Introduction to Ski Mountaineering
Silverton, Red Mountain Pass, and San Juan Mountains, Colorado
Are you an avid skier or snowboarder looking to take you out of bounds touring to the next level? KMG's Ski Mountaineering Courses will get you there! The San Juan Mountains around Silverton, CO are the prefect classroom to learn the advanced skills required for ski mountaineering. Our education heavy philosophy shines in these courses!
Let our guides show you how to blend multiple backcountry disciplines into one. Learn alpine rope work, improve on your snow safety knowledge, and even winter camping. Timing is everything with big mountain skiing. That's why we hold our Introduction to Ski Mountaineering courses in the spring. The months of March and April offer up safer avalanche conditions than mid-winter as well as amazing snow conditions. This allows us to ski virtually anything what we want!
Topics to be covered include but are not limited to:
- Gear and Equipment
- Decision Making in Avalanche Terrain: Avalanche 101
- Navigation
- Uphill and downhill movement in a ski mountaineering setting
- Transitions: skinning to skiing, skiing to skinning, skinning to booting
- Ski mountaineering techniques/ Alpine Rope work
- Mountain weather and conditions forecasting
- Downhill skiing techniques
- Rescue techniques and emergency procedures
- Shelters/ Food/ Alpine LNT techniques
Price Includes
- Guide and instruction
- All meals while on the overnight
- Group equipment (stoves, cooking fuel, technical climbing equipment / ropes, first aid kits)
- Backcountry Skiing: Skills for Ski Touring and Ski Mountaineering book by Martin Volken, Scott Schell & Margaret Wheeler. A $26 value!
- Backcountry Access avalanche equipment; DTS Tracker beacon, traverse shovel, Spot 203 probe
- Transportation from KMG office in Durango to trailhead and back
- Transportation back from Chitina
Price Does Not Include
- Travel from your location to Durango, CO and back
- Personal clothing , climbing, and skiing equipment: Backcountry skiing equipment is available for rent from out partner shop, Backcountry Experience, for an additional cost. Get in touch for pricing and selection.
- Individual travel costs, delays, etc.
- Excess baggage fees
- Alcoholic drinks and personal snacks
- Hotels before and after trip
- Recommended Travel/trip cancelation insurance. highly recomended!!!
- Guide/ Staff gratuity
Prerequisites:
- Skiers/ riders should be in excelent physical condition.
- Skiers/ riders should be comfortable skiing black diamond terrain at a typical ski resort.
- Be comfortable skiing with 20 lbs pack
- Skiers/ riders should have prior avalanche training, preferablly an AIARE avalanche course
- If you do not possess these skills or need review, we recommend doing a skills course with us in Colorado prior to your expedition.
Registration and Cancelation:
- To reserve your spot in a ski program you will need to fill out one of our domestic ski registration applications and return it to us along with a 50% deposit if applying more than 60 days out. If your trip/ course starts in less than 60 days please submit full payment
- If notice of cancellation is given in writing at least 60 days prior to the trip start date, you will be refunded your full deposit except for a $50 processing fee.
- If notice of cancellation is given in writing within 59 - 30 days prior to the trip start date, a cancellation fee equal to the deposit amount will be charged.
- If notice of cancellation is given in writing less than 30 days prior to the trip start date, a cancellation fee equal to 100% of the program fee will be charged.
