a big reason why we are all out there, are becoming harder to find. When I ski with a couple of friends, we ‘farm’ or ‘spoon’ our turns (Picture 4), keeping our turns close to each other, almost in sync, so that the next person can have a fresh line.

BACK AT HOME. We usually bring our skis inside so the bindings can dry out. Take your skins out of your pack as soon as you are home and hang them up somewhere to dry. Turn off your beacon. Download your photos and re-live the amazing day you just had.And here’s one piece of advice mostly just for me, put on some mellow music, roll out the yoga pad, and stretch those quads!