Thank you for the post. I have to say I find this subject frustrating. Everyone I ask at a shop for example say the same things: it’s dangerous don’t do this until _______!!!!! (Fill in the blank for general safety advice). At the same time, you can’t d anything until you spend a ton of money on gear and guides … but how much gear and how many guides are needed to be proficient is left open. At the same time, I see people going out who most certainly have not done all of this “stuff”. It would be really helpful for there to be a standardized certification for backcountry skiing that is similar to what is available to SCUBA diving (e.g PADI certification) to give you the skills and knowledge needed to do the sport with reasonable safety.
That’s what an avalanche safety course is. That’s all you need for basic ski touring. If you want to do ski mountaineering, then you’ll need additional climbing skills. Which is similar to needing extra diving certs (eg night dive / cave dive / deep dive / etc).
Thank you for the post. I have to say I find this subject frustrating. Everyone I ask at a shop for example say the same things: it’s dangerous don’t do this until _______!!!!! (Fill in the blank for general safety advice). At the same time, you can’t d anything until you spend a ton of money on gear and guides … but how much gear and how many guides are needed to be proficient is left open. At the same time, I see people going out who most certainly have not done all of this “stuff”. It would be really helpful for there to be a standardized certification for backcountry skiing that is similar to what is available to SCUBA diving (e.g PADI certification) to give you the skills and knowledge needed to do the sport with reasonable safety.
That’s what an avalanche safety course is. That’s all you need for basic ski touring.
If you want to do ski mountaineering, then you’ll need additional climbing skills. Which is similar to needing extra diving certs (eg night dive / cave dive / deep dive / etc).
@@nickv3085 Thanks. That’s what I’m going to do.