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
This time,
we're talking about beacons. We asked Mr. Hashimoto and Mr. Sakamoto from Lost Arrow to give us a lecture on beacons. The content is divided into two parts.
One covers how to wear a beacon and points to note. The other is about avalanche rescue methods. This part outlines the general steps of avalanche rescue using a beacon.
*The content introduced here is only a part of the course.
・Gear used in this video
PEEPS/PEEPS Pro IPS
This is the most advanced avalanche beacon, boasting a wide 80m search range and an electromagnetic interference protection system. The adoption of a digital front end and "digital antenna simultaneous signal processing" that processes two antennas simultaneously enables 80 times faster processing (compared to our previous models). The distinctive foldable bar houses an X-antenna, enabling a wider search area. Furthermore, the bar folds down to cover the power switch in transmission mode, preventing accidental activation, and in search mode, it helps keep the X-antenna away from electronic devices such as smartwatches
Interview cooperation: Lost Arrow
Filming and editing: Daiki Yoshikawa
Video composition and text: Shinya Moriyama