Ski mountaineering
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ski mountaineering is a sport that combines the techniques of skiing (often ski touring) with those of mountaineering. The goal of the ski mountaineer may be to climb a beautiful mountain by a worthy route and then ski the mountain down an elegant line, preferably from the summit.
But ski mountaineering is really distinguished from ski touring by a willingness & desire to travel over any part of the mountain, not just those areas with sheltered powder snow fields or other nice descending conditions. This may include significant rock, ice or broken glacier sections, as well as traverses & enchainements rather than just single peak ascents.
While using skiing techniques for much of the time, ski mountaineers climb otherwise inaccessible or dangerous slopes on foot using a range of mountaineering equipment - typically crampons, ice axes and ropes - while skis are carried strapped to their backpack. This either permits access to extreme slopes, or more often allows transit through otherwise impassable terrain in order to continue beyond on skis, where normal ski touring equipment such as skins and harscheisen (ski crampons - also called couteau or cortelli) are used.
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[edit] History
The use of skis for over-snow travel & winter mountain access only recently divided into sub-categories like "ski-mountaineering", "alpine skiing" and "cross-country skiing". See the history of skiing for a time-line of early development.
- Perhaps the earliest & certainly one of the most prolific ski mountaineers was John "Snowshoe" Thompson, who used skis to deliver the mail at least twice a month up & over the steep eastern scarp of the Sierra Nevada mountains to remote California mining camps & settlements. His deliveries began in 1855 and continued for at least 20 years. Thompson's route of 90 miles took 3 days in & 48 hours back out with a pack that eventually exceeded 100 pounds of mail.
- One of the earliest European inspirations for the sport was the Englishman Cecil Slingsby, who crossed the 1,550m high (5,800 feet) Keiser Pass, Norway, on skis in 1880.
- However, the "father" of the sport is generally regarded as the German Wilhelm von Arlt, who made the first ski ascent of over 3,000m, when he climbed the Rauris Sonnblick (3,103m / 10,180 feet high) in 1894.
- The first ski tour in the Alps took place near Davos when the Branger brothers teamed up with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for a tour from Frauenkirch to Arosa in 1894.
- The iconic winter Haute Route between Chamonix & Zermatt is finally linked together in 1911.
- In 1929, Orland Bartholomew skied alone over 300 miles of California's High Sierras from Cottonwood Creek to Yosemite National Park roughly following the line of the summer route that is now known as the John Muir Trail. This included the first winter ascent of the highest peak in the lower 48, Mt. Whitney. Bartholomew was self-supported using food caches placed over the summer.
[edit] Locations & Areas
Ski mountaineering as a sport is particularly popular in the European Alps, where people will commonly do a hut-to-hut tour through the mountains, often crossing difficult passes where mountaineering techniques are required. Day trips from valley bases to make ascents and descents of peaks are also popular.
Ski mountaineering is also popular in other European ranges, such as the Tatra and Pyrenees, and to a lesser extent in New Zealand and the Andes of South America.
Mountain ranges in North America offer excellent ski-mountaineering opportunities. Popular US options include the Sierra Nevada, Wasatch, Tetons & Pacific Rim volcanoes like Mt. Rainier, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Lassen. Mexico's volcanoes, including Pico de Orizaba, Popocatepetl & Iztaccihuatl are very popular when not erupting. Canada has numerous wild, remote mountains appropriate to ski mountaineering.
Expeditionary ski mountaineering takes place in such places as the Andes, Alaska, Himalayas and Greenland. In these areas, access & weather conditions can be so difficult that extensive, extended base camping is required.
[edit] Equipment
Ski mountaineering equipment normally includes skis fitted with a binding that allows the heel to lift for easy ascents. The equipment used is similar to cross country skiing equipment but is generally much more robust, with a plastic boot like an alpine ski boot used. In Alpine ski mountaineering equipment this can be clamped down for downhill sections to allow skiing much like on a piste at a ski resort. In Telemark skiing equipment the heel is not normally clamped down and telemark turns can be executed, as well as parallel turns.
Both Alpine and telemark ski mountaineers use skins attached to the base of the ski to make uphill progress. Originally made from animal pelts, these skins are now made from nylon or mohair. They clip over the tip of the ski and are then fixed to the base with a reusable glue, allowing the ski to slide forward, yet grip before sliding backward. They are taken off for descents.
Also used are poles (sometimes collapsable) and items of safety equipment in case of avalanches including transceivers, snow shovels and probes.
Depending on the terrain to be encountered traditional mountaineering equipment will also be carried, including boot crampons, ice-axes and perhaps ropes and harnesses.
Ski mountaineers typically use a backpack to carry their equipment, food & supplies, lashing their skis & poles to the pack for stretches requiring the use of crampons & ice ax. For longer expeditions, ski mountaineers may tow a sled packed with their gear instead of, or in addition to, carrying a backpack. Some ski mountaineers on long expeditions have also recently begun to use kites to tow themselves & their sleds over extended smooth terrain like frozen sea ice.
For more details on the equipment used in ski mountainering and the different types of skiing see ski touring.
[edit] Ski Mountaineering (Randonnée) Racing
"A Ski Mountaineering race is a timed event that follows an established trail through challenging winter alpine terrain while passing through a series of checkpoints. Racers climb and descend under their own power using backcountry skiing equipment and techniques." --USSMA
[edit] See also
- Skiing and Skiing topics
- History of skiing
- Ski touring
- Haute Route
- Patrouille des Glaciers: the grand-daddy of ski-mountaineering races.
- List of climbing topics
[edit] External links
- The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA - Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme)
- Skimountaineering.org: ski mountaineering competitions
- British Mountaineering Council - Ski Mountaineering
- United States Ski Mountaineering Association
- Mountain Storm - Ski Mountaineering Race
- John "Snowshoe" Thompson
- Piste-Off Ski mountaineering website
