Download Document - The Wilderness Society

© Howie Garber
a story: Following fresh tracks in winter has led me to
encounter moose, deer, and fox. The leafless forest
opens up vistas in winter that may be obscured in summer,
while skiing on frozen lakes and rivers can offer
easy passage through challenging terrain.
Wilderness skiing poses special challenges and is
generally for more advanced intermediate skiers. All of
the tours described here require proficiency navigating
with minimal or no trail makings, and skiing in ungroomed
snow. There are also special hazards: Skiers,
especially those in the western U.S., must be trained
in avalanche awareness and assessment and carry avalanche
rescue equipment if they are venturing into
www.wilderness.org
Mill B-South Fork, Twin Peaks
Wilderness in Utah’s Uinta-
Wasatch-Cache National Forest
slide-prone
terrain (which includes
a number of the
tours noted here).
Following are some of the nation’s
best wilderness areas for backcountry skiing.
Each wilderness has unique character, ranging from
its views and terrain to the quality of snow. But all
share the common bond of being places, as the Act
poetically states, “where the earth and its community
of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is
a visitor who does not remain.”
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