Pre-Trip Planning for Splitboarding
Pre-trip planning is critical for splitboarding. Gathering information about snow conditions helps narrow down the available options. By knowing what kind of terrain is safe, your group's skills, and the features you want to ride, you can pick the ideal spot ahead of time.
Pre-Trip Planning for Splitboarding in the Rockies
We're at Block Prince today and we're just stepping into some more advanced splitboarding terrain.
I'm a huge fan of pre-trip planning and I'd like to start with gathering info before I think about a location.
From information gathered from Avalanche Canada, and recent trip reports, we've learned that it's been really warm and there's a lot of crusts around. We have a deep persistent layer causing big avalanches and have arrived to a good 15cm of snow.
The criteria we wanted for today was, first and foremost, minimizing overhead hazard because of the new snow and the deep persistent layer. We also wanted to find a somewhat open zone where the trees haven't absorbed all this snow and the new snow will cover the crust.
With our pre-trip planning we carved out our expectations for terrain choice: no overhead hazard and some open runs. I uses this information to narrow down our options for the day.
From our knowledge of touring areas in Kananaskis, we think Black Prince fits the bill. (For a complete rundown of common splitboard runs here, check out [Ski Touring and Splitboarding in Kananaskis])
By using splitboarding guide books [Shop Splitboard Guide Books], Avalanche Canada, and online forums for recent trip reports, you can gather the information you need to make the most informed decisions when pre-trip planning for splitboarding.
To learn more about splitboarding, including pre-trip planning from backcountry experts, have a look at our [Splitboarding Courses]
To learn more about the touring areas in the Canadian Rockies, check out our entire section of [Splitboarding Touring Areas]
For anything else, feel free to contact us below or visit us in store!
Splitboard HQ Contact
Edmonton: (p) 780 463-4892 (e) info@splitboardhq.com
Calgary: (p) 403 288-9283 (e) info@splitboardhq.com