For the second field day of the Backcountry Ski Touring Ski (BSTS) offered by the CMC our group traveled to Loveland Ski Area. On our first field day at the Frisco Nordic Center we’d learned classic nordic skiing techniques. Today we’d spend our time on the area’s beginners slopes learning downhill skills on slightly thicker skis equipped with metal edges.
Starting out with the age-old standby we reviewed the snowplow wedge and turning while in the wedge formation. We worked on narrowing the wedge and transitioning into parallel-style turns. I found I had to unlearn many of my recent improvements with shaped skis to make the straight and skinny planks force a turn.
To improve our turning and add a bit of fun our ski poles were taken to build a slalom course.
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Unfortunately, by now the various ski school lessons at Loveland had started up and the lines for the one lift we had access to had greatly increased. Fortunately, we all had skis with waxless scales or grip wax and could provide our own transportation uphill for multiple runs on the slalom course.
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After an early lunch we took a few runs through a narrow and bumpy tree route were I felt the odd sensation of having both more maneuverability and less control than my normal AT/randonee skis. Finally, we finished the day with one run focusing on some of the techniques that would lead to telemark turns (a technique not actually covered in this course).
Our final field day will be spent in the backcountry putting all these skills to use.
