Trailpatrol wrote:
"Backcountry" is different things to different people in different
areas. In most National Park units and National Forests, the
backcountry is the undeveloped forest, grassland and desert areas up
to, and including wilderness areas. In terms of skiing, "backcountry"
has become a "genre" that implies "anything beyond the groomed" and
usually the steeper, and more avalanche-prone, the better. Here in
Minnesota, we don't have much in the way of mountains. (The highest
point in the state is less than 200 feet higher then the hill I lived
on 20 years ago in the Finger Lakes region of NYS.) and, when we have
snow, our true backcountry is a million or so acres of lakes, rivers
and forests called the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) where it is
more important to have self-rescue ice picks than an avvy beacon.

To me. and I am a state park ranger, backcountry is anyplace not
frequented by the motorized masses, where I can get away from noise and
crowds and "hang my brain up on a tree limb and let it air out." I like
skiing in our state and federal wildlife refuges for that reason. No
snowmobiles, very little use in the winter. Just quiet.

Maybe that's a better definition of backcountry: "Just quiet."

Ski safe,
Trailpatrol

My definition is pretty similar - if you're breaking trail, you're doing
backcountry. Doesn't matter if it's climbing a mountain to ski down it,
or just exploring a frozen and snow-covered creek. Part of it, for me,
is the exploration aspect of it.

Chris