By Shay Castle, Denver Post

Get the gear. Get the training. Get the forecast.

That’s the mantra of the industry that’s built up around the rising popularity of back country sports — skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling — undertaken outside the groomed boundaries of ski resorts.

But while more and more people are venturing out into the backcountry, sales of life-saving avalanche gear are not keeping pace.

National sales of all backcountry equipment (skis, boots, bindings, etc.) are down 12 percent over the past three seasons, despite an 18 percent increase in back country participation. Sales of avalanche safety equipment (probes, beacons and shovels) are down 16 percent over the same time.

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