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Christina Lusti

Game Changers 3-article series: Interesting ski tourers answer “What is the one event that changed or influenced the way you do (or approach) your ski adventures now?”

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game changer even
Thanks to an unknown author for this photo - it really captures the essence that something is about to profoundly change 🙂
After talking about gear game changers and people that influenced their skiing Greg Hill, Melanie Bernier, John Baldwin and Christina Lusti answer the 3rd and final question in this series. As before, I am attaching my answer at the end.
I hope that you enjoy these articles because the people answering seem to like it a lot. If you do spread the word cause it’s likely your friends would enjoy it too.
And share what event influenced YOUR ski adventures – you can do so via comments section at the end of this article.

3rd question: What is the one event that changed or influenced your ski adventures (whether that be touring or racing)?

Greg Hill says (http://www.greghill.ca):
I skied from aged two; it was a passion from the start – ski racing, jumps just having fun on the slopes. I recall in Grade 3 being extremely excited because I had skied more than 60 days that year. The freedom of speed and fun of skiing was deeply ingrained in who I was.
I skied until I was 16 and then got taken up by rock climbing. All of a sudden skiing was second place and rock climbing was first. The incredible challenge, endless progression and exploration was all that I could think about.  For 6 years I rarely skied but climbed exclusively.
Then at 22 years old I dislocated my shoulder while rock climbing. All of a sudden this whole side of my life was taken away from me…which left me with a huge void. Then explorer in me had been awakened, the search for challenge had been continuous for so long that I needed it.
Greg Hill skiing.
So I set my sights on climbing and skiing mountains, this filled the void and more. Backcountry skiing was challenging physically, the development of my mountain sense mentally stimulating, the exploration endless. It was sad to lose the climbing but I gained so much more in return.
I started recognizing that I had more energy than most, that I could move quickly and efficiently through the mountains.  I would be standing on top of mountains looking at what I hoped would be our next run only to see that my partners were exhausted.
So I entered my first randonnee race in whistler, came in as a canadian should, mullet and leather jacket. Had a blast during the race and somehow ended up winning it. This prompted me to continue pushing my speed in the mountains to see what my potential was. Later that spring I returned and did the Spearhead Traverse in 4 hours 1 minute and really started to push the limits of the possible.
Since then I have pushed my endurance endlessly and loved the limits, I have progressed – so many traverses, mountains, new lines, huge days and great times.
Had my shoulder not dislocated I would have continued to have fun rock climbing but possibly I would not have developed into the mountain man I have become. I would have missed out on so many great adventures that I am almost happy it happened.
Now 14 years later I have a reconstructed shoulder and I am climbing again, which will inevitably help progress my technical limits of ski mountaineering.
Melanie Bernier says (http://inthetrails.blogspot.ca):
Back in 2010, a few of us from the Canadian National Ski Mountaineering Team stayed in Europe after racing the World Championships in Andorra to take part in a 4 days stage race – the Pierra Menta – in the small town of Areche-Beaufort in France.
Day after day, teamed in pairs we covered at great pace routes with around 2500m of climbing. This event really opened my eyes to what really is ski mountaineering racing, its roots and how respected and part of the culture it is in Europe.
Granted we suffered and pushed our limits but it was such a great feeling of accomplishment to work as a team, pace ourselves and cross the finish lines with a large smile at the end of each day. Coming to a summit with 1000 of spectators cheering was an experience I will never forget. This event and skiing in Europe all together has forever changed my vision of racing and even skiing in the backcountry.
In this video from 2012 (in around 1min) you can see what kind of atmosphere Melanie is excited about:

John Baldwin says (http://www.johnbaldwin.ca):
It was on my second long ski traverse in the Coast Mountains. We were trying to complete a 3 to 4 week ski trip from Ape Lake to Knight Inlet across the Monarch and Ha-iltzuk Icefields, west of Mt. Waddington, BC.
The last quarter of the trip goes through some really rugged terrain with steep slopes and big icefalls. A big storm moved in with tons of new snow. I started to worry about whether the conditions would be good enough for us to finish the trip (there were no other escape routes).  But at some point I had this intuition that it would work out. You could say I was learning to listen to the mountains and what was in my heart.
It is something I have always tried to do in difficult situations. It’s not always easy to do but I think it’s very important to listen to the mountains and the earth.
Christina Lusti says (http://christinalusti.wordpress.com):
ACL reconstruction on my knee . . . sad to say there was more than one surgery L. But this was the event that made me decide to step away from ski racing and start a new career in ski guiding and ski mountaineering.
The injury motivated me to get strong and walk/ski away from the competitive sport of alpine ski racing 4 years ago. Since then it has been winters full of Adventure School, Coaching, Training, and exploring the steep alpine . . . no regrets!
Stano Faban (Skintrack.com):
The one event that changed my approach, or I should say “understanding”, of skiing didn’t happen during a specific experience or on a certain day. It is actually still happening. It is an ongoing event since it is a perception changer for me, fueled by constant learning and curiosity.
To hopefully demystify and clarify – the terrain, and people I met and keep meeting while backcountry skiing after moving to Canada are responsible for this ongoing event.
Skiing before was fun, was a sport, was a great way to explore, but in no way I would understand how much it could affect people’s lives. How fulfilling it could be.
It didn’t start happening right after I moved but couple years later. I guess, I needed to meet the right people first J. Run after run, trip after trip, winter after winter, I started to understand why anyone would arrange their whole life around skiing.
The backcountry skiing culture in Canada is unique, I believe. This has a lot to do with great snow, terrain, and work opportunities.  If you don’t grow up with those your perception is different and you need a while to put the pieces together.
But through spending time with open-minded people and experiencing emotions from riding dry deep untracked powder you start to understand. You start to look for slopes where there is no skin track even though it means work, and you can manage to sore your ass in a car for hours because you know what is waiting, or because you actually don’t know.
So something like this changed my ski adventures because I think of skiing as a whole differently. Before, the trips needed to have a goal (a peak, or a specific run) to feel fulfilling. Now, it’s more like: How do I ski today just so I can feel happy the whole day?

The previous two questions:

Game Changers 3-article series: Interesting ski tourers answer "Who is the one person that changed or influenced your ski adventures?"

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Here are answers to the 2nd question of the Game Changer article series. I was able to put together a very representative group (in terms of their main skills and passions) of ski mountaineers to answer these questions to make for a great read, and include my answers at the end.
Person that influenced your ski adventures or racing.
» To read answers to the 1st question in this series see: What is the one piece of gear that changed or influenced your ski adventures?

Who is answering?

In short:

  • Greg Hill
  • Melanie Bernier
  • John Baldwin
  • Christina Lusti
  • Stano Faban

For more details about these ski mountaineers see the first article of the Game Changer series.

2nd question: Who is the one person that changed or influenced your ski adventures (whether that be touring or racing)?

I would like to hear who influenced YOUR ski adventures. You can do so via comments section at the end of this article.
Greg Hill says (http://www.greghill.ca):
I am not someone who likes to place people on pedestals, I feel that we are all unique and usually deserved of respect but most likely not so great that we should be idolized.
I respect anyone who pushes themselves to be their personal best in whatever avenue they choose. But of course there have been people who have stood out in the past.
Alex Lowe was a champion of men and having seen what he could do and how he progressed mountaineering was impressive. He chose his path and went after it with wild determination. His technical climbing, exuberant character and his style were standards to be sought.  Sadly enough he died doing what he loved.

Andrew McLean
Andrew McLean staring down one of his many first descents.
Andrew McLean was someone who influenced me early on in my ski mountaineering career. What Andrew has done, in terms of firsts, is huge, his list of accomplishments hard to conceive. As a young mountain boy I was blown away by the potential that Andrew demonstrated, how much he could explore and have fun while doing it.
Initially, in the rando races, Andrew was the big name. So while I ran up and down mountains I trained to beat him and also dreamed of befriending him and going on some cool adventures with him. Both those came true and we have been friends ever since.
But he truly showed me the potential of fitness and passion in the mountains and how endless it really is.  He was someone who helped me realize my huge days in the mountains by being humble and psyched about what we do.
Melanie Bernier says (http://inthetrails.blogspot.ca):
The person that influenced me the most for ski adventures and skimo racing is Kilian Jornet (standing skimo world champ).
I remember when I was just starting to race, part of the Spanish skimo racing team came to Canada to race the Spearhead Passage race in Whistler. The sport was very young in NA back then, and I remember while gaining Russet Lake, Kilian had already reached the top of Whirlwind and was on his way back. He nicely cheered me on and kept going. I remember being really impressed and could not believe how fast he could move on his skis.
From competing in more events where he was also racing, I got to learn about his philosophy about the sport of skimo but also running. He also has a great personality and is very humble in all that he does, which is a great quality for an athlete of his level.
Looking at all that he does and how fast he is makes me not only want to train harder but push the boundaries and explore always a bit further.
John Baldwin says:
I have definitely been influenced a lot by the collective sport of ski mountaineering – whether it be new ideas for kinds of trips, new gear, new avalanche skills. It’s always inspiring to see what other people are doing.
I was definitely inspired by such as Whistler’s local Karl Ricker pioneering the Spearhead Traverse, or Chic Scott‘s long trips in the Rockies, or Galen Rowell‘s ski trips in Alaska.
I’ve been inspired by ski descents and skimo racing. I have also learned tons from different friends about things ranging from ski technique to how to know where the snow drifts in light and deep or many other things.
But it is hard to single out one person.
I suppose the biggest influence was the person that got me into backcountry skiing in the first place. It was Hans Fenz, my high school French teacher. I was never any good at French but on weekends he would take a few students backcountry skiing. Trips to Diamond Head and eventually the summit of Mt Baker opened up this magical world for me.
Christina Lusti says (http://christinalusti.wordpress.com):
pet lustenbergerMy Dad has been the biggest influence of my skiing career.
It must have started when I was a baby in his back-pack skiing around the local ski hill. Teaching me how to tune my skis, driving us to ski races, helping out on the race course. . . and of course free skiing all over the mountain as a family.
Supporting me through a ski racing career and then up a new path of ski guiding, he has helped me create a life and career around my passion!
My dad loves to ski, watch skiing, talk about skiing!
He grew up on a mountain in Switzerland so skiing was a way of transportation . . . ski racing at a young age, moving to Canada and working for CMH, to running Lusti’s Ski Shop at Panorama Resort.
I think that his passion has been passed over to me. . . I look up to him and how he has formed his life around the greatest sport I know!
Stano Faban (Skintrack.com):
I guess, one never realizes how hard it is to answer a seemingly simple question until he asks the same himself :). So I totally agree – it is hard to single out only one person that influenced us the most.
As I think about it, by looking at a bigger picture, I was always amazed with human powered speed. That means that racing or “racing-like” efforts inspired me the most.
To some, climbing North Face of Eiger in less than 3h (Ueli Steck) is a suicide mission, or to run a sub 30min 10k in an olympic distance triathlon is just that – running 10k in 30min.
To me, the final time of such an effort is an extraordinary summary (even though a very brief one) of what came before. It is a result of a long journey that starts with wanting slowly being transformed to believing. The more obvious things follow such as planning, commitment, determination. But even each of those include tremendous details that have to come together, on a daily basis, 365 days a year!
And because speed comes and goes as we age my biggest inspirers have changed too over periods of time:
Firstly, it would be Miguel Indurain (5-time Tour de France winner) but then reading about Reinhold Messner’s and Hans Kammerlander’s missions in the Himalayas showed me how speed can blend with adventure and mountain environments.
The biggest inspiration in my triathlon “career” came from Jan Rehula and Simon Whitfield after seeing them duke it out for gold at the first triathlon at Olympics in Sydney 2000. I knew Jan since about 1997 and all he could talk about was that race. Then seeing him getting bronze was amazing.
Finally, once I turned to mountain sports fully Ueli Steck (the speed with adventure), Stephane Brosse (completeness and consistency) who recently died, and Peter Svatojansky (determination and sheer will) inspired me the most. These days it is mostly Reiner Thoni and above answering Melanie Bernier.

Previous and Next questions:

Who influenced you?

Share who was/is The most influential person for your ski adventures, backcountry or racing.
And thank you for enjoying the read!

Game Changers 3-article series: Interesting ski tourers answer "What is the one piece of gear that changed or influenced your ski adventures?"

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I like to learn from people and about people because we are all unique characters. With some we have lots in common, with others only few things. But there is always something to learn.
gear that changed your touringSo I had an idea – let’s ask couple of interesting people 3 simple questions and see what comes out of it.
Since answers came in longer and deeper than expected I decided to spread them over three articles than jam everything together.
» To read answers, from the same people, to the 2nd question of the Game Changers series see – The person that influenced or changed your ski adventures.

Who is answering?

I reached out to couple of people that would represent the ski touring pool in every aspect – from exploring, adventurous skiing, to rando ski mountaineering racing:
Greg Hill – the 2 Million Man trail breaking machine, Dynafit Stoke ski features his name
(http://www.greghill.ca)
Melanie Bernier – 5th at World Ski Mountaineering Champs 2011, triple Canadian Skimo Champ, also very successful MTB rider
(http://inthetrails.blogspot.ca)
John Baldwin – Canadian West Coast ski mountaineering explorer and author of “Exploring the Coast Mountains on Skis”
(http://www.johnbaldwin.ca)
Christina Lusti – 2006 alpine Olympic skier metamorphosed into a backcountry skier and ACMG Assistant Ski Guide
(http://christinalusti.wordpress.com)
Stano Faban – this is me. I wanted 5 people to answer these and since I couldn’t get hold of Andrew McLean I humbly decided to take his place. Hopefully, I can fill in his answers later.

1st question: What is the one piece of gear that changed or influenced your ski adventures (whether that be touring or racing)?

Before you dive in, I want ask you to share the piece of gear that changed YOUR ski adventures. You can do so via comments section at the end of this article. It is always interesting to see what influences others.
Greg Hill says:
Google Earth changed the way I approach adventures! It increased the amount of terrain I could explore from home, which expanded what I could do out in the mountains.
I remember the moment I started using Google Earth, in 2006, it was getting information for the Bugs Rogers traverse [Bugaboos to Rogers Pass]. We were planning on doing some variations from thee normal route and we spotted this 4500 foot avalanche path into the Duncan creek. Weeks later when we rolled into the line it looked exactly like on Google Earth, and we skied it top to bottom completely relaxed, knowing the line was cliff free to the valley bottom.
Up until that moment all our information came from maps – vague 100 foot contours hinting at the terrain that was out there. Huge cliffs could hide in the middle of lines, a line pondered and penciled in at home could turn out to be un-skiable.
It was harder to truly daydream a line, you could see the potential but there was always a huge amount of unknown. With Google Earth you can view lines from all angles, tilt them and look down them. Check out approach, spot hazards from home and then go out with so much more information.
You can spot a line from 100 km away, go home and view it close up, mark it “Cool Peak”. Dream about it for a few months and then go and ski it, feeling like you have already been there.  It’s unbelievable!
Melanie Bernier says:
Ski touring bindings.
Growing up, there was a cross-country trail just across the street from my parent’s house. Getting lost in the forest with our cross-country skis was what we would do after school.
At 8, I put the free heal equipment aside when I discovered a new passion for downhill skiing.  After learning the skills and racing moguls for years, I would have never thought this amazing sport could get any better until the day I moved to the West Coast and discovered touring bindings.
The purchase of my first pair changed my perspective forever. It totally made sense tying in the cross-country skiing roots, which were still present in my heart and the ever-growing passion of downhill skiing. It offered not only a way to fulfill my desire for exploring beyond the boundaries but also the love for carving turns in the white fluffy stuff.
It allows for freedom of the destination, the length of the journey and the type experience. In a rando ski mountaineering racing perspective, the type of binding and their evolving technology allows now not only to discover new terrain but also cover the distance with speed and confidence.
As simple as it sounds, the piece of equipment that charged my perspective in ski touring and racing is the piece that rests between my boots and my ski.
John Baldwin says:
Stano, that’s a tough question. I’ve been skiing for 40 years and have used a lot of different equipment over the years.
I don’t feel that old but I do remember leather downhill ski boots, jackets that had cotton in them before there was Gore-tex, clip on skins, and sat phones and GPS hadn’t been invented.  Most of the gear we use has generally gotten way better and we have some pretty amazing gear nowadays. As a package all of it has influenced my ski adventures.
To single out one piece of gear is hard! But if I had to pick one thing I think it would be maps.
I started backcountry skiing in the 1970s. Back then there was no Coquihalla Highway (BC, Canada), no winter access to Duffey Lake (BC, Canada), and far fewer logging roads. There were areas that didn’t have 1:50,000 scale maps. Many of the detailed maps of the Coast Mountains were not completed until the mid 1970s.
I remember going on a trip to the Manatee Range in 1979. Hardly anyone had ever gone in there skiing. Access was from logging roads that were still under construction. What really influenced my ski adventures was the map that we had. It was a new 1:50,000 scale map of the area.
Half of the map showed the Lillooet Icefield which is just north of the Manatee Range. I remember staring at the map. It showed huge glaciers and I was so curious to see what those large blue areas on the map looked like. In a way it was that map that got me started on going to all these wild incredible places in the Coast Mountains.
Christina Lusti says:
All of my amazing Arcteryx clothing!
I love spending as many days skiing as I can. . . So being suited with Arcteryx’s finest makes my days in the mountains comfortable.
Stano says:
As John pointed out, it is difficult to single out one piece of gear and I definitely agree with any of the choices above. But I wanted only one, so here is mine.
The game changers for me were a pair of Dynafit Classic bindings. I think it was in the winter of 1999/2000 when Peter Svatojansky (an upcoming top Euro skimo racer at the time) recommended that I switch from Silvretta to Dynafit even though I was not seriously racing skimo back then. To this day I am grateful my father spend the money to let me have a pair of quite light Dynastar skis mounted with the Classics.
These bindings have not only let me enjoy mountains more and feel less sore for next day’s triathlon workouts but they showed me that if you buy a quality product you never have to buy again. To this day I remount them from skis to skis. They are 12 seasons old and I never serviced them once!

Next question: Who is the one person that changed or influenced your ski adventures (whether that be touring or racing)?

To read answers to the 2nd question of the Game Changers series see – The person that influenced or changed your ski adventures.
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What piece of gear was your game changer?

Share what was The piece of gear that changed your ski adventures, be it backcountry or racing.
And thank you for enjoying the read!