Australia's Leading Alpine Safety Training Company
  • Home
  • Overview
  • Training Courses
    • HUNTING HIMALAYAN POWDER
    • Backcountry intro
    • Jones avy savvy weekend
    • Women in the Backcountry AST1
    • Avalanche Skills Training Level 1 (AST1)
    • Avalanche Awareness Training 2
    • Refresher Training
    • Ski Mountaineering
    • Youth Program
    • Duke of Edinburgh Award
    • Snow Camping
    • Alpine First Aid
  • Team
  • Video
    • Podcasts
  • Store
  • Contact
  • Blog

THE  SOCIAL  SKIN  TRACK

9/5/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
I tour alone regularly (yes I feel the safety conscious waving their fingers already, but I take the necessary precautions that I can). The times I tour alone are for many reasons, one of them is because I like to be quiet and get lost in the world around me. But the skin track is a social place, meeting people and sharing the obligatory questions “where you headed?” and “where you been?” It’s a great bit of comradery amongst the backcountry community. Sometimes you answer in detail, sometimes not, and sometimes you don’t know! On my last tour I got chatting in a near empty Guthega carpark and we settled into a similar rhythm, chatting on the way to Illawong. Midway up Twynam another two guys on their first overnighter join the track. As we all climbed, we got chatting about locations, access and plans for the day. I was feeling like a veteran imparting knowledge to the up and comers. Classic how the ego works. And classic the dance of knowledge exchanged on the skin track. As the climbs kick in the chat lessens and the thoughts contract back in, at the same time the land around expands. Back at the top after the first line, another crew, and suddenly there are seven of us having a yarn. Conditions, lines, plans, equipment and weather. All the core subjects. Some familiar faces too, from last year’s skin track. Funny how the open spaces can pull people together. Slowly the group disbands and skin tracks diverge, different goals, different timelines. The final lines of the day I ride alone, and on the skin home cherish the space and solitude after a day on a social skin track.  

DAVE BAIN
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    March 2022
    January 2022
    May 2020
    March 2020
    October 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2016
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015

    Author

    Snow Safety Australia is a NSW based information website. 

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Training Courses

 AST1    AAT2     Ski Mountaineering
​Snow Camping   BC intro

Company

About

Support

Contact


© COPYRIGHT 2011.
​ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • Overview
  • Training Courses
    • HUNTING HIMALAYAN POWDER
    • Backcountry intro
    • Jones avy savvy weekend
    • Women in the Backcountry AST1
    • Avalanche Skills Training Level 1 (AST1)
    • Avalanche Awareness Training 2
    • Refresher Training
    • Ski Mountaineering
    • Youth Program
    • Duke of Edinburgh Award
    • Snow Camping
    • Alpine First Aid
  • Team
  • Video
    • Podcasts
  • Store
  • Contact
  • Blog