What is ski touring?

Ski touring (including Alpine touring, randonee, Telemark, and ski mountaineering), is skiing in its purest form. It shares a lot of similarities with hiking, trekking and mountaineering, only with the added bonus of turning round and skiing back down from the top!  

Whether on a short morning ski tour or multi day trip, there is no better way to escape the crowds and put yourself at one with the majesty of the mountains. When all the factors play in your favour you should expect to get a view that is unparalleled by any ski resort. No people, no lifts, no noise and you will have the pure satisfaction of having got there on your own two legs. This is when you turn around and look down at the route home, often an untouched canvass of powder... You've earned your turns, enjoy them!

How does it work?

The key difference that you'll notice between ski touring and alpine skiing is that you have to walk up the mountain first! But don't let that put you off. A softer boot, and a binding that detaches at the heel and pivots at the toe, allows you to adopt a very comfortable forward motion, sliding first one ski up the hill, then the other. Often tourers will start by using a lift to get them high, from where you can walk straight out of the resort and have the mountains to yourself.

Hang on, walking uphill on skis? Would you not end up at the bottom pretty quickly? Yes! This brings us to how ski touring adopted the term ‘Skinning up'. The pioneers of this sport used seal skins stretched over the bottom of their skis. Given the uniform direction of the short hairs, this created a surface which offered no resistance one direction, but lots when stroked in the reverse direction. So the ski could slip happily forward, but almost any amount of force could not allow it to slide backwards, thus anchoring the ski and skier firmly to the side of the hill. Today nothing has changed other than instead of clubbing seals for our sport, we use synthetic materials to create the skins.

Do you need to be a good skier first?

You by no means have to be a good downhill skier to enjoy ski touring - in fact many good tourers might admit they are not great skiers. You need to be able to stay in control, and just make sure you know what you are getting yourself into first.

Is it hard work?

It cannot be denied that ski touring requires some effort, but of course you can choose a route and difficulty that suits you. You may only want to do short day tours or even half day trips, getting up and back in time for a late, hugely satisfy lunch. At the other end of the scale there are lots of classic multi day ski tours and hut to hut ski tours in which you cover long distances and do plenty of climbing, whilst carrying all your essential equipment.

What should I expect?

Bear in mind that it won't be all fresh powder runs (though we do everything we can to make it so!) The wind and changes in temperature and aspect will cause great variation in conditions. Expect to have to deal with all snow types - there are no piste bashers out here, which is what we love about it. I never leave expecting conditions to allow me to get to the top. That way if you have to turn back due to avalanche risks or inclement weather, you are never disappointed; it was just not the right day for you.

Ski touring takes you into the back country, a long way from patrolled ski resorts. As such it carries with it dangers. We highly recommend going on an organised ski touring trips with a guide. With knowledgable and experienced ski tour guides with you, the risks are significantly reduced. You should know the area very well, and your  group should all have excellent avalanche awareness before you consider ski touring without a guide.

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