With crampons on their boots and ice picks in their hands, ski mountaineers don鈥檛 let the absence of chairlifts prevent them from climbing steep slopes 鈥� and skiing all the way back down them.
Among these athletes is 麻豆社国产resident Eric Carter, who is in Europe right now completing the ski mountaineering World Cup circuit, which consists of 10 races over a period of five events.听
After that, the 30-year-old is aiming to go to Italy in late February where he will take on the World Championships, which can be likened to the ski mountaineering equivalent of the Super Bowl.
And if that wasn鈥檛 enough, he鈥檒l then be off to tackle the high-profile Pierra Menta tournament in France with fellow 麻豆社国产resident Nick Elson, who was named by Canadian Running magazine as 2016鈥檚 trail runner of the year.听
To get ready for the challenging road ahead, Carter logged in about 800 hours of training last year, focusing his training on pacing and technique.听
The competitions promise to be, if nothing else, a gruelling challenge. While ski mountaineering offers the thrilling prospect of ripping through powder that has been untouched by snow groomers, much time in the sport is spent climbing up treacherous inclines and cliffs.
So, what drives Carter to do it?
鈥淭he ability to get to places others rarely go,鈥� Carter wrote in an email interview from Europe. 鈥淭he feeling of being completely isolated, deep inside Garibaldi Park during a one-day traverse of the McBride Range was certainly something that will stay with me for a long time.鈥�
Carter grew up cross-country skiing in Minnesota. After he moved from Minneapolis to 麻豆社国产in 2009 to study in UBC, he took up ski touring.
It was only a matter of time before he took on a more intense variation of that sport 鈥� in 2012, Carter entered into a ski mountaineering race and hasn鈥檛 looked back since.
For him, one of the big draws about the sport is that for much of the time, practice doesn鈥檛 take place in a gym.
鈥淚 train in the mountains and the backcountry,鈥� wrote Carter. 鈥淭o count powder skiing at the Sea to Sky Gondola or racing around the Spearhead Traverse as training is fantastic. It never gets old!鈥�
But Carter isn鈥檛 in it just for the nice scenery.
His desire to take his game to a very serious competitive level can be traced back to an appreciation for getting things done the right way.
鈥淭he sport of competitive ski mountaineering really rewards efficiency,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淚t obviously requires good fitness and good technical skills but the most important component is putting it all together smoothly, to be as efficient as possible.鈥�
The attention to detail has served him well.听
Since he started, he鈥檚 gone on to compete with the world鈥檚 best. His team placed 15th out of 187 in the 2015 Pierra Menta tournament and clinched 13th out of 176 in the 2015 Mezzalama competition.
But Carter also has his eye on the long game.
He said that while he loves to compete, he would eventually like to take on new responsibilities.
鈥淚鈥檇 also like to step into an organizing role in North American skimo racing, both to help new athletes getting into the sport and also to organize a race on the Coast,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淢aybe Whistler Blackcomb would be a willing host?鈥�
Given Carter鈥檚 credentials, Whistler Blackcomb just might.
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