Les Chèvres de Montagnes - Glossary - backcountry skiing vocabulary

Written on:

November

2023

With the rise in popularity of mountain skiing and its sub-variants, a multitude of terms describing "not using lifts for skiing" are becoming increasingly common.

By Philippe D'Anjou

There were a number of difficulties I had to overcome in compiling this glossary.

There are many variations on the sport. For example, there's practically only one way to play soccer, but many ways to ski.
The use of anglicisms in Quebec sports is on the rise.
Typically Québécois, people like to valorize themselves by adding terms to their activities. For example, elsewhere in the country we'll say "I skied in Rogers Pass" and in Quebec we'll say "je suis allé du ski d'alpinisme en complète autonomie à Rogers Pass."
Finally, the industry, stores and websites have decided to use all the keywords related to mountain skiing to improve their web ranking.

In short, here's a summary of some commonly used terms and other words you may also hear this winter.

Terms

Ski mountaineering

Official term chosen by the Fédération québécoise de la montagne et de l'escalade (FQME) to designate all sliding sports practiced in mountainous terrain.

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‍Off-piste skiing

Derived from the French term Off-Piste, which describes alpine skiing practiced off groomed runs. It is commonly used to describe all types of mountain skiing.

ENGLISH - Off-piste, out of bound (boundaries)

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Ski touring (alpine)

A term generally used to describe off-piste skiing in the wild, without the use of ski lifts.

QUÉBEC - make skin, skinner

SYNONYMS - alpine ski touring, ski touring, ski de rando

ENGLISH - alpine ski touring, touring, ski touring

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Nordic ski touring

Halfway between cross-country and telemark skiing, Nordic touring skis are slightly wider than classic cross-country skis. You can use wax for grip, fish scales embedded in the skis or skins.

SYNONYM - off-piste cross-country skiing

ENGLISH - nordic backcountry, backcountry cross-country skiing, nordic touring skiing

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Backcountry skiing

Historically, it comes from the ski touring of the Chamonix (France)-Zermatt (Switzerland) route known as the Haute-Route, which is still extremely popular today.

QUÉBEC - mountain skiing

Seal skins

Originally, climbing skins were made from seal skins. Nowadays, so-called natural skins are made from mohair. Mohair is a woolly fiber produced by the chèvre angora plant, while synthetic mohair is made mainly from nylon.

QUÉBEC - making skin

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Slackcountry

Slackcountry is off-piste skiing close to ski lifts, but not patrolled or controlled for avalanches. Slack is the quality of being lazy. In short, slackcountry is effortless off-piste skiing, since you usually use the lifts to gain most of the vertical drop. On the other hand, you're exposed to the same avalanche risk as being in the backcountry.

QUÉBEC - slack

ENGLISH - Canadian slang for "easy-to-reach" backcountry, side country, slackcountry, out of bound (boundaries)

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Backcountry skiing

Probably the broadest term in the Quebec mountain lexicon. In English, backcountry refers to ski touring in the backcountry, far from the major centers.

QUEBEC - I ride backcountry (e.g. under the ski lifts), ride "back".

ENGLISH - Backcountry skiing

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Ski mountaineering

A sporting discipline that will make its appearance at the 2026 Olympic Games, which involves climbing up and down an off-piste course on ultra-light touring skis.

QUÉBEC - it describes ski touring in terrain that requires the use of more technical mountaineering equipment such as ropes, harnesses, ice axes, crampons... For example, skiing a couloir starting with an abseil.

SYNONYM - skimo

ENGLISH - ski mountaineering, skimo

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Downhill skiing

Skiing with rigid plastic boots and bindings without walk mode, focused on the descent, usually with the use of lifts.

QUEBEC - downhill riding

ENGLISH - Alpine skiing, downhill skiing

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Telemark skiing

A hybrid sport between cross-country skiing and alpine skiing as we know it. Telemark comes from the technique of turning on skis with one knee close to the ground.

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Cross-country skiing

The sport of moving around on snow-covered surfaces with low gradients, using light, narrow skis with forefoot bindings and propelled by poles.

SYNONYM - Nordic skiing

ENGLISH - cross-country skiing

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Nordic skiing

Scandinavian-inspired disciplines.

Mountain vocabulary

Mountaineering

In the Alps, when you climb above 2,500m, you're talking about mountaineering. Otherwise, it's simply climbing. Elsewhere, mountaineering involves ascending alpine-type terrain.

ENGLISH - Mountaineering (from mountaineer)

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Altitude

Difference in elevation between a point on the globe and sea level. Always positive, otherwise referred to as depth, e.g. scuba diving.

ENGLISH - Altitude

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Transceiver Beacon

Acronym for avalanche transceiver.

SYNONYM - ARVA™ (avalanche transceiver)

ENGLISH - transceiver, beacon

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Vertical rise

The difference between an altitude at a point of departure and an altitude at a point of arrival (e.g. the top of the mountain and the bottom of the mountain). It can be positive or negative.

SYNONYMS - D+, green, uphill

ENGLISH - Vertical, elevation gain, verts

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