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| Powder to the People. Yes, splitboarders are people too |
"I knew the resorts were going to be packed so I just skied the backcountry this weekend."
"Hey Dude, want to go on a ski tour this weekend?"
It seems the terms Ski Mountaineering, Backcountry Skiing, and Ski Touring are used interchangeably. Some may argue that they mean different things. Some may say they are in fact interchangeable. I don't really care what they mean in the abstract. Really, all I care about is where we're going and what kind of gear I'll need to be safe and have a good time. The purpose of this article is to distinguish between Ski Mountaineering gear and Backcountry Skiing gear, and give some potential buyers some thoughts on what type of terrain and objectives they will face when going on a "tour."
I guess to know the important things, like what gear is appropriate for ski mountaineering versus backcountry skiing, we should delve briefly into the abstract. In my mind, ski mountaineering typically involves a summit, a traverse, or some other specific route or destination. You're going somewhere. Backcountry skiing on the other hand, is more about the finding interesting terrain and quality snow to ski. Ski touring is kind of a general term that can mean either.
So with those general thoughts in mind, I'm going to go through what gear I bring for a ski mountaineering trip vs. a day of crushing powder snow in the backcountry. I'll draw distinctions between ski mountaineering gear and backcountry skiing gear where I can, but a lot of this comes down to personal preference.
