BackCountry

[Sparky]

Have you ever gone back country skiing alone?

I few years back I went on my one and only backcounrty ski trip. We did the Thunderbolt trail on Greylock, and there is a trip report somewhere on this site. However I have not been able to get out again, mostly from the fact that all the necessary ingredients, snow, weather, time. other fokes, just have not aligned so I have been contemplating going it on my own. i have done a lot of mellow XC skiing by myself, bu this trip has a slightly higher risk factor.

 

[David Metsky]

I've done backcountry touring solo, but there's just too much chance for a major injury for me to try anything really difficult or far from civilization by myself. I do carry enough gear to spend the night out, but if I'm alone that's no guarantee of getting help. I rarely head deep into the trees at a ski area solo if I don't think there's enough traffic around.

 

[deadheadskier]

only slack country at Stowe. Did the chin several times by myself and consider myself lucky on a couple of occasions to be the only person standing on top of the mountain. Probably wasn't the smartest decision, but the amount of people who ski up there gave me comfort that if I were to hurt myself, I'd eventually see someone to help me out. That said, I probably won't be doing such a thing again.

 

[dmc]

I do and love it...

But I "sign out" if available and let someone know when to expect me... And carry a walkie and phone..

I understand the risk..

 

[cbcbd]

Most of my trips are solo. I love to be out on my own, making my own decisions and being in tune with the BC... just great.

Usually what a trip report might not show are the macro and micro route finding decisions that go on.

Macro - where to ski. Could be a particular area, or a particular line.
Tuckerman, Thunderbolt, Stowe slackcountry, some of the less populated gullies in the Presis?
When you choose to ski something you have some ability to decide how many other people you might see there. I don't like having to rely on strangers for safety but it is a fact that it will be safer in case something does happen. If anything, at least it gives you a mental confidence and doesn't give you that "uh oh, I'm completely alone" feeling.

Micro - Specific line choice. Should I head right into the more open trees or left and huck this icefall?
If I am solo in the BC I might choose to take a safer line than if I had someone with me; I might sideslip a sketchy section instead of trying to force a turn (although turning is more fun!), I might choose to stay near someone else's ski tracks, which will lead me out of the trees or to a dead body (and usually you dwon't find a corpse), instead of heading off into the "unknown" and making my own tracks. Basically, there are little things you can do to decrease risk and the possible consequences.

Its really just about your comfort level and assessing risk.

But one thing that I find that sometimes is safer in the backcountry is that I choose the pace and the level of the outing. In a party of 2 or more, one person might be pushed harder than they are used to and that causes fatigue, leading to mistakes. Alone I can always take it turn by turn if its getting really tough.

General winter hiking/backpacking/camping skills are also good to have when you start BCing... and you'll have to buy less gear

 

[snoseek]

I did quite a bit of solo bc out here this winter and always planned my exact route and left details on the dining room table. I kind of like going at my own pace and the serenity of being solo, despite all the warnings from the avi police.

Definately be sure to have some sort of plan like bringing extra stuff and knowing your surroundings (especially in the presidentials). Don't get lost!!!!!

 

[campgottagopee]

Slack, yes. True "BC" no and never would, too much bad can happen IMHO.

 

[Phillycore]

Yes and no...

Was out at Keystone 2 yrs ago and did the sno-cat accessed "backcountry" along with two friends..
I saw an untouched line a little further out than they were willing to traverse to after an already long traverse. The line I wanted to head to fed into the line they were going to take. No big deal right, traverse over to it...ski down and meet them. Yeah didn't quite work out that way..
I traversed over towards it and realized I wouldn't be able to catch back up to them by the time they were going get to their point. I decided to cut through the trees instead of traversing over to the line and dropping in. Well I was on really fat AT boards, that were also very short. (Icelantic Scouts 143cm 130/110/120) and there was minimal pitch. My speed was up and I saw some tracks going in the direction I wanted to go in. I followed the tracks off to the side into the trees and figured I'd pop out through the other side onto the line I wanted to ski. Halfway through the trees, my speed started slowing and it was deep.... REAL deep... Long story short.. my right ski plugged and the left one didn't forcing me to fall backwards twisting over to the right side. I'm now in serious pain.. Right ski still attached and I'm bent over backwards with my right leg still pointing straight. Noone was around and I was dead center in the middle of the tree line. It took me probably a good 20 minutes to manage to free myself but it seemed like forever. I ended up having to ski down the trail as slow as possible and in serious pain and eventually made it to the bottom then onto the access trail that led back to the lift where my friends were wondering where the hell I was at for the past 45 mins. I did manage to ski the rest of the day although I was in pain. (it was our last day of the trip thankfully)
After arrival back home and a trip to the doctors I found out that I had torn my MCL.
I learned the hard way not to go alone and to stay with some friends or other skiers...

 

[riverc0il]

Good portion of my earned turns are solo. Often there are other skiers in the area. Many times there are not. Have done a few questionable descents where no rescue would have happened had I got hurt until my fail safe time provided to S. Carry a phone just in case, but if you bust yourself bad, you might not be in good enough shape to use a phone. Generally, I try to avoid questionable solos in the backcountry but sometimes you just want to go and there is no one to hook up with. Seems like that is the case more often than not. Difficult to coordinate stuff short notice between folks 2-3 hours away, and people have different plans and ideas of a good time, etc. Lots of reasons to go solo, but the danger is much greater.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Have you ever gone back country skiing alone?

I few years back I went on my one and only backcounrty ski trip. We did the Thunderbolt trail on Greylock, and there is a trip report somewhere on this site. However I have not been able to get out again, mostly from the fact that all the necessary ingredients, snow, weather, time. other fokes, just have not aligned so I have been contemplating going it on my own. i have done a lot of mellow XC skiing by myself, bu this trip has a slightly higher risk factor.

I have gone backcountry skiing alone...the craziest was on the side of Mount Blackmore MT in the Hyalites..if I would have broken a leg or gotten caught in a slide..I would have died...The good thing about AZ is that I'm sure you can find other like minded snow sports enthusiasts to join you on a backcountry journey...