Plunging Into the World of Alpine Touring
Freeing the Heel, Part 1
By Carson Bennett, 11-24-08
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| Caption: from www.treksandtracks.com | |
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I’ve been skiing for twenty-three years. Not until the last two or three years have I become what I consider an expert skier. I finally have an understanding of form and technique that makes me confident and comfortable when dropping into anything the mountain can throw at me, from steep and deep to ice and crud. But I still want to improve, and I still want to expand my horizons. This season, I’m going to enter the world of Randonnee skiing.
I had never heard of Randonnee skiing (Alpine Touring, AT) until this season. I currently work part-time at a shop that sells AT equipment, and after playing with the gear and talking about the joys of AT skiing with one of my co-workers, an expert in winter mountaineering and Alpine Touring, visions of untracked backcountry bowls dance in my head.
What is the difference between Alpine Skiing and Alpine Touring? Alpine Skiing, or downhill skiing, is what most of us think about when we think about skiing – riding on terrain accessible by lifts (requiring a lift ticket), and skiing on bindings that secure the heel and toe to the ski. Alpine Touring bindings, on the other hand, allow the binding to release the heel while keeping the toe engaged, like a telemark or cross country binding. Slap a pair of skins on the bottom of your skis, release the heel, and you’re free to seek snow wherever you want (no lift tickets! no lift lines! no designated runs!) Then, when you reach your destination, you can remove the skins, lock the heel back into the binding, and ski as you would on a regular downhill binding.
I need to try this. The best runs I skied last year were off the ridges at Taos, New Mexico and Wolf Creek, Colorado. After taking the lifts as far as they would carry me, I would click out of my skis, throw them over my shoulder, and keep going. I skied the “side country” for most of last season without realizing it, and I didn’t know there were tools that could help me access the side country more easily while also introducing me to the backcountry.
I’m going to write a series of posts about my first experiences with AT skiing, from learning about the gear to snow safety to planning a trip to charging down my first off-piste runs in the Colorado Rockies. My ultimate goal this winter is to ski one of Colorado’s many 14,000 foot peaks.
If any of you Snowblog readers are AT skiers, please send me hints, tips, and advice. I’m excited to discover new things and share what I learn.
[End of article]Hello Carson,
I've got some good info, including a handy checklist, at my new backcountry blog http://www.skithebc.com Check it out.
Peace,
Tom Chepucavage
Santa Fe, NM
Carson,
I'll be following the blog with interest. I evolved at glacial pace from abject ignorance, trying with all my might to turn tiny cross country skis, to putting "bear trap" bindings on a pair of dumpster dove downhill Hexcells, to finally buying a pair of Scarpa T3 boots and some Atomic tele skis. We only went to the ski areas when we could afford it, so the backcountry was always the main place for skiing- although of course, that means you never really get enough turns to become very good. But you do learn alot and see wonderful things, and when it is just right - April in the southern Bitterroots or the Pintlars comes to mind, there is nothing on earth like it.
The amount of truly awful advice I absorbed (I was an empty vessel, 20 years ago, in the Bitterroots, from Alabama) could fill a good sized coal train. "Pickle barrels" cut from hard plastic to stiffen my old Fabiano montain boots that were "beartrapped" was only the beginning. Accessing ice climbs with a heavy pack on delammed thrift store cross country skis was another- I could not understand why they would not turn on the long talus descents. AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRgh, Slam! oooofff. Nobody ever told me they weren't made for that.
Since I still ski downhill by pressing down instead of telemarking, even though I got the tele gear, I want to convert to AT gear tan pronto como es possible, but I can't afford the outlay, since the young un's are eating like there's no tomorrow.
So- as you embark on this voyage, how about researching what a person could obtain, for how much money, and what deals exist out there. I know a lot of people who would be interested in that.
This is a great idea for a series, and it will be appreciated.
Hal