It can happen at less than 30 degrees. It has happened in Utah.JB TELE wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 9:11 pmIf 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.
Solo Skiing
- JohnSKepler
- Posts: 585
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Re: Solo Skiing
Veni, Vidi, Viski
- randoskier
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Re: Solo Skiing
Exactly Fish! I hate namby pamby cautionary tales.
Last season I met a 71 year-old retired mountain guide from Scotland who was skiing the same route as us in Norway but in the other sense- he was north to south, we were south to north. We stayed overlapped in a cabin where we both took rest days. He was pulling a heavy pulk and it is a mountainous route. He was alone. I skied several multi day routes in Scandinavia including a beautiful two week one from Lonsdal on the arctic circle to the tiny airport in Hemavan Sweden (Fokker 50 planes!) through the Vindalfjall Nature Reserve.
On these long trips the solitude is very interesting when you are in white-out or a storm with a big wind- you have to really concentrate. It is great for mediating as you ski in calmer weather. It is also nice to run across other people from time to time (I only ran into one other party in the Vindalfjall and a construction crew renovating a hut. .
This year the ex-mountain guide and I are skiing to together, a route 15 days long. My wife is injured and out for the season.
I also run with scissors! Fast!
- randoskier
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Re: Solo Skiing
Only with wet snow. "“The exact critical angle of repose depends on the temperature, wetness, and shape of the snow grains. For example, wet, slushy snow has very little strength for its weight and can avalanche off slopes as gradual as 15°. Newly fallen snow has relatively low cohesion but generally has enough strength to cling to 40° to 50° slopes. How- ever, if the new snowfall is cold enough, avalanches of cold, dry snow may occur on slopes of 30° to 40°because sintering cannot proceed fast enough at the cold temperatures to anchor the snow. Rounded graupel crystals generally will not cling to slopes steeper than 40° and often roll down steep slopes like ball bearings. In the Andes, conditions exist that permit thick slabs to cling to inclinations as steep as 50° or 60°. ” -ChabotJohnSKepler wrote: ↑Sun Jan 12, 2025 10:15 amIt can happen at less than 30 degrees. It has happened in Utah.JB TELE wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 9:11 pmIf 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.
- randoskier
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Re: Solo Skiing
When I ski alone on a tour I am very careful about spring time lake-ice (and ice on regulated lakes i.e. hydro-dammed lakes), I keep a complete change of dry clothes including socks and underwear, gloves, and hat in a dry bag). Not too worried about getting out of the water (there is a simple technique), but need to take care afterwards. I also carry a Garmin InReach SOS device whether I am with people or alone- almost all of the area I ski normally in northern Norway/Sweden/Finland has no cell signal or intermittent signal.
Lots of stuff can happen to unprepared groups as well-
Lots of stuff can happen to unprepared groups as well-
- Inspiredcapers
- Posts: 376
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Re: Solo Skiing
Had an interesting experience a couple of weeks ago that provided food for thought in regards to skiing alone. I was in a provincial park blazing my own trails. When I was looping back I heard a lot of yelling/loud voices. Went to investigate and discovered a group of snowshoers had followed my tracks- I had skied over a log jam I wasn’t aware of (deep, drifted snow) easily on the Metsäs but the Herd following me had punched through and a couple of them were armpit deep in the shit. One of them had the smarts to get some long branches to use for them to distribute their weight to get out. I think the day was over for the guys who had become stuck- absolutely exhausted. They’d panicked and thrashed around trying to get out (that sinking feeling combined with immobility would’ve been unsettling for sure). Safety in numbers…maybe? Took awhile for the numbers to become effective though.
Got me to thinking about situations like that. There’s been a couple of times I’ve hit soft spots and sunk in a way that getting out was pretty difficult. In my experience panic is the worst thing a person can do. I’m pondering adding stuff to my pack for self rescue (more paracord, maybe something light weight and inflatable to use as an anchor to push off from- guess I just described another use for a small avypack).
Got me to thinking about situations like that. There’s been a couple of times I’ve hit soft spots and sunk in a way that getting out was pretty difficult. In my experience panic is the worst thing a person can do. I’m pondering adding stuff to my pack for self rescue (more paracord, maybe something light weight and inflatable to use as an anchor to push off from- guess I just described another use for a small avypack).
- randoskier
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Re: Solo Skiing
This doc is probably lucky that she was skiing with two other doctors, as she had a spell of rotten luck in the Narvik Mountains in Arctic Norway. So it is ok to ski alone, but probably better to ski with several doctors in tow, we used to have a internal-medicine doctor in our ski gang (an Army doc), but she moved back to the states.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/620609.stm
The whole story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_B%C3%A5genholm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/620609.stm
The whole story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_B%C3%A5genholm
- randoskier
- Posts: 1205
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Re: Solo Skiing
Snowshoers!!!! Worse than snowmobilers...well almost....they should always hold hands anyway! ... Actually I have a pair of inflatable snowshoes (with metal crampon), they are my spare tire for long tours in the middle of nowhere and nice to have when global warming sends the mercury to 11°C in late March at 71° N (on the Pasvik River) and the snow is collapsing under your skis, I was alone but the Russians did not get me, at one point I was just couple of meters from Russia (three-country point- Russia-Norway-Finland), one bank of the river is in Norway one in Russia, also runs from Finland- the source is Lake Inari there.Inspiredcapers wrote: ↑Sun Jan 12, 2025 1:08 pm... and discovered a group of snowshoers had followed my tracks- I had skied over a log jam I wasn’t aware of (deep, drifted snow) easily on the Metsäs but the Herd following me had punched through and a couple of them were armpit deep in the shit...
- Inspiredcapers
- Posts: 376
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- Occupation: Heavy Equipment Operator
Re: Solo Skiing
Randoskier- I like what you describe for terrain, sounds like a place I’d enjoy.
Inflatable snowshoes…that is seriously F’ing brilliant for a backup worth considering. The first ones I linked too weigh about a pound (not sure if thats a pair or each?).
https://abs-airbag.com/en/products/a-bove
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/167156113166?mk ... media=COPY
Inflatable snowshoes…that is seriously F’ing brilliant for a backup worth considering. The first ones I linked too weigh about a pound (not sure if thats a pair or each?).
https://abs-airbag.com/en/products/a-bove
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/167156113166?mk ... media=COPY
- aclyon
- Posts: 56
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- Ski style: adapt or die
- Occupation: mastering engineer, electronic musician
- Website: http://xexify.com
Re: Solo Skiing
That's just their karma for ruining your ski tracks lol.Inspiredcapers wrote: ↑Sun Jan 12, 2025 1:08 pmHad an interesting experience a couple of weeks ago that provided food for thought in regards to skiing alone. I was in a provincial park blazing my own trails. When I was looping back I heard a lot of yelling/loud voices. Went to investigate and discovered a group of snowshoers had followed my tracks- I had skied over a log jam I wasn’t aware of (deep, drifted snow) easily on the Metsäs but the Herd following me had punched through and a couple of them were armpit deep in the shit. One of them had the smarts to get some long branches to use for them to distribute their weight to get out. I think the day was over for the guys who had become stuck- absolutely exhausted. They’d panicked and thrashed around trying to get out (that sinking feeling combined with immobility would’ve been unsettling for sure). Safety in numbers…maybe? Took awhile for the numbers to become effective though.
In all seriousness though--
I trail run in the summer. A lot. Far. In really desolate places. ALONE. Why alone? Cus no one wants to do that crazy shit with me!! And the few who do, are impossible to coordinate with all the time. No one ever talks trash about trail runners going out alone, everyone who runs knows you have HAVE to go out alone to train properly/enough. I have gotten myself in some sticky situations out there-- probably the most common thing that happens that can really put you in a pickle is spraining/twisting an ankle. But dehydration, heat stroke, getting lost, biting off more than you can chew, are all things that can happen out there.
I have a ski buddy. We go out once a week, and yeah, we try and save some of the more serious tours for when we can go together. But I still go out alone all the time! It would suck if I couldn't. No one except my ski buddy is into nordic BC (it's all AT nerds out here slogging along on skins and looking for some ridiculous angle to make jump turns on). I am so rarely in proximity to any thing that could be considered "avalanche terrain", though I do often read the avi report before going out (especially after recent storms). Probably the most dangerous thing I do alone is ski on frozen lakes, so I watched lots of Nordic skating videos to see how those folks handle accidents. I'm confident I could get out of the water easily enough and back to warmth within a reasonable amount of time. It helps that Tahoe isn't "that cold" with average temps in winter around 30-35F. I also am fully mentally prepared to bootpack out if my skis failed for some reason. Yes it would suck, yes it would be exhausting, but I am in excellent physical shape and I could handle it.
At Grass Lake, a marshy lake that freezes over early in the season due to how shallow it is, there is a popular AT route called Powder House. It's a 2000+ foot climb through dense trees on steep slopes, but the snow quality is always pretty good and the avi danger is considered low. I ski at Grass Lake all the time, and sometimes make turns on the bottom of Powder House. I see solo AT skiers there all the time! Folks will stop by for a lap after work commonly.
So yeah. I think this whole don't ski alone thing has just been taken too far. It's like the helmet police at the resort. Everyone needs to relax. Responsible back country travelers with their head screwed on straight can make sound, responsible decisions whether in a group or alone.
- randoskier
- Posts: 1205
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Re: Solo Skiing
I have the ABS ones (about a pound each...you can hop if you a are an ultra-lighter)- they are actually made by a Bulgarian company called Small Foot for ABS (the ava-airbag people). Here is a good endurance test in Bulgaria-Inspiredcapers wrote: ↑Sun Jan 12, 2025 4:56 pmRandoskier- I like what you describe for terrain, sounds like a place I’d enjoy.
Inflatable snowshoes…that is seriously F’ing brilliant for a backup worth considering. The first ones I linked too weigh about a pound (not sure if thats a pair or each?).
https://abs-airbag.com/en/products/a-bove
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/167156113166?mk ... media=COPY