Backcountry skills clinics are already filling up at the Backcountry Ski & Snowboard Academy, February 9 to 11 at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Created by Vancouver-based Arc’Teryx the weekend event includes more than 50 courses in mountain skills ranging from steep skiing to crevasse rescue.
The clinics are taught by a combination of sponsored Arc’Teryx athletes – including Greg Hill, Christina Lusti and Eric Hjorliefson – and local professional guides from Exum Mountain Guides, one of the oldest guiding companies in North America.
“Moving beyond basic classroom instruction, we’ve created these specialized courses with an emphasis on simplified and distilled information for the means of making smarter field-based decisions when you’re out in the mountains,’ said Brenton Reagan of Exum Mountain Guides. “These clinics are designed to allow for better decision making based on what’s happening at that moment, the weather, the terrain and the people in a group. It’s going to be an educational and fun weekend!”
Clinics range in cost from $50 to $400. In addition there are free seminars related to backcountry skiing including neutron and GPS navigation.
For more information about the climbing academy go to http://jacksonhole.arcteryxacademy.com
RYAN REPORT is a frequent web post by Ski Canada magazine’s technical editor, Ryan Stuart.
