Thoughts on Coronavirus and skiing in Montana

6/1 Update:  Now that it generally feels responsible to be backcountry skiing, I am going to start putting backlogged posts up.  My plan is to put them up incrementally through the dog days of summer to keep everyone excited for ski season 2021!

5/11 Update:  In Montana, the stay at home order has been lifted, and the nasty early April weak layer finally appears to have stabilized.  And folks are starting to venture into the mountains.  I certainly have been more comfortable about skiing and pushing a bit more, and conditions have generally been nothing short of excellent.  A thought experiment I have found useful is to think about how much risk I would accept in non Covid times, then take a moderate step back from that.  Let's stay safe, remember the image we project to non-skiers who are struggling through this difficult time, and stay vigilant in minimizing risk.  Also, this is the best information I have about the status if access in the Missions as of May 11th:  

1. Must live on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
2. Must have tribal recreation pass.
3. No overnight stays
4. There is no stipulation regarding native or non native status.

4/9 Update:  Missoula avalanche has a mandatory read here.  Also, the public observation page is still live. 

I am growing increasingly skeptical of my initial view that we can generally ski normally as long as we think hard about risk.  I think there is a really strong case to be made that the skiing community has already failed (the concept that any individual can be responsible, but across the Western US, we have failed), and as a whole society, we should be doing everything we can to protect those most vulnerable to Covid.  Also, my thinking is evolving on social media to the point where I don't think it is very helpful to post a lot of images of skiing, at least for myself.  Both because there are arguably more important things to have a conversation about, and because it feeds our desire to keep recreating like everything is OK.  A few recent articles I have found compelling. Skiing, skiing, travel to rural communities, ethics.

4/4 I feel obliged to put a few thoughts out there to the Montana ski community in order to foster thought about how we approach backcountry skiing individually and collectively during the Coronavirus crisis.  I certainly don't pretend to hold any of the answers.  I also know the situation is changing daily.  But I think that a few principles deserve consideration and will hold through the end of ski season.

Leah and I did the Mission traverse at the beginning of the Coronavirus oubreak.
It was my best day of skiing this year. We nailed it.
In retrospect, I don't know if it was responsible.

I believe exercising outside is immensely beneficial for mental and physical health.  But backcountry skiing is a privilege.  Montana is under a shelter in place order.   Many have lost their jobs, or are working in health care or other essential jobs and scared, or will be sick. I don't really buy the assertion that we are entitled to backcountry ski for our mental health, or to feel normal.  While I do think that skiing is still a reasonable thing to do, I could spend the rest of the year biking and running for exercise, and my mental health would be just fine.

I think we should each take a step back and consider overhauling our approach to skiing in light of Coronavirus for the rest of the season.  We certainly should give ourselves large safety margins, but I think we should be thinking deeper than that.  A place to start is to define responsible recreation.  There is a vast range between mildly indulgent (i.e. going out for a quick hour tour at Marshall), and getting caught in an avalanche.  My thoughts are evolving, but the more I think about it, the less confident I am that big backcountry tours are responsible. It has also been helpful to reach out to friends to get a second opinion.  And, it has been great to see folks respectfully call each other out in instances where skiers have overstepped what is responsible.  Here are two of the ways I am challenging myself to be different.

• Re-set skiing goals.  I thrive on challenging days in the mountains. I am working to let go of all of my previous goals for the year and completely re-thinking about what I want to accomplish. 
• I am working to spend less time thinking about fitness and recreation, and to devote more time and mental energy to being a responsible citizen.  Keeping track of everything that is changing with coronavirus and reacting accordingly takes a lot of thoughtful engagement.  Working from home without child care is time demanding, and I need to focus on quality time with my son.  I need to be present and a good partner to Leah in this stressful time. 

We must take a hard look at risk. There have been many close calls and skier avalanche incidents across the West since the Coronavirus outbreak.  Including in the Bitterroot.  Even though the vast majority of us have been conservative, the ski community is failing.  Avalanche uncertainty is lower in the spring, but conditions aren't spring like in the mountains right now, and even when they are, we still have to be vigilant in avoiding avalanches.  With spring avalanches, you usually know when you are pushing it.  We should not be pushing it right now.  My personal mantra is: Choose low risk objectives, then be aware, conservative, and consistent, and set the bar low for bailing.  Get up early in the spring.  And don't get greedy.

I am especially thinking about driving, duration of outings and fatigue, contingencies for unplanned accidents, going out with marginal weather, and getting lost, especially at the end of the day.  Let's think about having a rescue plan that doesn't involve S&R (i.e. checking in and out with rescue capable ski friends, using in-reach or other tracking tools).  I also think we should think very hard about doing tours in unfamiliar terrain, and in locations where the ingress and egress are tricky.  A few Missoula areas that I believe deserve special consideration:

• Missions:  The Missions are closed to non residents on Tribal lands.  
• Lolo Peak:  Skiers get lost coming back down Carlton ridge from Lolo Peak.  I think that this can be partially mitigated with technology if we have a blue dot showing our location in relation to the trail. 
• Driving in the Bitterroot:  As mountain trailheads start to open up, let's think really hard about driving responsibly on snowy roads.  I got stuck and had to call a tow truck this year.  It sucked at the time, but it would be irresponsible right now. In addition to thinking about getting stuck, we should think about using reliable vehicles, and we should consider impacts to other users like getting stuck meeting oncoming cars on rutty, snowy roads, and parking in places that make it hard for other cars to turn around.  Or getting pinned in behind another stuck vehicle (like could happen driving all the way in to Gash).  

It is incumbent on us to keep the risk of transmitting or contracting Coronavirus while skiing very, very low.  I think we are all thinking about the risk of transmission when transmission when skiing with partners.  It seems reasonable to avoid driving with others to go skiing.  But should we be skiing with partners at all?  And should we offset the carbon footprint of driving separately by driving less?  For now, I plan on skiing solo for at least the immediate future, but I have not though through this well enough to have a strong opinion.  I think we should plan our outings to reduce or eliminate stopping in rural communities.  For the time being, I am planning to do self contained outings with few or no stops oustside of town.

Backcountry skiers need to be very aware of the image we are projecting through our actions, and on social media.  I think that sharing trips to the mountains and enjoying public land can be positive, but it is pretty tone deaf to celebrate what we can get away with in the mountains when a lot of people are putting their health at risk on the front lines.

Can we backcountry ski in Montana safely with minimal transmission exposure?  People might disagree with this assertion, but I think we can.  Montana is different from many other backcountry locations in that skiers aren't generally traveling far to ski, and use is relatively low.  Being out in the mountains is about as socially distanced as one can get. Also, for the most part Missoula area skiers have a proven track record of skiing safely.  We have had very few avalanche incidents and Search and Rescue calls in the past several years.  All this doesn't mean that it is still responsible to ski, or that the situation can't evolve.

We are all figuring this out together, and I welcome thoughts and criticism.

Stay safe and healthy everyone.