Alpine Touring

Alpine touring on Skis

When one thinks of skiing, it is usually alpine and cross-country skiing that immediately come to mind. Alpine skiing on runs serviced by lifts and cross-country skiing on prepared tracks are the most common skiing activities. There are also ski touring and ski jumping to consider, but there are unfortunately there are not many hills with these facilities developed in this area.

Ski touring will fall into basically two types; Telmark and Alpine touring. Telmark equipment is very similar to cross-country and the downhill turns are managed with a loose heal.

Alpine touring uses a free lifting heel for traveling flats and for climbing, but also allows you to clamp your heel down for an alpine run. The boots are lighter and more flexible than normal for alpine skiing and the skies are sturdier with more surface area than for cross-country skiing. This large surface area gives better floatation in the deep powder of the back county. Steel edges allow you to turn when encountering the inevitable heavy spring crusts or descending a hard packed run if necessary.

Its not uncommon when alpine touring to spend a day trekking up a mountain in the back country for one glorious run down in the afternoon. Sounds like a lot of work but I have wonderful memories of many such trips. Even more memorable are the trips that we have spent either in an alpine cabin or an improvised shelter. Then you can enjoy some fabulous moonlight runs in the high alpine area. Unfortunately these mountain shelters are getting fewer and further between due to vandals and government policies.

Brent Mountain would be a good day trip, or, if you can take supplies to the lookout cabin, for the weekend. There are some upper slopes which could be subject to small avalanches so like any back-country travel in the winter use caution. Other dangers to look out for are trees and snags covered by snow and the depressions left around the trunks of larger trees. Going in a group or with at least two people is always wise. There are some die-hard types that will do this alone but it is definitely not recommended.

The lookout at Apex Mountain is gone now, but this mountain has some great terrain, even some extreme slopes on the back side. A quick way up would be to get a lift ticket for one run on the Apex ski lift and then ski the saddle between Beaconsfield and Apex. Yes, the Apex ski resort is actually on Beaconsfield Mountain. I believe the old cabin near the top of Beaconsfield Mountain is currently owned by the Boy Scouts.
The Fairview and Mount Kobau between Cawston, Oliver and Osoyoos is also a good area with a good mixture of wooded and meadow areas. There is still an old lookout building at the top of Kobau. Some of this area is private, notably the area above Richter Lake and near the top of Fairview road on the Eastern slope. Remember to leave only your track behind, take all of your garbage home.

Equipment has changed dramatically over the years and you may expect to pay from between $1000.00 and $2000.00 for a complete outfit. Local selection was very limited, but I checked out
www.mec.ca the website for Mountain Equipment Co-op. Products are harder to visualize on the web, but you can always request a catalogue or drop into their store when you are next at the coast. Mountain Magic Equipment is another good catalogue to check out at www.mountainmagic.com. . Old and simple cable bindings are a thing of the past, but I still believe the thrill of enjoying expanses of untracked snow is worth checking this sport out.