In article ,
Peter Clinch wrote:
News wrote:
I don't know the definition for back country skiing. Would someone please
tell me what it is?

Skiing in the backcountry. Yes, it really /is/ that obvious... ;-)

I basically go along with Peter, but having just returned from the Alps
(5 different countries), the big difference between the US and there is
the perception of objective risk. Ignore the word skiing for a moment
and use a slightly different near term word: snowboarding.

In the US the perception of being rad, etc., the personality issues of
the community (ski or board) is baggage which a lot of people self
teach or informally teach. That doesn't cut it in the Alps. There is
a big avalanche education campaign and still lots of people die.

The big difference is that you see classes where snowboarders learn how to
handle transceivers, probes, and look for people. Here we have more
legal issues, and if you ski at a resort, you don't just cross a boundary.
Europe: skiing off piste is your problem.

There is a nice set of avalanche posters around the Alps: Snowboards as
tombstone/grave markers, and a varity of "dumb" animals on skis and
boards like Homo stupidous (which was a donkey on skis and ski goggles,
etc.). It has practically nothing to do with the activity itself.

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