Backcountry Ski & Snowboard Touring at Red Mountain

I left Fernie yesterday and after a four hour drive I arrived in Red Mountain late last night. It’s always great to be in Rossland and especially today as I was lucky enough to be able to join some of our 11-week instructor course participants on a day of backcountry touring.

We might not have had blue skies but it snowed all day long and the lines we had were truly epic. Fresh tracks and soft snow so all wipe outs (and there were quite a few) resulted in smiles and laughter… and a snowy face plus dented ego!



Stacey, our program co-ordinator and course host, had arranged special backcountry touring skis (with “skins” and bindings that offer a “free heal” mode for going uphill) for the skiers while the snowboarders had been provided with snowshoes and telescopic poles. Both provided efficient ways of getting to the top of the mountain and although we all commented that it was good exercise it wasn’t particularly strenuous.



We enjoyed lots of fresh lines and only saw one other group of skiers the whole time we were out. It was great to ski back onto the resort's pistes and know that we had been ripping the very best powder available that day!



Backcountry touring is the natural progression once you've got the powder addiction and mastered your technique in deep snow. Before you head into the backcountry you need to equip yourself with both knowledge and safety equipment. We offer avalanche courses on many of our ski or snowboard courses and we also have a fleet of safety equipment (avalanche transceivers, shovels, & probes) for our participants to use.

If you want to try backcountry touring, using either split boards or touring skis, then check out the following courses: