<br>Ride a chairlift to the top, ski past a sign, and suddenly you are in the backcountry.
<br><br>I have nothing against this; I do it often when the snow is good and the crowds are thin. There is nothing like a bunch of lift-served vertical to hone skills or dial in new equipment.<br><br>The ski areas are simply responding to a perceived need - I'm not familiar with the terrain in question, but for all I know it's not too dissimilar to Blackcomb's Spanky's Ladder bowls, which are open to anyone willing to make the 10 minute hike. Canada, of course, has a different take on the liability issue. <br><br>I still maintain that the average person willing to throw down $100 to hike for half an hour (
after investing in a half-day lesson) with no prior touring experience and no touring equipment is not going to get far into the "backcountry." For the rare skier in this group who finds inspiration in the experience it may change their perspective on the sport forever; for the rest it makes for good conversation in the bar . . .<br><br>(Whistler has in fact been doing something like this for several years with the "Extremely Canadian" program. I've freeskied with some of the instructors, who, after finding that their clients for the day were unable or unwilling to handle the terrain or conditions, are taking the rest of the day off - the conditions at the time were two feet of not-too-heavy fresh and fog).
