Since things are pretty small right now, I am going to make a few posts introducing the sport of back country skiing. Remember the first step before going into the back country is to take an in person avalanche course (see the side bar). All the titles will start with "Back country skiing 101" so they can be found easily. As always, questions comments, or snide remarks are welcome!
One of the first questions people usually ask me about back country skiing is "How do you get up the mountain without a chair lift?".
There are a few different ways but the most common is called "skinning" as shown by this photo. The skis are pretty similar to resort skis (but often lighter). I use bindings that can be released at the heel and pivot near the toe letting the ski slide along as you walk like a cross country ski. There are skins attached to the bottom of the skis that allow the ski to grab the snow rather than sliding backwards. These skins also allow the ski to slide forward easily. The skins attach using a combination of removable glue and hooks on the front and back of the ski (the orange tails on the back of my ski are where these hooks mount).
The boots are also a little different from what you may find in a resort, the ankles can pivot freely until you lock them in place.
At the top of the hill, I remove the skins, lock the boots and heels in place and ski down.
I hope this is helpful for people, let me know what you think of this kind of post.
Yes look into avy courses before anything, back country snow sports are dangerous without the right knowledge. This is in the side bar but I added it to the post as well. Perhaps I will do another post today or tomorrow and post a couple photos of my AIARE 1 course and explain what these courses are like.