More and more people come to us every year looking for backcountry skiing instruction and backcountry ski tours — often with teachable moments taking center stage. Many we find just want to get up there and check it out with no agenda in mind. They seek a knowing companion. With respect to avalanche, hangfire, and sliding fall hazards, we’re that companion.
As backcountry skiing looks to be a trend that will continue, what we’re also seeing more and more is the emergence of split-boarders seeking the same thing as skiers. For those not in the know, a split-board is a snowboard that, as its name implies, is spit in the middle, lengthwise. Riders will attach each plank to their feet with special articulating bindings, adding “skins” for traction — just like the skiers do — allowing split-boarders a chance to “skin up” the mountain, too. Showing one such rider the goods was the assignment for Redline Guide Phoebe Seltzer, introducing one split-boarder to Tuckerman Ravine and the CCC’s John Sherburn (Sure Burn) Ski Trail a.k.a. the Sherb or Sherbie.
