Anyone do any backcountry boarding with their sleds or know of good areas? Calgary based so mainly looking at Golden or Fernie area with the odd weekend in Revy. New to sledding, bought it mainly to get to great snowboarding. Thanks for any info
Snowboarding
- Thread starter martincc
- Start date
RaspberryNytro
Active VIP Member
Quartz & Gorman in Golden are pretty wicked areas to start with
RN
RN
tmo1620
Active VIP Member
I lived in calgary for 4 years and i tried a few backcountry areas to snowboard in with the sled and i found golden the best, always good conditions, fernie was nice when there was fresh snow but it gets consistently warm from time to time and i found that it was to unpredictable. Most of the time i went down there to snowboard i would of been better off going to the ski hill as i could of found just as good of conditions right off the hill. Just my thoughts. I love sledding in fernie but snowboarding wasn't the greatest. I found best snowboarding in the backcountry around golden.
Verti-Kyle
Active member
Ya, just got into sledding myself and bought a snowboard rack to access the fresh pow. Definately check out Gorman in Golden, lots of good lines and has easy access when doubleing back to the top. Rode quartz creek a couple of times but never brought my board, although there were lots of people who did have their boards out there. I found Quartz creek too busy for my liking and wouldnt feel that safe riding a board with that many sleds around. Maybe it was just the time I was there though?
Hmmmm Powder. Can't wait.
Hmmmm Powder. Can't wait.
LID
Active VIP Member
If you just got your sled and haven't sledded much, it's probably best to leave your board at home or in the truck for your first day or two. Get out and learn to ride your sled for a few days, especially if it's deep. It's no fun on a deep day with two green guys trying to tandem through bottomless. I know from experience. Get out and learn how to climb, turn, and sidehill. When I got my first sled 5 years ago, I thought it was going to be nothing but easy pow turns, I found out the first day it wasn't quite so easy. Good times now though
LID
LID
deep blue
Active member
Hey man, congrats on getting into the sled access riding. Best thing I have ever done in my life, period.
I agree with the above posts. Learning how to sled first is a good idea. Don't expect to get too much vert at first. Picking the approach and the runs takes time and experience. You would do best to hook up with some people that have been doing it for a while. You will learn what to look for so much quicker. Quartz and Gorman are probably your best options when starting out if you live in Calgary. But soon you will be going to Revy, Valemount etc. Practice tandem riding on more moderate approaches first. Nothin freaks out a beginner more than a 500lbs. chunk of metal cartwheeling down the mountain after them. Radios are a good idea as well. We've found that a group of 4 seems to be the most efficent for cycling.
Once you get the hang of it you should definitely try Noboarding.
If you are looking for a crew to hookup sometime send me an email.
I agree with the above posts. Learning how to sled first is a good idea. Don't expect to get too much vert at first. Picking the approach and the runs takes time and experience. You would do best to hook up with some people that have been doing it for a while. You will learn what to look for so much quicker. Quartz and Gorman are probably your best options when starting out if you live in Calgary. But soon you will be going to Revy, Valemount etc. Practice tandem riding on more moderate approaches first. Nothin freaks out a beginner more than a 500lbs. chunk of metal cartwheeling down the mountain after them. Radios are a good idea as well. We've found that a group of 4 seems to be the most efficent for cycling.
Once you get the hang of it you should definitely try Noboarding.
If you are looking for a crew to hookup sometime send me an email.
JoHNI_T
Active VIP Member
whats noboarding,??? does that mean just sled n...lol
my plan was to sled ski as well but I have too much fun for now with just the sled but as time passes I am sure the boards will be with me..
definately a trick to finding the right lines.
my plan was to sled ski as well but I have too much fun for now with just the sled but as time passes I am sure the boards will be with me..
definately a trick to finding the right lines.
deep blue
Active member
JoHNI_T
Active VIP Member
that is sweet, I surf behind the boat and love the no bindings, in the snow I ski but love the idea of cutting big POW turns on a board and this may be a sick solution for me...
do ya have one
can I try??
deep blue
Active member
Ya it's all we do now. Makes the mellow stuff super fun again. You can really feel the snow through your feet. We use sorels rather than snowboard boots. They stick to the pad better and have better mobility. We also use a retractable dog leash so the board doesn't get away on ya when you bail. When you get practised you will eventually start droppin the rope. That's when it really gets good.
Not sure where you usually ride, but you can take mine for a spin whenever man.
Not sure where you usually ride, but you can take mine for a spin whenever man.
