Seeking Thrill in the Backcountry

Once you catch the bug for skiing, it’s hard to keep yourself from wanting deeper powder, steeper lines, and untouched snow. Skiing is one of the most beautiful sports created, a fine balance of work and reward in the pristine alpine environment. After you ski your whole life at ski resorts and small mountains controlled by lifts open and runs patrolled, you begin to seek more from nature. It’s tempting to ask yourself what lies behind the “SKI BOUNDARY - CLOSED AREA” signs – it’s part of human nature to seek the uncharted. Luckily, anything more you have ever wanted can be found backcountry skiing. 

 

What is backcountry skiing?

 

The backcountry is defined by what it is not: part of a ski resort. Backcountry skiing opens the skier to, quite literally, the whole world of uncharted snow country. Thousands and thousands of miles of untouched, perfect snow wait for you just beyond the red roped boundaries. 

 

When you ski at a resort, all trails and runs are skied and tested by ski patrol in the morning. Ski patrols are experts at tackling dangerous snow and making it skiable for the masses that come to major ski resorts. Sometimes after a storm, you’ll hear charges set off to preemptively trigger avalanches even in the morning as you’re headed up the mountain. But none of that happens in the backcountry.

 

Backcountry skiing is entirely powered by the human body. You walk up the mountain in special skis designed to stick to the snow, you ski your way down, and most importantly – you decide what line is safe to ski down. 

 

Backcountry skiing removes the comforts of mountain resort skiing, making most of the experience about core human emotions. The exhaustion from skinning up difficult terrain is balanced by the joy of finding yourself alone in a soft bowl with a towering peak looking down on you. 

 

Why do we seek thrill in extreme sports?

 

Skiing in the backcountry, among many other extreme sports, is driven by our instinct to seek risk. Everyone finds risk in their unique way and we are all hooked on our emotional response to these activities. Extreme sports are those that carry the risk of serious injury or death.

 

We do not seek risk to face death, but rather look to find ways to regulate our emotions and physical agency. Studies have shown that extreme sports allow participants to push themselves to the edge of their skills while expanding their capabilities (Hetland). We continuously repeat these activities that we know will produce the same set of positive emotions. People feel good when they realize their true potential, a tenet of eudaimonic identity theory (Hetland). You can
only imagine why people are hooked on the thought of backcountry skiing after seeing others conquer the highest peaks and most difficult terrain. The backcountry gives humans the opportunity to challenge nature, who rewards us with beautiful terrain and an introspective journey through it.

 

At first, it may be a shock to discover that people are not happy in the act of skiing. Studies have shown that our emotional response occurs in the breaks between extreme skiing from reflecting on what you’ve accomplished (Grimsdottir). In the moment, our bodies are so focused on calculating risk in each movement of a turn to avoid an accident. Our emotional response is delayed until we complete the task, and then we become flooded with the joy and pride of the terrain we descended and awe in the environment shared with nature. That's why people chase the thrill of backcountry skiing.

 

What are the dangers?

 

As all extreme sports warn, with great thrill comes great risk. Skiing in the backcountry is about reading signs from nature, but there is always a gap between our perception and reality of the terrain (Lowther). This gap creates uncertainty and uncertainty in the backcountry is the root of risk. It's important to become an expert skier and limit your risk before venturing into the backcountry. 

 

Backcountry guides are well experienced in assessing snowpack as to not lead skiers into or trigger avalanche areas. Guides test the uncertainty by combining their history of experience, education, mentorship, and physical body. They are the closest example to skiing experts.

 

The backcountry is dangerously empowering. Everyone looks to the harshest terrain and hopes to work their way to conquering that, like expert skier Zahan Buillimoria.

 

Zahan is a backcountry guide in Jackson, Wyoming. In an interview with Patagonia and Teton Gravity Research, he tells a story of losing two of his good friends from an unexpected avalanche in a tour he was guiding (Lowther). Zahan couldn’t correlate his reality with the magnitude of risk he faced. After coming to terms with his reality, Zahan has acknowledged his responsibility in putting his friends at risk. Since then, Zahan has limited his backcountry work, saying his loss has tempered his vision for adventure in a healthy way.   

 

Accidents like this reveal the gap in uncertainty in all extreme sports, especially backcountry skiing. However, high-risk-environment yields are very special and offer skiers an unimaginable experience. Just make sure you are aware of the uncertainty gap and can substitute the risk with your experience.

 

Are you ready to go?

 

Are you still itching to hit the backcountry? Your first steps should be to assess your skill level and determine if you can handle whatever terrain you come across. A good rule of thumb is to be able to ski comfortably on all different rated ski runs up to black diamonds.

 

You shouldn’t enter the backcountry without a friend who has a similar skill level and (preferably) experience in the backcountry. You'll want to look into buying certain pieces of ski gear; this list includes skins which allow you to walk up snow, backcountry bindings that allow you to detach your heel and hike properly, and an avalanche gear pack which includes a beacon, shovel, and probe (Coppolillo).

Ask yourself if you’re comfortable risking your life. The dangers of uncharted and highly variable conditions in the snow sound like a challenge for some. Backcountry skiing offers an altered sense of awareness – a strange combination of natural beauty overload and sensory deprivation from the sound-absorbing snow. You won’t forget the fatigue from hiking up or skiing down a backcountry run, but looking back at your tracks is a euphoric and humbling experience. It might reveal a new source of happiness for you and the true meaning of life.

Works Cited:

Coppolillo, Rob. “How to Start Backcountry Skiing: Advice From an IFMGA Guide.” How to Start Backcountry Skiing, 57Hours, 18 Dec. 2020, 57hours.com/blog/backcountry-skiing-for-beginners/.

Grimsdottir, Harpa. “Avalanche Risk During Backcountry Skiing – An Analysis of ...” Avalanche Risk During Backcountry Skiing – An Analysis of Risk Factors, Natural Hazards, 2006, ibis.geog.ubc.ca/avalanche/pubs/GrimsdottirMcClung_2006_AvalancheRiskBackcountrySkiing_NatHaz.pdf.

Hetland, Audun, et al. “Skiing and Thinking About It: Moment-to-Moment and Retrospective Analysis of Emotions in an Extreme Sport.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 25 May 2018, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00971/full.

Lowther, Alex. Solving For Z - Patagonia. Solving For Z, Patagonia, 10 Dec. 2020, www.patagonia.com/stories/solving-for-z/video-92486.html.