We often marvel at the ski pros. How do they ski that way? You would ski great too if you lived at a ski resort and skied every day! However, the majority of us don’t live at ski resorts. We usually have to learn how to ski on weekends or ski holidays. Not as romantic as being in the mountains, is it? Randonnée skiing’s biggest attraction to the resort downhill skir is that there is no need to learn an entirely new way of skiing to ski the backcountry. Many parallel skiers think you have to learn Telemark technique to ski the backcountry. But, the fact is that there are more than a million Europeans skiing the backcountry without using any Telemark techniques at all! Practice at an alpine ski area, especially with a qualified instructor, can accelerate the acquisition of new skills. The aspiring backcountry skier should already know basic techniques like snowplowing, side slipping and parallel skiing. Chapter four emphasizes several techniques in order of their use on increasingly steeper slopes. The ultimate goal should be to ski safely, effectively, and efficiently and not to fall. You don’t have to be pretty. Just get down the hill!

Image captions (looking at small icons on the left):
Top left: There is nothing like putting in a nice pair of tracks when the snow is great and the day is beautiful. That is what Randonnée is all about! Current Creek Bench, Berthoud Pass, Colorado. Russellphoto.

Top right: Powder skiing in British Columbia above Battle Abbey Hut. Brian Litz photo.

Middle left: Sticky snow can be removed b using another ski as a scraper. Sticky snow on the Haute Route near Verbier. Vivesphoto.

Middle right and bottlom left: Steeper skiing above Winter Park, Colorado. Russell Photo.