The Daily Outside: Backcountry Skiing, Waxing Workshop 1.29.26
Thursday’s Daily Outside leans hard into winter competence — learning how to move uphill without flailing, then ending the day making your gear glide like it actually wants to be there.
Winter Travel Skills & First Turns Uphill
Crystal Mountain — Intro to Backcountry Touring Clinic
Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026
Crystal Mountain
Discovery Meadow (right side, near Gold Hills)
Two sessions: 9:00 a.m. or 1:00 p.m.
Cost: $70
Beginner-friendly, movement-focused clinic
This is where the backcountry curiosity gets translated into muscle memory.
The Intro to Backcountry Touring Clinic at Crystal Mountain is a three-hour, low-pressure introduction to uphill travel — designed for skiers and splitboarders who’ve been staring at skins, bindings, and sidecountry access gates thinking, “Okay, but how do I actually do this without flailing?”
Set on the gentle, forgiving terrain of Discovery Meadow, this clinic keeps the focus exactly where beginners need it: efficient uphill movement, smooth transitions, and repetition that builds confidence instead of panic. You’ll practice skinning technique, dialing in your stride, managing kick turns, and moving with intention rather than brute force — all while stacking mellow laps that let the learning sink in without consequence.
This is not avalanche training.
This is not steep terrain heroics.
This is backcountry basics done deliberately, on terrain that wants you to succeed.
Instructors are available before each session to help with equipment checks, skin fitting, and those small setup details that can quietly make or break your day. If you’ve ever struggled with skins that won’t stick, bindings that won’t cooperate, or transitions that feel like an elaborate practical joke, this is your moment to get unstuck.
This clinic is ideal for resort skiers and riders taking their first real step toward human-powered snow travel — the moment where the mountain stops being something you’re carried up and starts becoming something you negotiate on your own terms.
More info & registration: Crystal Mountain — Intro to Backcountry Touring Clinic
Winter Skills & Glide Confidence
REI — Ski & Snowboard Waxing Workshop
Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026
Tacoma REI
6:30–8:30 p.m.
Cost: $35
Ages 15+ (under 18 with adult)
Hands-on workshop, bring your own gear
This is winter prep the satisfying, slightly messy way.
The Ski & Snowboard Waxing Workshop at REI is a hands-on, confidence-building crash course in keeping your bases fast, protected, and happy when the snow starts doing whatever weird thing it’s doing this week. Instead of dropping your gear off and hoping for the best, you’ll learn how to do the work yourself — selecting the right wax for current conditions, cleaning your base properly, and applying hot wax step by step with guidance from experienced instructors.
No prior experience is required. This is a fundamentals-first session designed for skiers and snowboarders who want to understand their gear instead of outsourcing the magic. You’ll bring one pair of skis or one snowboard, and you’ll leave with freshly waxed equipment and the quiet satisfaction of knowing exactly how it got that way.
More info & registration: REI — Ski & Snowboard Waxing Workshop (Tacoma)
Afterward, meet up at Peaks & Pints
You’ve gone uphill under your own power. You’ve handled hot wax without panicking. Your brain learned new winter languages — skins, glide, patience, friction management. That deserves a proper decompression ritual.
Peaks & Pints is the right place to let all that competence settle in. Post-clinic legs pair well with something steady and familiar, like Lumberbeard Cut-Off Flannel IPA, while freshly waxed confidence leans beautifully toward a clean, dry Finnriver Buckhorn Dry Cider. This is gear-talk-friendly territory: skin glue successes, transition confessions, wax color debates, and the quiet pride of knowing you didn’t just scroll past winter — you prepared for it.
LINK: The Daily Outside explained
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
