Never mind all that, what I want to know is how you manage to afford to be constantly on holiday you bastard P-Ben.
at GL earlier in the year and it was excellent.
I am relying on: inability to ride snow steep enough to slide, plus not going out much.
Slightly off-topic, but had a german friend visiting for a few days recently, specifically for backcountry ski-ing ... he was talking about how popular it has now become in Europe. Which is not surprising given: 1. you almost never see a glimpse of a ski resort in the cool-kids' ski and snowboard movies these days 2. the gear guys get to sell a whole lot more stuff 3. after spending time in untracked powder, a well-groomed ski resort seems about as exciting as a trip to a shopping mall. I have been wondering where this is all going, especially as I live done the road from one of the world's biggest resorts. Do resorts respond by grooming less terrain? ... but if they do, will on-piste risk rise unacceptably. Whistler has enough off-piste within the resort for people to die in-bounds ... for example, in a tree well earlier this year and from an avalanche a few years ago. Here in Squamish we have a gondola opening soon which has the overt aim of enabling backcountry access in winter ... there will be no "resort" up there, just a lodge. (Though it will make its big money from the tourist bus tours in summer.)
Quote from: SA Chris on February 28, 2014, 02:47:39 pmat GL earlier in the year and it was excellent.Perhaps I'm a snob but I'm really sceptical of Scotland; my earliest memories of skiing involved being there and absolutely hating every minute of it, other Euro venues on the other hand were glorious...
options 4 & 5 (as above), obviously, cost a lot of money?
A 1 day group avalanche awareness course (with a certified ski guide) would be around €75 and that will make a massive difference. Terrain reading (where dodgy snow is likely to build, where the "terrain traps" are) how to ski safely in groups, how to react if someone is caught (group management, transceiver search, probing, digging etc.).That said, backcountry skiing/snowboarding is definitely more dangerous than climbing. A guy I skied with twice early this season just died on Mont Buet due to taking a 600m slide down the North Face when a cornice collapsed. even though him and my friend Lorne were 5 metres back form the edge.
+ 1 for powderguide, and for getting the proper kit (and knowing how to use it!)