My fiancee and I have recently moved here. I'm Australian, mostly a rock climber but I have been on several mountaineering trips (mostly NZ).
We have been travelling round the world before arriving, so have very little gear (some warm clothing and sport climbing gear only).
I have never skiied cross country (downhill only, and that was years ago) but I would like to learn. First of all - can anyone recommend a good (cheap!) place to hire cross country ski gear? Or, if I manage to go on several trips, what about buying (preferably second hand) gear?
What about hiring avi gear? Probe, beacon, shovel? I was taught how to use a receiver years ago on an ice climbing course, but I have forgotten by now. Is it highly recommended, even essential, that I participate in a basic avi course? It is something I would think to do, anyway.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I really know next to nothing about getting into backcountry skiing, so some tips on hiring, buying, what I should do, would be fantastic.
Thanks,
Liam
Hi mate,
Welcome to Canada! I'm an Aussie too with a very similar background. MEC is the place to hire gear, I believe you can hire all of the things you listed.
Many of the backcountry trips require AST-1, have a look on the trips list for an upcoming course, you get a discount as a BCMC member. I haven't done any backcountry skiing but there are introductory trips suitable for beginners.
Cheers,
Sakti
Hi Liam,
Welcome to Canada and BCMC!
If you know exactly what you are looking for, MEC Gear Swap is where to get decent (new or second-hand) stuff: http://www.mec.ca/AST/ContentPrimary/Community/GearSwap.jsp
If you're going to a resort for cross-country skiing, you can usually rent the gear there too. I'm not sure how the prices compare.
A few words of warning with the MEC rentals, they pull their stock pretty early (sometime in March, I think, but I'm not sure) and then they don't start again till late November. Also, sometimes they screw things up, like mismatching the ski length and the skin length. It's good to double check things work before you leave the store.
Great, thanks for the info everyone.