Big Mountain Education

As mentioned below in my last post, one of the stellar things
about Nothern Escape's annual steep camp program is the education that comes with it.

"We pass along this eduction because then people can be aware of their skiing, the terrain and make the most of it," explains Yvan Sabourin, 12 year mountain ski guide with Northern Escape.

For my buddy Michael Grand, a big lesson was learned about looking before your leaping, as the guides lead us off with the words, “ok so I want you to just get out on this slope and take which ever line you think is the right one.” Grand, a first time backcountry skier, charged over a lip where you couldn’t see to the other side only to be in one of those, “oh shi*t” moments dropping I’d say about 15 feet into a creek bed and into a sizeable hole. A double eject later and a strong sense of pride missing, Grand was back, with that lesson learned. “You want to establish the run before you and asses which hazards could be out there, if you just ski into it blindly, that is where you can get into trouble. Always look before you leap," says John Forrest, anouther of Northern Escape's stellar guides.

Some big lessons came into play yesterday morning, when they took us to one of the venues to be featured in this fall's release of Standard Film's Black Winter. This one was all about how to read the terrain and prepare yourself for potential sluff hazards. Sluff is the small stream of snow that can come loose as a skier or shredder makes their traverse.
“On a particular slope you can give a big cut turn, I’d say on anything with an over 45 grade pitch. Do a big wide cut turn on top of it and continue to ski out to the side. You could experience a sluff slide, wait for it to run out and than which will clear the way for your turns below," explained Sabourin. "Should you get caught in it, work your best to ski out to the side." As he explained, even this little stuff can really get you in trouble.

As for the run from the top its was gnarly, big mountain riding at its best, two shoots, some trees and a few major cliffs to avoid but all us steep campers made it out in one piece, all fully charged to get up and do it all again.
It's stellar this is five days...lots more ops to shred some more gnar!

doc pow over and out
http://www.snowseekers.ca/