Ask mountain guide and rescuer #3

How Fero got this job and what are his strongest work experiences?
Read the first part of our interview

What clothing is not allowed and what must a winter tourist know?
Find out in the second part of the interview

If you want to enjoy the amazing winter panoramas without a ski pass, it is good to know your equipment, the rules of movement in the terrain and the basics of avalanche security. The most valuable information, naturally, comes from rescuers or instructors. That's why we interviewed the relaxed mountain guide, avalanche instructor and volunteer rescuer Fero Mrázik.

What should you pay attention to when ski touring? 

Technical and organizational mistakes

I would divide beginners' mistakes into two categories, namely technical and organizational. By technical errors I mean directly those related to the execution of the movement. Organizational are those related to how and where you move. From a technical point of view, many beginners do not use the active glide of skis, they even lift their legs when taking steps. Their chopsticks quite often serve only for decoration - they don't use them for the actual movement forward.

Don't worry

To the basic technical errors, I would also add excessive layering of clothing, which causes rapid overheating of the body during the climb. The subsequent humidity together with the wind can cause hypothermia. Feeling slightly cold before activity and a few proven and functional layers in the backpack are a responsible solution. Less is simply more - and that doesn't just apply when a guy is looking around the beach :)

Take care of the brakes

We should definitely not forget the brakes. Brakes on alpine skis work somewhat differently than on downhill skis, and this should be kept in mind. Every time you take off your skis, you need to consider whether the ski can move. A ski with a locked brake or no brake at all can become an unguided missile in an instant. This is especially true on the slopes. 

Did you know that...

A frequent mistake on small slopes is the immediate use of the binding shoe (heel supports for climbing the slope). The binding has a foot, which helps with steeper climbs. You say to yourself, "This must be a steep climb." Skitourers do not realize that they are using the hoof unnecessarily. They shorten their step length. Their "tickles" naturally lead them to be less stable and ultimately make more.

Organizational Errors

Now to Organizational Errors. Here I see the core of today's problems between ski resorts and ski tourers. It's great that more and more people are interested in active movement and "falling into the passion" of skitouring, but falling into it is not enough. You have to adapt your behavior to your joys. There are more and more "sledders" on the slopes, but unfortunately, due to the lack of awareness, not every (and deoxygenated) pedaler can think of how and where to move and what rules to follow.

Both in traffic and on skis

If you get behind the wheel, you must follow traffic regulations. The same applies to the slope. Unfortunately, not everyone realizes this at that moment. The road markings on the slopes are worse. 

Most frequent mistakes when exiting the piste

• Exit other than the edge of the slope. 

• Instead of walking behind each other, the ski alpinists speak next to each other in a group conversation.

• We choose a place to rest so that we are at the very edge of the slope, just like driving a car behind the shoulder.

• We cross the slope from one side to the other only in clear places and only if it is necessary. We choose the shortest possible transit route. 

• The piste is not an area for switchbacks. If it is still necessary to do one, we do not under any circumstances do it under the peaks ("parachutes") of the slope.

These are just the most basic rules that many people do not master. According to the law, the operator of the slope has the possibility to direct or exclude the movement of ski alpinists.  Before arriving at the resort, it is necessary to study the relevant local rules. If we do not respect them, it may happen that ski mountaineering will be completely prohibited on some ski tracks.

Free terrain is a separate category

So far we have been dedicated to ski touring on the slopes, free terrain is a completely different story.  When moving in open terrain, the amount of necessary knowledge and skills that must be mastered increases. For all of them, I will mention:

• the technique of driving in open terrain,

• orientation and movement in the mountains,

• assessing the stability of the snow cover,

• the overall planning of the hike.

It is possible to cushion and survive a medium avalanche as survived it The fox from Pupenda?

The fox from Pupenda was really a "guy". Apparently, he couldn't write a letter to his girlfriend for half a year because he was "overwhelmed by an avalanche" - at least that's what his answer to his friends on the boat sounded like. I remember that scene from Pupendo where he was explaining it with the white walkman on his jeans. There was quite a long silence after his answer, apparently his friends took his answer with a grain of salt. That scene is beautifully timeless. 

Today, girls don't have a half-kilo walkman under their belts, but the music in their ears probably beats more than in the years of walkmans :) Motivated by freeride videos from YouTube (by the way, does it mean TyTrúbka? :D ) people can really become convinced that they can do some kind of avalanche cushion.

There is no avalanche like an avalanche

What is the truth? Avalanches are divided according to size, detachment, and snow. Avalanches from wet snow are slow, but they carry large masses of snow - packed wet snow is extremely heavy. A cubic meter of liquid water weighs 1 ton. And that's just a meter x meter x meter. These avalanches flow at a speed of 20 km/h, which is quite brisk cycling. If you consider that weight at that speed, one realizes the power of the avalanche - albeit slowly. In contrast, powder snow has a significantly lower weight, but avalanches from this snow reach speeds of up to 300 km/h. 

So I would rather leave the "suspension of medium-sized avalanches" only at the level of Liška's leafy excuses :)

How did Fero get this job, what are his strongest experiences, what does he say about clothes and what annoys him about skitourers?
Read the first and the second part of our interview

Find out what awaits you at the avalanche courses led by Fer Mrázik.