Backcountry Education
Our Backcountry Education camps go beyond skiing. These camps are focused on the skills that will give you another level of self sufficiency while travelling in the backcountry, and are often multi-disciplinary. The camps will open a whole new type of terrain on your map.
Navigation
Town-based workshop
We want to empower you by giving you the tools, skills and knowledge to know exactly where you are in the backcountry. This one-day navigation course will spend half of the day in the classroom familiarizing you to traditional navigation tools such as map and compass, as well as introduce you to important computer applications such as Google Earth and GAIA.
The second half of the day will be in the field using practical map reading skills, learning to take bearings, and navigating using your surroundings. By the end of this day, you should be able to look on a map and say yes, “I AM HERE”.
You will need to:
Bring a compass with mirror and adjustable declination (like this one)
Download GAIA GPS
Bring lots of warm waterproof clothing
Bring a notebook and pencil
Bring something hard to write on
Dates
October 18, 2025 | $130
Ropes Course
Intro to glacier travel
This three-day course is for expert downhill skiers and riders who want to learn how to safely and efficiently travel on glaciated terrain, whether it be small-scale day trips or multi-day traverses. Your ACMG guide and tail guide will coach you through how and when to rope up on glaciers, procedures for rappelling into steeps, and guide scenarios to practice simple and advanced crevasse rescue techniques. A key component of this course will be terrain assessment, which means developing a deeper understanding of your gear, rescue procedures, and your dynamic surroundings.
DAY 1- Spend the morning deep diving into rope and rescue systems somewhere in town. We will be going over procedures for rappelling into steeps, building anchors and going over guided scenarios for simple and advanced crevasse rescue techniques.
DAY 2- Gear up and go out. We won’t be traveling to a glacier, but we will be putting our new skills into practice out in the field. These skills will include roping up to travel, reading terrain features and practicing building snow anchors.
DAY 3- Glacier travel (weather & condition dependent). Apply your rope skills in the field with the aim of tackling a larger glaciated objective. Please note that we cannot guarantee that we will get on a glacier, as group safety is our first priority and conditions may not always be right, but you will still have the opportunity to practice roped travel and ropes skills.
Need to know:
This camp is open to expert skiers who have at least 15 days of ski touring experience. You are required to bring your own gear. We want you to be confident and efficient with your own tools. We will provide a list of what to bring so you don’t forget a thing!
Please ensure you are comfortable with touring gear in advance to ensure that we can focus on improving our use of glacier travel equipment.
In preparation, you will receive some reading materials and homework. Arriving prepared will ensure maximum time on snow and provide you with the opportunity to bring forward any questions you may have about the material.
Skill Level
Does this sound like you?
Expert skier in all terrain and conditions
Desire to push your backcountry knowledge and experience in glaciated terrain
Proficient knowledge and use of backcountry equipment
Strong base fitness level (1500m+ of vertical in a day)
Extensive experience touring and some backcountry trip experience
Dates
Available by request for 2026. Please email us at info@girlsdoski.com
STANCE Online Learning
Education from anywhere!
Have you heard about our STANCE online workshop series? Covering a range of topics from mindset and mental training to nutrition for skiing, planning spring expeditions and more, past workshops have been recorded and are now available for you to watch wherever, whenever! Get a little Girls Do Ski education straight to your inbox.
Best Value
STANCE Mindset Seasons Pass
The STANCE Mindset Coaching Program is a skier-focused workshop series that combines mind-body awareness, nervous system regulation, and guided group reflection to enhance performance and resilience on and off the slopes. Led by registered clinical counsellor and GDS coach Sydney Bagder, this unqiue program will help unpack the mental side of your skiing.
Get access to all 5 recordings of the online group workshops.
$75+GST for all 5 Mindset workshops
Past STANCE Community Workshops
These past STANCE sessions, presented by experts in the field, cover a diverse range of topics. Watch these workshops anytime, anywhere to keep growing and learning.
