In addition to the gear you'd find at a ski resort, backcountry skiing requires a variety of other equipment.
Entering ungroomed snowy mountains means climbing in addition to skiing, so regardless of the time or location, gear like that of a light winter mountain climber is essential.
To that end, we visited the "Backcountry Ski Gear Experience" seminar, held at the end of January by Lost Arrow, a retailer of backcountry ski gear from brands like Black Diamond and Scarpa. We've compiled a collection of how-to videos for backcountry beginners, featuring excerpts from the seminar that teaches the proper use and handling of hiking gear and avalanche gear. There are a total of 10 videos.
[Hiking gear]
Climbing skins
, bindings
, ski poles
, ski crampons
, ski boots
, we're talking about
avalanche backpacks. The first part covers the characteristics of the backpack itself and how to store avalanche gear. The other part covers how to put on an avalanche backpack and how to deploy the balloon.
*The content introduced here is only a part of the lecture.
・Gear used in this video
Osprey/Solden Pro E2 32
This backpack is equipped with an electronic avalanche airbag. By upgrading from the Alpride E1 system to the Alpride E2 system, the compressor has been made 40% smaller and approximately 140g lighter, and the airbag capacity has increased from 150L to 162L. The electronic unit is supercapacitor-based, which has the advantage of not requiring maintenance during storage, unlike lithium-ion battery-type units. It also has features specifically designed for snowy mountains, such as a variety of ski and snowboard attachment methods, a helmet carrier, and ski/snowboard attachment points
Interview cooperation: Lost Arrow
Filming and editing: Daiki Yoshikawa
Video composition and text: Shinya Moriyama