my first back country skiing experience

Thought I posted this last week, guess with everything going on I forgot...

Last Saturday FH and I went back country skiing with his friend Greg. We went to an area near Winter Park that had low avalanche danger (I've done avi training but don't have a beacon yet). It didn't occur to me until we got there that "skiing in the trees" (where there's low avalanche danger) meant "you really need to be able to control your skis because you could hit a tree". And me without my helmet...

We parked the car and put our skins on, a bit of a challenge since they were cold. Normally you put them on when the skins are warm so you can easily separate them from the backing. Skins look like a flat stuffed animal that you stick to the bottom of your skis so you don't slide backwards (as much) when you are ascending a slope.

Heading up - all smiles and a funny hat

We finally got the skins off and took off on the trail. The very first part is flat, which is nice because you can warm up a little before climbing. I fell for the first time when I tried to unfasten the back of my boot from my ski (BC skis allow you to lift your heel so you can "ski skate" up a hill - mine also have a thing that's like a high heel that makes it easier when you are ascending a steep slope - instead of setting your foot all the way back on the ski you can step on the high heel - makes for less burn on the calves).

Other than having difficulty unfastening my ski boot I found skiing uphill easy (and easier than skiing downhill). Finally all those years of hiking helped me in a sport. I was perfectly happy to keep going up forever, but we got to the tree line, where the avalanche danger was high, and turned around. That's when I realize "fuck me, I have to ski down a narrow trail?"

Do I LOOK coordinated enough to ski through trees? I can't even keep my poles straight. And yes, that is a guy peeing behind me. Photo half bomb.

I got a little psyched out (especially because I forgot my helmet and goggles) and fell twice on the first stretch. I've never really skied trees before and I'm used to having enough room to stop by turning. I finally decided to just let my skis run (and they're fast because they're new) and steer as best as I could. Shockingly, once I started going fast I was fine and made it the rest of the way down without falling.

Fucking hand warmers

 By the time I got back to the car my hands were completely frozen even though I had two hand warmers in both gloves. I was trying to take my boots off but could barely manage because I had screaming barfies so bad (it was around 0 degrees Fahrenheit outside) it hurt to move my fingers and all I could successfully accomplish was stomping around the parking lot yelling "are you fist fucking me??? fuck that hurts!!!!". So, to add to the boot warmers my dad bought me for helping him move I decided to add some battery powered gloves. I will be interested to see how well they keep my hands warm this weekend.