Ski touring means skiing in unmarked or unpatrolled areas. Consequently, it is similar to off-piste skiing or backcountry skiing. Ski touring is done off-piste and outside of ski resorts, and may extend over one day.
Ski touring is practised by skiers seeking “new snow”, by alpinists or by those who want to avoid the high costs of traditional alpine skiing at ski resorts.
For getting to ski down off-piste, you have to skin. Ski skins are attached to the bottom of skis, in order to provide traction on the walk up. As you have to traverse and ascend terrain that can range from perfectly flat to extremely steep, wider and shorter skis need to be used. Other necessary equipment includes ski crampons, heel bindings, boot crampons (when you get to climb almost perpendicular on the mountain).
The skier’s heels need to be free to allow natural gliding movements, so skis need to detach at the heel to facilitate movement. Ski bindings are used for this, they will be lifted at the heel for the skin up and clipped down for the ski down. When you reach a top, you use the heel bindings, take off the skins and ski down.
In ski touring, there is no or little mechanical assistance (such as ski lifts or other infrastructure, as in more conventional alpine skiing). A lot of skiers want to do ski touring, as the snow that they “earn” is undisturbed, highly likely no one else is there. Such an experience also culminates with breathtaking views and quietness.
Important aspects of ski touring are also personal pace and fitness. You do have to climb mountains, but you do not need to be a professional athlete. You can choose your route considering your level of fitness. However, ski touring means effort, so you have to find out what your pace is.
Definitely, like in any sport, you should start small and increase your level of performance little by little. Unless, you would rasp for breath and it will be a more waste of time and resources. If you progress according to your pace, you can skin for more than two hours without a break.
Ski touring requires independent navigation skills, good fitness, it may involve route finding through potential avalanche terrain. Once you are off-piste, it is vital that you dispose of all the proper gear presented and knowledge of how to use it.
Under no circumstances should you not check the avalanche risks of the routes that you are ski touring on and also have a transponder, shovel and probe with you. It is essential to know how to use them.
In Chamonix, 2018-2019 is the best season for ski touring. On Les Grands Montets, the cable cars Argentière-Lognan and Lognan-Top of Grands Montets are closed. However, this is a great opportunity for powder skiing and ski touring for beginners, read here.
