- Joined
- Jan 4, 2016
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- 405
Per my previous thread on getting started with backcountry skiing, I was recommended this course with YMCA of the Rockies. My wife was kind enough to gift me with the class for Christmas and I just completed it yesterday. While the drive to and from was treacherous due to a ton of fresh snow, that made for a great day to ski.
The instructor, Elliott, is an avid and experienced backcountry skier, who frequents the Berthoud Pass area just down the road. He got us all set up with gear first. The Nordic Center at the YMCA there has a nice complement of current-year Dynafit skis, skins, poles, and boots. They also have beacons, shovels, and probes for training. I used my own boots and poles with the Dynafit skis and skins, but the Dynafit boots were pretty cool in how they flipped in and out of walk mode, loosening/tightening the power strap and upper buckle.
Then we sat down for the classroom portion, which turned out more like a guided discussion than a lecture. We went through some basic avalanche safety guidelines, most of which I had already learned from the book Snow Sense, but it was good to get his perspective as a guy that solo tours a lot, and get some Real Talk on what matters most to him on a day-to-day basis in the backcountry. He included an explanation of the CAIC area forecast page and some guidelines for watching and interpreting the forecasts. There was also a general discussion of safety principles around trip planning with your party, situational awareness of the terrain and weather conditions, and modifying plans to accommodate everyone in the party and changing conditions.
We then had a nice boxed lunch that was included with the class fee, it was an impressive amount of food for a box lunch, and tasty enough. There were several vegetarian and non-vegetarian options.
After lunch we got oriented on how to operate Dynafit tech bindings and skins indoors, as it was cold and snowing outside. Often this is done outside, apparently. We then did a little car caravan to another part of the (masssive, btw) YMCA property, and skinned up a nordic skiing track for a ways, then cut up a hill to a nice flat spot, and transitioned our boots and bindings to downhill mode.
This young lady in my class was not familiar with skiing powder but you can get a sense for how lovely it was.
We then broke a new trail with a few switchbacks back up, and skied back down the way we originally came up. Despite some obstacles under the snow, I actually thought it was more fun than the pitch shown in the video. Along the way we got a lot of useful tips on operating touring equipment and touring technique, including management of skins, how to clear snow from skins, the importance of flipping brakes down as soon as you switch out of touring mode, and spotting from the top and bottom of a pitch as group members ski down.
The training did include basic beacon operation. The instructor had said he was going to toss a beacon in the snow and have us find it, but we didn't have time for that, as the class and instructor were kind of chatty. My one criticism is I would have liked the classroom portion to be a little faster paced, with less chit-chat, so we would have had more time for application and hands-on instruction outdoors.
While it was a long drive for me, and it may or may not be worth a lot of travel for a one-day class, I still thought it was worth the 6-8 hours of driving each way for me. If you lived closer it would be a no-brainer, IMO, if you were thinking about getting into backcountry skiing and AT.
The instructor, Elliott, is an avid and experienced backcountry skier, who frequents the Berthoud Pass area just down the road. He got us all set up with gear first. The Nordic Center at the YMCA there has a nice complement of current-year Dynafit skis, skins, poles, and boots. They also have beacons, shovels, and probes for training. I used my own boots and poles with the Dynafit skis and skins, but the Dynafit boots were pretty cool in how they flipped in and out of walk mode, loosening/tightening the power strap and upper buckle.
Then we sat down for the classroom portion, which turned out more like a guided discussion than a lecture. We went through some basic avalanche safety guidelines, most of which I had already learned from the book Snow Sense, but it was good to get his perspective as a guy that solo tours a lot, and get some Real Talk on what matters most to him on a day-to-day basis in the backcountry. He included an explanation of the CAIC area forecast page and some guidelines for watching and interpreting the forecasts. There was also a general discussion of safety principles around trip planning with your party, situational awareness of the terrain and weather conditions, and modifying plans to accommodate everyone in the party and changing conditions.
We then had a nice boxed lunch that was included with the class fee, it was an impressive amount of food for a box lunch, and tasty enough. There were several vegetarian and non-vegetarian options.
After lunch we got oriented on how to operate Dynafit tech bindings and skins indoors, as it was cold and snowing outside. Often this is done outside, apparently. We then did a little car caravan to another part of the (masssive, btw) YMCA property, and skinned up a nordic skiing track for a ways, then cut up a hill to a nice flat spot, and transitioned our boots and bindings to downhill mode.
This young lady in my class was not familiar with skiing powder but you can get a sense for how lovely it was.
We then broke a new trail with a few switchbacks back up, and skied back down the way we originally came up. Despite some obstacles under the snow, I actually thought it was more fun than the pitch shown in the video. Along the way we got a lot of useful tips on operating touring equipment and touring technique, including management of skins, how to clear snow from skins, the importance of flipping brakes down as soon as you switch out of touring mode, and spotting from the top and bottom of a pitch as group members ski down.
The training did include basic beacon operation. The instructor had said he was going to toss a beacon in the snow and have us find it, but we didn't have time for that, as the class and instructor were kind of chatty. My one criticism is I would have liked the classroom portion to be a little faster paced, with less chit-chat, so we would have had more time for application and hands-on instruction outdoors.
While it was a long drive for me, and it may or may not be worth a lot of travel for a one-day class, I still thought it was worth the 6-8 hours of driving each way for me. If you lived closer it would be a no-brainer, IMO, if you were thinking about getting into backcountry skiing and AT.
