Click here for the 2012-2013 BSTS Student Handouts and Lecture Videos
Click here for the 2012-2013 BSTS Instructor Materials (Password Required)
Want to experience Colorado’s finest snow, away from the crowds and expensive lift tickets? Come join us this January and learn to cross-country ski and prepare for the backcountry. The Colorado Mountain Club’s Denver Group presents you with an excellent opportunity to learn a new winter sport or to reacquaint you with an old one. In December, we start with a lecture on such subjects as safety, avalanche awareness, and selection of skis. In January, we offer three full days on snow with lessons geared to your level of skill and endurance. Each year we have students who range from folks who have skied for years to those who have never stood on skis. You will be in a small class, often less than ten students with two instructors, taught by Club volunteers who, annually, enhance their own skills through lessons from local Professional Ski Instructor Association instructors.
The first on-snow day is held at a Summit County Nordic center where you will become comfortable on skis and learn basic flat track and uphill techniques. The second is spent at a Nordic center, in the backcountry on easy trails or at a lift-assisted area, depending on group skills, learning basic downhill techniques. Finally, the day students look forward to a trip into the backcountry to apply your newly learned skills and advance your technique. Here’s some of what you will learn:
Proper skis/gear/clothing for the terrain and conditions you want to ski
Better balance techniques
Diagonal stride, including poling
Downhill maneuvers (includes stopping, which is always good to know…)
Turning maneuvers
Climbing maneuvers – herringbone, side-step, etc.
Avalanche awareness
Schedule for 2012-2013
Tuesday, December 4th at 6:30pm at the CMC
Field Days:
Saturdays (January 5, 12, 19)…all day
or
Sundays (January 6, 13, 20)…all day
or
Tuesdays (January 8, 15, 22)…all day
Tuition
$95 for Denver Group members,
$80 for returning BSTS students! (If you were enrolled in one of the last three years.) Contact Sharon Bolton at sbolton3@comcast.net for the coupon code.
$105 for non-Denver group CMC members
Cost includes the lecture, three days of lessons and a trail pass for the first day. Where else can you find this value in today’s ski market?!
As with all CMC schools, the Backcountry Ski School is open to CMC MEMBERS ONLY. See our Membership page for becoming a member on-line, or see Membership Application for an application form for the Denver Group of the CMC which you can print out and fax in.
Tuition includes the lecture, three days of lessons and a trail pass for the first day. Where else can you find this value in today’s ski market? Don’t have skis? Don’t worry. We will tell you what to rent and where to rent them.
For more information and registration for the Backcountry Ski Touring School, and the section on backcountry, off-trail ski skills, please visit www.cmc.org. If you have questions which are not answered here or on the registration form, please contact BSTS director Joan Rossiter at Joan Rossiter or call 303-241-7968.
PDF Application print and fax back to the CMC at 303-279-9690
