Backcountry Touring and 14er Skiing Progression

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kwhit24
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Backcountry Touring and 14er Skiing Progression

Post by kwhit24 »

Previously there have been topics about summer hiking progression and good discussions/insight about which peaks people went for to get more confidence, comfort/risk tolerance, and skill. What has been your progression in the hiking "off" season? Where would you suggest people to start touring or hike-to-skiing?

This spring I plan to ski my first 14er (and I plan to take an avy class). Proper gear and training/classes aside, I'm curious where someone with no touring experience but a lot of resort hike-to experience should start. Hopefully come spring I can find some more experienced people on here willing to help me take some trips either touring or skiing down a 14er.
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Re: Backcountry Touring and 14er Skiing Progression

Post by Dave B »

James Peak, St. Vrain Mountain, and Flattop in RMNP are good teeth-cutters. Squaretop can be skied with minimal avy exposure. North gully on Guyot makes a good next step ski with pretty low risk.

Quandary is the obvious first choice for a 14er ski descent. After that I'm kind of clueless since most of my peak skiing was on 13ers on the FRange.
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Re: Backcountry Touring and 14er Skiing Progression

Post by EatinHardtack »

Get some education and start getting the hang of touring at resorts before lifts open. Most resorts allow you to uphill, just check their policy and maps.

Definitely vet your partners as you ease into skiing peaks. You will find out pretty quickly that everyone in your party needs to be on the same page and communication is key. Again your entire party has to be able to step back and say "maybe this isn't the day" while everyone is ok with it. You'll also find out quickly that you may work well with some people but not others. Just part of the process.

As for peaks my first few were Sherman, Quandary and Elbert. Worked my way up to harder descents. FYI, I've skied more fun lines on 13ers than 14ers, so don't let elevation hold you back.

Also get good at skiing absolutely every condition. Hard pan, ice, sastrugi, corn, maybe even some powder, etc etc. you will see it all on peaks. Not every descent is a gem, some a rough and you just want it over, but the good ones always make you come back.
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Re: Backcountry Touring and 14er Skiing Progression

Post by bergsteigen »

First off, realize that there will be a steep learning curve! New equipment, skins, AT boots and each will have its own quirks. Transitioning will take time to learn. The main run on the western end of Berthoud Pass is a great place to practice.

Being a good resort skier does not mean you will be a good backcountry skier, right away. It takes time to get good in the BC, so be patient!

As for 14ers and 13ers (and lower): I’ve been working on my own page (http://otinasadventures.com/index.php?map=skimo_map). I’m adding in the traditional green circle, blue square and black diamonds to denote what I (and others) have rated the route.

NOTE: green does NOT mean easy. Just that they are the easiest of the routes.

As Zach mentions, choose partners carefully. Everyone has different risk tolerance levels as well as pace and skills. Find a mentor if you can, and treat them well!
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Re: Backcountry Touring and 14er Skiing Progression

Post by SchralpTheGnar »

One does not simply ski a 14er, or maybe one does, you never know, that’s what makes skiing 14ers such a crazy game.

Berthoud is a good place to start. Do you have an at setup? Do you have Avy gear? Have you skied corbets?
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Re: Backcountry Touring and 14er Skiing Progression

Post by Conor »

In order of importance when it comes to picking a ski (or winter partner).

1) ability to find and pull me out of an avalanche, if it were to come to that. If you aren't proficient at using your beacon, probe and shovel, you're useless.

2) Ability to travel in avy terrain. In 93% of avy accidents, the avalanche is triggered by the victim or someone within the victims' party. You need to know what the dangers are, elevations/aspects to avoid and how to read the terrain. I've been extremely lax in this area, and I am going back to filling out the lame blue book for each trip. I'm reading Temper's "Avalanche Essentials" right now and he makes the point that 1.4% of avalanche victims are avalanche professionals, despite them spending significantly more time in avalanche terrain in more "danger" than the average bear. Temper says it is "system" used by professionals that keep them safe. Aviation uses a "system" as well, not sure why it seems awkward to do it at the trailhead?

3) physical fitness. Skis are heavy. Winter gear is heavy. approaches are longer.

4) ski ability.

This is just me. But, IMO, you need to make the avy investment to be deemed a reliable partner. A lot of people throw the noobs in as a 3rd and 4th man, which I think is a mistake.
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Re: Backcountry Touring and 14er Skiing Progression

Post by lodgling »

As far as 14ers are concerned, if you wait for actual spring conditions, all the avy stuff simplifies. Colorado’s winter snowpack sucks so don’t expect to figure that out without years of practice. Don’t trust someone who thinks they have the winter snowpack all figured out.

So for 14ers, I’d put the focus on your ability to get up and down without falling. The same goes for partners. A great boot pack setter that goes on a slide for life on the way down is a liability.

For actual spring (generally):

1. Clear night skies = good freeze.
2. Alpine start = less worries about hot snow.
3. Coldish snow = safe descent (assuming you don’t fall).

#2 is the most important to me because it is the factor I control. Aspect determines how early is early enough. Dawson’s book identifies sunhit for a lot of the lines. I’d rather nap on the top waiting for corn to ripen or ski hard refrozen than risk skiing too late.

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Re: Backcountry Touring and 14er Skiing Progression

Post by gb »

bergsteigen wrote: As for 14ers and 13ers (and lower): I’ve been working on my own page (http://otinasadventures.com/index.php?map=skimo_map). I’m adding in the traditional green circle, blue square and black diamonds to denote what I (and others) have rated the route.
How many of these are "your" D ratings, and how many are other skier's ratings? Ratings have always been so hard, it's so dependent on conditions. Until the day arrives when routes have 50 ratings that can be averaged, it's a tough one... I like seeing your numbers though, way to keep track!

OP, The best advice is to just slowly work your way towards harder routes, and hopefully find some partners with more experience that can mentor you. Also, there is no shame in hiring a guide and picking their brain, even though that's not as typical here in the USA...
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Re: Backcountry Touring and 14er Skiing Progression

Post by bergsteigen »

gb wrote:
bergsteigen wrote: As for 14ers and 13ers (and lower): I’ve been working on my own page (http://otinasadventures.com/index.php?map=skimo_map). I’m adding in the traditional green circle, blue square and black diamonds to denote what I (and others) have rated the route.
How many of these are "your" D ratings, and how many are other skier's ratings? Ratings have always been so hard, it's so dependent on conditions. Until the day arrives when routes have 50 ratings that can be averaged, it's a tough one... I like seeing your numbers though, way to keep track!
Whenever possible I’ve used Dawson’s or BillM’s ratings. Mine are most of the non-14ers that Lou hasn’t rated. Ratings will certainly depend on the conditions! I skied Blanca on an average snow year, and my rating will always be harder than when BillM skied it in quarter century level powder! I typically use my inclinometer on slopes as I’m going up to get a reading. Though high vs low snow year will also effect this measurement too.

A relative/subjective rating is better than nothing!
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Re: Backcountry Touring and 14er Skiing Progression

Post by kwhit24 »

EatinHardtack wrote:Get some education and start getting the hang of touring at resorts before lifts open. Most resorts allow you to uphill, just check their policy and maps.

Definitely vet your partners as you ease into skiing peaks. You will find out pretty quickly that everyone in your party needs to be on the same page and communication is key. Again your entire party has to be able to step back and say "maybe this isn't the day" while everyone is ok with it. You'll also find out quickly that you may work well with some people but not others. Just part of the process.

As for peaks my first few were Sherman, Quandary and Elbert. Worked my way up to harder descents. FYI, I've skied more fun lines on 13ers than 14ers, so don't let elevation hold you back.

Also get good at skiing absolutely every condition. Hard pan, ice, sastrugi, corn, maybe even some powder, etc etc. you will see it all on peaks. Not every descent is a gem, some a rough and you just want it over, but the good ones always make you come back.
Uphill at the resorts is where I plan to start because, like you said, most allow uphill skiing before lift service starts and some have designated routes during (Eldora and Crested Butte do but they also cost money during operating hours).

I'm not really sure how to find partners (Maybe getting to know people at the resort uphill skiing) because I only know one person with any BC experience and it's all Montana. He doesn't know any of the routes or places to go here.
bergsteigen wrote: Being a good resort skier does not mean you will be a good backcountry skier, right away. It takes time to get good in the BC, so be patient!
And that's part of why I'm asking a lot of people for advice and trying to go about it in the right way to do it safely. Hiking and skiing are two passions of mine and I look forward to the physical challenges. Plus it might be a way to get away from some of the resort crowds.

When I said "ski a 14er this spring" I should've said use skiing just as means to avoid post-holing down. I'm also not limiting myself to just 14ers in the future but all kinds of mountains and places. I don't currently have an AT set-up or all the avy gear but I'm working on it (different discussion but I'm looking at putting some Kingpins and Griffons on a 110-115 underfoot as #2 in a 2 ski quiver. I know it wouldn't be a sole AT set up and I'm going to sacrifice some weight in the ski but it'd be something for 50/50 resort and BC. Looking at Moment Deathwish or Head Kore 117).

How did any of you know or feel confident enough to go for a true winter ski descent (regardless of elevation)? Did it take years of BC experience? Just finding the right partners and training?
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Re: Backcountry Touring and 14er Skiing Progression

Post by Oldmoose »

This is a historical reply for Otina. My parents and their friends skied Berthod Pass prior to WWII and right after. They would car shuttle. The East side was called Hoop Creek and the West side was called 7 Mile. That was what they told me as I started skiing at the Berthod Pass Ski Area in the late 1940's. They may have used the technique on other passes.
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Re: Backcountry Touring and 14er Skiing Progression

Post by AlexeyD »

I hope I'm not going too much out on a limb here to say that skiing one of the classic easier 14er descents such as Quandary or Sherman in spring conditions is not an unreasonable objective for a strong in-bounds skier with hike-to experience. Certainly get some practice in with your new setup at a place like Berthoud Pass, but once you get a feel for it, either of those would be fine for a first "big" high altitude tour. That being said, I will mention that the N gully of Guyot (which was mentioned earlier) is about the same difficulty but a much more fun and higher quality descent, IMO.
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