Learning Backcountry Basics with Pro Snowmobiler Amber Holt

Anyone who calls themselves a true snowmobile fanatic has to have either ridden in the mountains or, at the very least, have plans to go ride there at some point in their career. Here's the problem. Riding in the backcountry requires some very specific skills, skills your average flatland rider probably doesn't have. Yet. Luckily, many professional mountain and backcountry experts have made it their job to teach the rest of us how to ride when it's steep and deep. Amber Holt, Factory Arctic Cat backcountry rider, is a prime example. I started backcountry basics in 2008. I came from a background of about 20 years in instruction and it started out as just a way to get people on the snow on designated free time and it transpired into a career. Backcountry basics is what we call a closed range type of instruction. It's a very detailed instruction and we teach in a conservative aspect of terrain, basically an open field with an eight percent grade of terrain for hillside maneuvers, where we go through a of drills explaining skills and details and letting the riders learn full aspects of how a rider and a sled work together to become a fluid backcountry rider. This past season, while I was in West Yellowstone, I had a chance to meet Amber and I was really curious to find out what her teaching methods are all about. But since I already have a pretty solid understanding of riding in the backcountry, I thought it would be helpful to bring along someone who could actually benefit from her instruction. I really felt coming out to backcountry basics was going to be beneficial to me because I am an accomplished rider on the trails. But when we come out to West Yellowstone or any mountain area, you don't want to be just limited to the trails. You want to be able to ride the backcountry, the meadows, the mountains. And what happens is that often you get up in there and it becomes gusto and muscle in terms of how you think you need to manage that mountain. And what happens is you get stuck. What I wanted to accomplish today was to figure out the skills so I don't get stuck. I've ridden with Vern hundreds of times. We work together and at the end of the day we're friends. So I know from experience Vern could definitely use some help when it comes to keeping his sled moving in the trees. Our time with Amber was limited today, so we really needed to sort of just bite off as much as we could chew. And what I really wanted to focus on today was two areas. One was riding with my opposite foot forward and the other element that I wanted to learn better was how to come down a hill on a grade and do a 180 and get back up that hill. And it was a success. Amber was able to break down those elements to the point where we worked it from the flat area in the meadow. We gradually moved over to a side hill, built those areas up where we were confident and then we gradually got down to an area where we were doing that 180 turn with the opposite foot forward. Everyone learns differently but having a method of teaching that will work for everyone is what separates a good instructor from a great one. Amber has figured out a very good method that not only worked for Vern but also worked for me. You know there's two ways that I've noticed people to instruct people. One is show as I do which doesn't often work. The other form which is really successful is the way the method what Amber teaches and that's where she breaks things down into components and elements and they sort of layer where they're sort of stepping stones where you build on certain skill levels and as you build those skill levels it becomes more intuitive in how you interact with the snowmobile than sort of muscling and forcing the sled into what you think it should do. The number one fundamental skill that riders really really struggle with when they come to me and myself included is keeping their head up when they're riding looking ahead and the second thing is throttle control. Most riders that come to me do not fully understand throttle control and how to manipulate it to to have fluid riding and when you understand your throttle you're never in doubt you know exactly what your sled is going to do. The most surprising thing I learned during the time Vern and I spent with Amber was just how many little things I was either doing wrong or was doing in a way that required a lot more effort. When you come to West Yellowstone you're coming here to experience a moment of a lifetime. Now you can either get the full experience or you can come away a little bit frustrated saying maybe next time I'm going to do that better. One of the best things to do in order to get the best experience make that investment in time and money. Take a course with Amber a couple days prior to you heading out into the mountain with your buddies riding. Learn the basics so that when you do get up into that high country you're doing everything right. You come away with the best experience and the least sore muscles.