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#1
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What is backcountry?
Most folks in this area (Rochester , NY, where there is no snow)consider
anything that is ungroomed to be backcountry like! gr |
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#2
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What is backcountry?
On Sat, 06 Jan 2007 12:32:06 -0500, gr
wrote: Most folks in this area (Rochester , NY, where there is no snow)consider anything that is ungroomed to be backcountry like! Also, "backcountry" seems to me to be mostly a north american expression. In europe the usual expression is "off piste", which can encompass anything from just the other side of the rope to a days hike. -- Champ |
#3
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What is backcountry?
"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 |
#4
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What is backcountry?
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 |
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