Diny Harrison’s list of accreditations is as deep as the British Columbia snowpack in which she guides. The first North American woman to become an internationally certified mountain guide, Harrison went from ski patrolling at Lake Louise Ski Resort to guiding for the likes of Canadian Mountain Holidays, Yamnuska Mountain School, Banff National Army Cadet […]
Consumed: A Note from the Editor in Chief
Andrew McLean submitted his story on p. 76 of the Spring Issue as a Facebook message. It was late January, and the well-known Utah-based ski mountaineer, reflecting on the 20-year history of his iconic guidebook, The Chuting Gallery, was writing from the coast of Antarctica, where he was guiding skiing from a 280-foot yacht. “For […]
Steep School: learning the tools for ski mountaineering in Montana’s Tobacco Root Mountains
It’s the end of April, and the Tobacco Roots, a quiet range 45 miles dead west of Bozeman and sandwiched between the Madison and Jefferson Rivers, are still cloaked in a midwinter snowpack rather than layers of corn. But that doesn’t matter to the four Canadians, me or the three other skiers here at Big Sky Backcountry Guide’s (BSBG) second-annual ski-mountaineering camp.
Security System: Why, even after three decades, the Voilé strap remains the most relevant tool in any kit
Today, the straps are ubiquitous among committed bc travelers. Heli operations use them to tether poles to skis while in flight; most guides carry a half dozen in their repair kit; and any tale of a mountain-bound epic involving broken bindings, buckles, skins or sleds usually incorporates some sort of ski-strap fix.
The Future Is In Your Hands
In Deep My common answer to “How’s business?” has evolved since we published our first issue of Backcountry Magazine in 2002. Then, when we were a staff of three and had just laid ourselves off in April to go back to banging nails, shooting weddings and waiting tables, it was something like, “We had a […]
Mining for Turns: A planned hut system outside Breckenridge, Colo. aims to offer access to a little known range
The idea for a hut system on Mosquito Pass emerged after a summer hike in 2016 where the terrain awed Jeff Crane, and his mind latched onto what skiing possibilities might exist if accommodations were available.
The Elusive Glen Poulsen: Traveling the world with a quiet skintrack crusher
The name Poulsen is well know in California’s Lake Tahoe area—in 1938, Wayne Poulsen bought land in the Squaw Valley area upon which he later developed a world-renowned ski area. Glen, Wayne’s son, grew up on the slopes with his family, but from a young age, he ventured deeper into the Eastern Sierra to see what the world beyond ski areas had to offer.
Smooth is Fast: Increase efficiency to earn more turns
A day in the mountains is best spent traveling through them, not standing around among them. And through practice and planning, it’s possible to minimize down time to earn more turns in a day. Here’s how to increase personal and group efficiency without upping the pace in the skintrack.
Skintrack Sketches: Swiss artist Corinne Weidmann explores layers in the landscape
For 35-year-old Swiss-born Corinne Weidmann—who artistically goes by Iuna Tinta—the landscapes of home exude creative inspiration. Part of her family is from the Bernese Oberland, so images of Lauterbrunnen and the surrounding mountains and glaciers make frequent appearances on her canvas. But desire for world travel has taken her to the jungle of Costa Rica, the windswept shores of the Pacific Northwest and, now, to where she resides in Berlin.
Inclinometer Essentials: How, when and why to measure slope angles
Thirty-eight degrees is widely considered the slope angle at which most avalanches occur. But what exactly does a 38-degree slope look like? Calculating slope angle is relatively simple with an inclinometer, which, turns out, is one of the most affordable and compact items you can add to your kit.
