Shasta Skills & Ski Weekend is a fun mix of skills and ski touring. We’ll set you up with fundamental ski mountaineering skills that you can take to any big mountain, from Mount Shasta to the Andes! On day one, we’ll cover our basics of the gear and travel techniques we use in ski mountaineering. On day two, we’ll put our skills to the test and tour the mountain looking for great turns and places to practice skills.
The program is two days in the field and will cover safety and efficiency techniques for big mountain ski mountaineering.
You'll learn:
- The Rest Step
- Crampon techniques for various types of terrain
- Ski Crampons
- All about Ice Axes
- Anatomy of an ice axe
- Various grips and applications
- Team arrest (when travelling on a rope team)
- Self arrest
- Rope Travel
- Short roping with a guide
- Glacier travel
- Transitions
- From skinning to cramponing
- Cramponing to skiing in steep terrain
Prerequisite Experience
Participants are expected to be confident in ski touring and advanced to expert ski terrain in variable conditions. No prior experience with Ice Axes, Crampons or ropes is required.
Itinerary
Day 1
8:00 am Meet your guide at the trailhead
We'll do a quick gear check and review the plan for the day. The guide will discuss where we'll travel and provide an overview of the skills to be covered for the day. The guide will conduct a Trailhead Departure Check/Beacon Check.
8:30 am Travel to a suitable area to practice the skills we need for the day
The purpose of the day is building skills, so we'll focus on that, rather than travelling long distances.
9:00 am Skills
- We'll begin our skills session, covering basic efficiency, footwork and body position, including the rest step.
- Crampon techniques for various types of terrain
- Ski Crampons, how and when to use them
- All about Ice Axes
- Anatomy of an ice axe
- Various grips and applications
- Team arrest (when travelling on a rope team)
- Self arrest
- Rope Travel
- Short roping with a guide
- Glacier travel
- Transitions
- From skinning to cramponing
- Cramponing to skiing in steep terrain
3:30 pm Close out the day and return to town.
After we finish skills for the day and establish a plan for the following day, we'll go our separate ways for the evening.
Day 2
6:00-9:00 am Meet to discuss the plan for the day.
We'll base this meeting time on the snow conditions and objective hazards for the day. After meeting up we'll discuss the plan for the day and conduct a trailhead departure check.
Ski Tour
We'll ski tour to find the best turns of the day, putting the skills we learned the previous day to use on the natural features of the mountain. Our tour will be based on the desires of the group and will focus on skills development and finding the best quality snow!
3:30 pm Trailhead debrief and program close
We'll wrap up the course with daylight left to spare, debriefing the skills learned and the next steps for skills development and ski mountaineering opportunities.
Equipment
Shasta Ski Mountaineering Gear Guide
Gear Guide / Packing List
Backcountry Touring Gear
☐ Alpine Touring Skis or Splitboard - Light to Midweight Setup with “Tech Bindings”
☐ Alpine Touring Boots or Splitboard Compatible Boots; Scarpa F1
☐ Ski Poles - Lightweight, Adjustable Poles with Baskets; BD Expedition 3 Poles
☐ Climbing Skins - Mohair Mix is Best; Black Diamond GlideLite Mohair Mix,
☐ Ski Crampons - Specific to your Skis/Board;
☐ Ski Strap - Voile Ski Strap or Similar
Avalanche Gear
☐ Avalanche Beacon - Digital Avalanche Transceiver; Black Diamond Guide Recon BT
☐ Avalanche Shovel - Collapsible, Aluminum Shovel; Backcountry Access BT2 Shovel
☐ Avalanche Probe - Quickdraw Style Probe; Backcountry Access Stealth 300
Technical Gear
☐ Climbing/Ski Helmet - Dual Rated Helmet; Petzl Sirocco or Black Diamond Vision
☐ Headlamp - LED headlamp with fresh batteries; Petzl Actik Core
☐ Climbing Harness - Light Alpine Harness; Petzl Altitude, Mammut Zephyr Altitude
☐ Two Locking Carabiners - Petzl Attache, etc
☐ Triple Action Locking Carabiner - Edelrid HMS Strike Triple FG Locking Carabiner
☐ Double Length Sling - Sewn Runner; Black Diamond 10mm Dynex Runner
☐ Belay Device - Tube Style Belay Device; BD ATC Guide, Petzl Reverso
☐ Crampons, Steel - Steel Crampons Compatible with Your Boots; Petzl Vasak
OR Crampons, Aluminum - Aluminum Crampons, Compatible with Your Boots
Please ask your guide which is appropriate for your objective
☐Lightweight Ice Axe - An ultralight Axe for Steep Terrain; Petzl Ride, BD Raven Ultra
Head and Neck Layers
☐ Sun Hat - A Baseball Hat; Blackbird Mountain Guides Logo Hat
☐Sunglasses - Dark Lens Glasses with Side Coverage; Julbo Shield
☐ Goggles - Ski Goggles with a Storm Lens; Julbo Aerospace Reactive
☐ Warm Hat - Lightweight Warm Hat that Fits Under Your Helmet;
☐ Neck Gaiter - Light to Midweight Neck Gaiters; Buff or your favorite Face Masks
***These Are Required as Covid-19 Face Coverings
Upper Body and Hand Layers
☐ Long Sleeve Base Layer - Lightweight, Synthetic/Wool; Patagonia SunHoody
☐ 2 Insulating Top Layers - Light to Midweight Insulation Layers; Patagonia R1 & NanoAir
☐ Puffy - Midweight Down or Synthetic with Hood; Patagonia Fitzroy or similar
☐ Hardshell Jacket, Hooded - Waterproof, Light, Gore-Tex, NOT insulated; Arc’Teryx Alpha FL
☐ Light Gloves - Light to Mid Weight for Warm Temps; Flylow John Henry Gloves, BD Tour
☐ Midweight Gloves - Mid to Heavy Weight for Cold Conditions; BD Legend
☐ Sports Bra - Wool/Synthetic
Lower Body and Foot Layers
☐ Socks - Midweight Wool/Synthetic; Darn Tough Via Ferrata
☐ Underwear - Wool/Synthetic
☐ Long Underwear - Wool/Synthetic “Long Johns”; Patagonia Capilene Air
☐ Softshell Ski Pants - Breathable, Weather Resistant Pants; OR Trailbreaker II
☐ Vented Hardshell Ski Pants - (Conditions dependent) Waterproof Pants for Extreme Weather
Camping & Backpacking Gear
☐ Sleeping Bag - Down or Synthetic Rated to 0F-20F; Feathered Friends Egret UL 20
☐ Sleeping Pad - Insulated Inflatable Air Mattress; Therm-a-Rest NeoAir X-Therm, X-Lite
☐ Compression Stuff Sack - To Pack Sleeping Bag; Ultralight Compression Stuffsack 10L
☐ Backpack - Lightweight, Simple 50 Liter Pack; Patagonia Alpinist 50, BD Speed 50 - MUST FIT ALL OF YOUR GEAR AND FOOD
Food and Water
☐ Dinner - Your Favorite Freeze Dried or “Just-Add-Hot-Water” Meal for Each Night in the Field.
☐ Breakfast - Your Favorite Freeze Dried or “Just-Add-Hot-Water” Meal for Each Morning in the Field
☐ Hot Drinks - For After Dinner and During Breakfast; Instant Coffee, Decaffeinated Tea, Hot Cocoa, Tang, Whatever You Prefer
☐ Half Liter Nalgene Bottle - A Hard Sided Water Bottled that Can Act as your Mug For Hot Drinks and WAter Bottle Dutring the Climb; Nalgene 16oz Wide Mouth Bottle
☐ Soft Water Bottle 1.5L - Flexible Water Bladder; Hydrapak Flux 1.5L
***Please bring at least one hard sided water bottle.
☐ Water Treatment or Filtration - Katadyn BeFree Filter Connects to Hydrapak Flux Bottles
☐ Bowl - Reuse your Freeze Dried Dinner Bag as Your Bowl, or Bring Another;
☐ Spoon - 9” Long Handled Spoon (For Eating Food in a Bag); GSI Essential Spoon Long
☐ Snacks - Snacks and Lunch food for each day of the trip
Other Essentials
☐ Sun Screen (SPF 30 minimum)
☐ Lip Balm (with SPF)
☐ Hand Sanitizer
☐ Toilet Paper
Optional
☐ First Aid/blister Kit
☐ Chemical Hand Warmers
☐ Hydration System - Flexible Water Bladder with Hose; Hydrapak, Camelback, Platypus
Group Gear
Blackbird Mountain Guides will supply all of the group gear for the trip, including:
✔ Slingfin Tents (Designed and Headquartered in Berkeley, CA)
✔ Stoves
✔ Fuel for Stoves
✔ Ropes
✔ Snow Pickets (if required)
✔ Rock Protection (if required)
✔ Guide’s First Aid Kits
✔ Wag Bags (Solid Human Waste Disposal Bags)