Backcountry 2.0

Backcountry 2.0
Expand upon baseline knowledge and allow your accessible backcountry terrain to blossom before your eyes.
Solidify your backcountry touring fundamentals in this second part of our 3-part Intro to Backcountry series. This course is designed for someone who already has the basic training and experience to go on a backcountry tour, and seeks the next step. Our Backcountry 1.0 course plus 5-10 days of touring experience, OR 10+ days of touring experience are ideal prerequisites. Backcountry 2.0 picks up where 1.0 leaves off, continuing the basics of touring in the backcountry.
You must be an advanced intermediate skier/rider for this course and be competent on and off-piste in a variety of conditions. Skiers/riders should be comfortable on all blue runs and most black diamond runs at a ski resort. Here is a good example of advanced intermediate skiers and riders.
- 8 – 8:30
-
Meet & Greet
Meet your ski guide and fellow skiers. These tours may meet at a trailhead, or at our offices in the Village at Palisades. You’ll spend the first 30 minutes or so discussing the goal for the day, and assessing terrain options that your guide will have in mind.
- 8:30 – 12
-
Morning Tour
After making our plan for the day, we head out for the first climb and descent of the day. We’ll have a number of options available to us and terrain selection will come down to group choice and conditions. The first tour of the day is your opportunity to discuss avalanche problems, refine uphill and downhill techniques and transitions, all while finding the best snow conditions available for the day.
- 12 – 12:30
-
Lunch
In between the morning and afternoon sessions, we’ll take a break for some much needed calories. As with any tour, you’ll have time to snack in the morning and afternoon sessions, but we want to make sure to stop, eat, and discuss any deeper topics that come up during the skin track chats.
- 12:30 – 3:30
-
Afternoon Tour
Depending on our observations from the morning, we’ll spend the afternoon harvesting the goods! This is your opportunity to work on group leadership skills, and analyze the outcomes of the day.