Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

Seen this post over on the multi-personality telemark forum. With the advent of advanced snow science eduction, personal locator beacons, inreach devices etc, is this still a relevant opinion? It can be argued that group skiing can create over confidence in complex terrain. Personally I ski solo ALL the time and the amount of times I encounter groups in the backcountry vs solo would be pretty even 50/50. In spicy complex terrain I'd be more inclined to seek out a partner but imo making a general rule against solo skiing is nonsense

Some resources:

https://skiing.place/backcountry-skiing-solo/



A good read

https://www.powder.com/news/the-legenda ... ountaineer Be cool, ski solo like telehiro

If I didn’t ski solo, I wouldn’t ski at all. My buddies got too old to ski.
Tell Mr Know it all I said to kiss off! …or if I run into him he might get his a$$ kicked by a 60+ year old man!

I can't post there, it pains me to make a grown ass man delete his own shit

https://therealtelemarktips.freeforums. ... alk?page=5

fisheater wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 10, 2025 3:31 pm

If I didn’t ski solo, I wouldn’t ski at all. My buddies got too old to ski.
Tell Mr Know it all I said to kiss off! …or if I run into him he might get his a$$ kicked by a 60+ year old man!

Exactly what I was going to say, Bob, word for word. The whole thing.

I had been skiing solo a few weeks ago. Mediocre snow but better than sitting in the office. Low angle stuff. Got back to the car and slipped in the parking lot. Really trashed my elbow. A true wonder I didn't break it. It's getting better but I'll be wearing a motorcycle elbow protector for the rest of this year.

Point being, you can get into trouble anywhere. I fell in the parking lot because I wasn't paying attention. Keep your wits about you and you'll probably be fine skiing alone. Lose your focus in the parking lot and you could be killed.

Thanks @JohnSKepler i appreciate that. I guess i should not post when I’m taking a break because I’m frustrated.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

It’s the same thing with some people saying, You should not drink booze alone.

Most of My skiing and drinking is alone & if I had to wait for someone to ski or drink with, it would eliminate about 80% of those activities.

Gonna ski with the husky this weekend so I don't offend KarenTele over on the blahblahblahTelehiro forum

https://youtube.com/shorts/6rN1TTmiw4s? ... tZEpftZEDJ

I suck. Who cares!

Wow, if those guys were criticizing Tom for skiing alone they must pretty hard up to find something to be critical about.

Lhartley wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 10, 2025 7:17 pm

Gonna ski with the husky this weekend so I don't offend KarenTele over on the blahblahblahTelehiro forum

https://youtube.com/shorts/6rN1TTmiw4s? ... tZEpftZEDJ

I suck. Who cares!

Is Karen Ron's alpine ski instructor friend where he gets his expertise? They do need more people who think exactly like them over there. That's why they only had about 3 or 4 active members. When you're an outsider, even when you agree with them, you're still wrong, and I'll bet they haven't even done any B tele yet.

If the slope angle does not exceed 30 degrees and is not connected to steeper terrain above, then there is no chance of an avalanche occurring. I watch Tom's videos regularly and he does not appear to be exceeding 30 degrees and he is generally in more rolling terrain rather than big alpine terrain with huge slide paths.

There is always the risk of falling into a tree well or injuring yourself. Everyone has their own risk tolerance. The risks of solo backcountry skiing in terrain where avalanche danger is avoidable are acceptable to me. I will also go hiking, off trail, in rough terrain alone and I will also paddle mild whitewater in a deep wilderness setting alone. All of that is within my risk tolerance.

It was in regards to this video. It's simple terrain. He was walking straight up most inclines. Not a dig at Tom but at times he had trouble keeping momentum because of low angles. He crossed a few gullies that MAY be considered terrain traps in the absolute worst of snow conditions? Which these were not. I saw zero slab evidence There was a few convex rolls. One would have to dive into a tree well on purpose. Overhead hazards non existent. Classic simple terrain

https://avysavvy.avalanche.ca/en-ca/simple-terrain

Anybody that thinks this is at all risky skiing needs bubble wrap. It's nearly equivalent to saying solo nordic skiing is dangerous