Skis are a much more glamorous method of snow country travel than snowshoes. Unfortunately, skiing with a big pack in fickle backcountry snow while using supple cross-country boots attached to the ski only at the toe is vastly different from film makers' Celluloid fantasies. If your skiing experience is limited to schussing down beautifully manicured slopes at a posh resort while wearing combat equipment – stiff, high-backed boots locked down to wide, stable alpine skis – then your first venture into the backcountry may be, quite literally, a frigid plunge. In fact, there was many a time when I was learning to ski with a pack when I swore through clenched teeth that I could walk down the blasted slope faster than I could ski it. Even experienced skiers can be defeated by heavy loads, steep slopes and tight slots through dense trees. One winter many years ago, Janet Gelman and I made an unsuccessful attempt on the Grand Teton. I was on snowshoes to avoid reinjuring a sprained knee. Janet, an excellent skier, was on skis. During the retreat, I was able to march straight down through the narrow lanes between the trees while Janet struggled to make turns in the bottomless powder while carrying a huge pack. Inevitably, the snow snakes would seize her by the ankle and she would fall. Extricating herself from the resulting craters required Herculean effort. In that situation, snowshoes proved to be more efficient than skis.

These days I use both skis and snowshoes, depending on the task at hand. Skis, in my opinion, are toys for having fun. Snowshoes are tools for hauling loads. Much of my time in the mountains recently has been spent making landscape photographs with a large-format camera, a Zone VI 4x5. Large-format camera gear is heavy; I often have 50 or 60 pounds on my back. When I’m by myself, in the dark as I approach a sunrise shoot, with a huge pack on my back, tired and with inconsistent, unpredictable snow underfoot, I want to be on snowshoes. Skiing would be too dangerous to my knees. But when my pack is light because the big camera is at home and I’m taking the day off from photography, I much prefer to be on skis.

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