Friday, 8 March 2013

Skiing with Kids: Teach them that there's no such thing as "sidecountry"

When I was a kid, there was in-bounds and out-of-bounds. In-bounds was where you were allowed to ski. Out-of-bounds was outside the ropes where you weren't allowed to ski. If you ducked under the ropes you would be immediately lost and freeze to death. Or worse, your lift ticket would be taken away and you'd have to explain things to your parents. It was simple.

Today, kids are faced with something called "sidecountry". It's just beyond the ski area boundry, a magical place where you can experience the thrills of backcountry skiing with none of the dangers. It's risk-free, it's fun and it's extremely tempting. The problem is, as the U.S. National Ski Area Association pointed out in a recent editorial titled "There's No Such Thing As Sidecountry", it doesn't exist.

What is sidecountry, or slackcountry as it's also known? As described above, it's the area outside the ski hill boundaries. All you have to do is duck under the rope, poach some epic pow or tree skiing, duck back under the rope at the bottom and take the chairlift up for another run. That's the theory. The reality is that it's not patrolled by the ski patrol, there's no avalanche control, and you have no idea what you're going to find or whether you'll find a way back to the chairlift. It has exactly the same risks as backcountry skiing, without the recognition of those risks. And a risk you don't recognize is a risk you can't assess and either mitigate or avoid. It's a risk that can kill you.

Despite this, sidecountry is celebrated by ski and snowboard manufacturers, outdoor media and a world wide web's worth of blogs and other social media. For example, one of the cover stories of the February/March issue of Backcountry is "Sidecountry Lies and Why They Keep Killing." Inside the magazine, they devote one page to the NSAA editorial. But keep flipping through the magazine and you find article after article telling you why sidecountry is fun, how to ski sidecountry and so on.

If you're an impressionable young skier, you could be excused for being confused. Out-of-bounds is bad. Sidecountry is good. Throw in some peer pressure, the indestructibility of youth, and a kid whose skyrocketing hormones are screwing with his/her brain (ah, puberty, I remember you well), and you've got all the conditions for tragedy.

So what's a parent to do? Teach your kids that there's no such thing as sidecountry, and the dangers of ducking under the rope. Teach your kids responsible skiing by example. Teach your kids age-appropriate avalanche safety. Have the talk with their ski buddies as well. And make it clear that if they duck under the rope and survive, there will be very real, near fatal, consequences when you find out.

For more information on ski and avalanche safety, read these posts:

Skiing with Kids: Getting Down the Hill Safely Starts on the Chairlift Up
Kids Outdoor Skills: Age-Appropriate Avalanche Safety Education
Kids Outdoor Skills: Avalanche Safety Video for Teens 

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