I started climbing at an early age and grew up under the tutelage of those that had gone before. I learned from those that had more experience than me and those that had earned respect for the environment in which they played.

There was no deviation – that was just the way things were done! I learned the old fashioned rules, and whatever changes I still try to follow them everyday.

“Today’s newcomers expect to tick off the steep linesthat they have read about or watched in their first season in the valley”

But today with all the media and movies, people start their backcountry journey with greatly elevated expectations. Today’s newcomers expect to tick off the steep lines that they have read about or watched in their first season in the valley.

It doesn’t matter to them that these lines might have changed since they were first ridden, or how long the first protagonists waited for them to come into condition… And the fact is that our environment is changing too – temperatures fluctuate, exits from couloirs or glacier lines change every year, and yet the guide books still list them…

I lost one of my best friends in an avalanche some years back. It was a difficult time as we went through the whole ‘well at least he died doing something he loved’ routine to justify the loss. I often think about what life would be like if he were still around, but sadly our world that would be better with him in it, goes on with out him.

Even now, I am by no means an expert in all of this. I studied to be a guide and have lived, climbed and ridden in the mountains for over 30 years – I have worked as a mountain professional for 20 of these years and yet, everyday, I feel like I am starting afresh.

But the love is always there – for the feeling of the pull of gravity, the drop into the fall line, the acceleration, the speed. Surfing the mountain, carving the banks, snapping the lip and cutting back through the white curtain of powder that you have released from gravities’ grip.

Snowboarding feels the best when the mountain is a blank untouched canvas on which to create our art. With no tracks to follow it becomes a form of expression, an addictive progression and before you know it, suddenly it is no longer just about the ride.

But those fresh lines don’t come easy anymore. Now if you were to ‘let the mountain have its day after the storm’ you’d be riding tracked out faces, listening to the stories and looking at the photos of how good it was yesterday, when ‘you should have been there’!

If you’re there, someone else will be getting your lines – the pressure to get out first is stronger than ever!

Like in every sport, the guys at the upper limits are the driving force behind everything… They are out there setting the standards for others to follow, making the new rules and pushing the boundaries of what is possible – and then the doors are open for those that follow… even if they had been left closed for good reasons.

Victor Daviet sits amongst the avalanche remains – thankfully unscathed. Photo: Scott Serfas

But the warning signs are there too. We already know the snowpack is dangerous. Gale force winds have built dangerous layers cover by fresh snow up top – and we can feel the temperature rising.

As I headed around to do one run on the Glacier Toule before the temperatures reach unsafe levels, I watched the groups of experienced skiers and snowboarders heading towards the steep exposed slopes of Glacier Marbree.
Had I not been working, might I have been a part of this raid?

Would I too have been drawn by the tracks and confidence of others? Even with the warning signs?

“The progression is rapid despite the margin for error getting slimmer and slimmer”

Maybe in my younger days I might, but my circumstances are different now…

I have a loving family, and more responsibility! I have more mountain knowledge than ever and the more I learn the more cautious I become. I have less ambition to push the limits, and yet I enjoy the ride more than ever before!

I’m not trying to say that we are becoming reckless and I’m not trying to say that I am the knowledge on any of this, I’m just trying to say that we should waver to the side of caution… maybe even a little more than before.

The times they are a changing. I’m not judging… but I am questioning.

Neil McNab is Britain’s only UIAGM qualified Backountry Snowboard and Splitboard Guide. This is an abridged version of a post originally published on McNabSnowboarding.com. Follow all of Neil’s backcountry activities on his Facebook page.