With many ski resorts limiting capacity due to the coronavirus pandemic, and backcountry equipment flying off the shelves, mountain experts fear the upcoming ski season could make for a dangerous combination of inexperienced off-piste skiers, unpredictable winter weather and potentially deadly avalanches.

“If you are getting into backcountry skiing, you need to know that avalanches are a real risk,” Brian Lazar of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center told the New York Times.

Backcountry skiing, also known as off-piste skiing, is any type of skiing done outside of groomed, patrolled ski areas. For some, this might mean hiking deep into the wilderness or even getting dropped off by a helicopter. For others, it's as simple as hiking up a hill and skiing back down, or going just outside the boundaries at a ski resort.

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One appeal of backcountry skiing is being the first to track across a glistening white slope of snow untouched by anyone else. But that's also one of the dangers. At resorts and other designated slopes, safety personnel closely monitor snow conditions and carry out avalanche mitigation measures or shut down slopes as needed.

Off-piste, it's no holds barred.

An average of 27 people have died in avalanches in the U.S. in each of the last 10 winters, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. Twenty-one died in avalanches from January through April of this year. Five of them were on skis.

Interest in backcountry skiing has been on the rise for years, but sales of equipment have soared during the pandemic. Retailer REI has seen backcountry-related sales triple since last fall, according to the Times.

Sales at Uphill Pursuits, a ski shop in Bozeman, Montana, which specializes in backcountry equipment, are up 500% from this time last year, store owner and managing partner Riley Siddoway told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

Siddoway said many beginners mention they are interested in backcountry skiing because of uncertainties over COVID-related restrictions at resorts and other ski areas.

And that's what has experts worried.

“We are already seeing an increase in backcountry users, and we did in the spring as well. We expect quite a few people that are inexperienced — at least with avalanche safety and backcountry safety," Toby Weed, an avalanche specialist with the Utah Avalanche Center, told the Herald Journal. “Hopefully there won’t be more larger, catastrophic avalanche events. But those are really possible this year, especially with the increased number of people out there.”

Craig Gordon, a forecaster with the Utah center, told the Times, “We’re ramping up for what could be an unprecedented winter."

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Uncertain weather is adding to the concerns. Weed said the season is starting out with a thin snowpack, which makes it easier for backcountry skiers to hit rocks and stumps. It can also increase the probability of human-caused avalanches.

“We don’t want people doing extreme stuff,” Weed said. “It’s great for people to get out and hike around in the backcountry, and we encourage people to do that; at the same time, we want people to avoid taking risks at all, really. So the recommendation is to stay off steep slopes.”

Doug Chabot, director of Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center, said a snowstorm in October followed by extremely low temperatures left behind a weak, sugary base layer of snow. The base layer is what holds up the rest of the snowpack as the year goes on.

“I’m not sure it’s going to be able to," Chabot told the Daily Chronicle. "I think it might set us up for avalanches."

Serious backcountry skiers are often well-versed in spotting avalanche conditions and trained in survival and rescue. They also know to never go out alone.

“The odds of your partner living are directly correlated in many cases to your ability to dig them out fast,” Chabot said. “If you get someone out in 10 minutes, there’s an 80% chance they’ll survive. If you get them out in 20 minutes, your odds are down to 30%.”

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