Articles

Ski Touring: An Introduction

Off piste at the Grands Montets, 11 March 2009
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Written by Tom Briggs, March 2009

What�s it all about?
During the spring months, there�s still too much snow around in the Alps to be able to climb on foot, so skis are the logical method for moving round the mountains. On the higher, glaciated peaks, skis also make life safer in that your weight is spread over the surface area of the skis, making it less likely that you will break through a snow bridge into a hidden crevasse. That said, ski touring (also referred to as 'ski mountaineering') is inherently dangerous, as it�s fairly impractical to rope up most of the time, and the snow itself is always a threat due to the possibility of avalanche. But ski touring makes �sense�. You�d either be on skis, or strapping on snow shoes! Once you experience the freedom and speed of descending, off piste, from a mountain summit, and even of carefully picking your route on the way up to make it as safe and as �easy� as possible, you won�t look back!

So how good a skier do I need to be?
An obvious misconception about ski touring, is that to try it you already need to be an excellent off piste skier, able to ski linked, parallel turns through deep powder. This just isn�t the case. Clearly snow conditions vary massively in the mountains, but sometimes you can be skiing what feels like slightly rough piste. It�s less likely that you�ll be skiing deep snow, as the deep powder of mid-winter skiing is not ideal for ski touring really. It�s harder to make progress uphill and most importantly, it is very unpredictable and avalanche prone. So spring ski touring might be on everything from icy, breakable crust, to soft spring powder on a firm base. If you have done a lot of piste skiing, can get down steep red runs easily, and don�t mind the odd mogul, you might want to try some easy day tours. What you need is as much help as you can get. That means ensuring you have skis and boots that will give you more support, than really lightweight gear, which would be the choice of the experienced ski tourer who is confident about their ability in difficult snow.

What gear do I need?
One of the downsides of ski touring is that you need to invest in quite a lot of specialist equipment. On the upside, if you lean towards skis/bindings/boots that you can also ski off piste with around the resort, you don�t actually need a completely separate set up.

Skis. We recommend an �All Mountain� ski, such as the Black Crows Ova Freebird or Scott Crus'air. These are slightly wider underfoot (85mm and 90mm) than a pure ski touring ski, making them easier to control in variable snow. They might not be quite so light, but that downside is more than outweighed by the plus of you actually being able to stay on your feet! For ski touring, it�s normal to choose something a little shorter than you might for pure off piste skiing. Don�t go too wide as you�re skis won�t fit into a skinning track, or in soft snow you�ll find yourself snowploughing half the mountain uphill!

Bindings. Fritschi bindings are the most popular touring binding, with a choice of the Explore or for the heavier person or those who expect to use the ski for more aggressive off piste skiing, the Freeride is a better (though slightly heavier) choice. Dynafit bindings are super lightweight and great for the more experienced ski tourer, but you need Dynafit compatible boots and they can be problematic releasing and a pain in powder.

Skins. Skins need to be cut to fit to your skis. For Europe, these should be a mix of natural (mohair) and artificial fibre. New skins should stick better to skis than older ones, but when it�s very cold, you might have problems, so it�s worth taking some spare glue. Both Swiss made Colltex and Black Diamond are popular. Beware that the new ('09) Colltex toe bails can come apart, as they are two tubular sections slotted inside each other, then hit with a hammer to 'swage' them i.e. they are not a complete loop. You will also need Ski Crampons to fit your skis. These are also called �harscheisen� or �couteaux�. When the snow is very hard or icy, it�s much more efficient and secure to keep travelling on your skis, with the ski crampons stopping you from sliding backwards. The trick with ski crampons is to put them on before you actually need them!

Boots. Scarpa are one of the biggest names in ski touring boot manufacture, but also look out for Garmont and Black Diamond. You should have your boots custom fitted by a professional boot fitter. In Chamonix, we recommend Sanglard Sports. They will look at your feet and recommend a boot that will suit you, before fitting it, using an appropriate footbed. Thermafit inners are literally moulded around your foot so that you have no pressure spots or heel lift. For ski touring, you�re looking for a comfortable, rather than super precise fit. If you are just getting into touring, consider stiffer boots at more of the �Freeride� end of the spectrum (e.g. Scarpa Typhoon, Black Diamond Method or Spirit 4), rather than a lighter weight touring boot (e.g. Scarpa Matrix), which will be more difficult to ski in. However, for something like The Haute Route, the emphasis should be on skinning and comfort, as much as downhill performance.
Check out this video from Scarpa about custom heat moulding liners.

Poles. Some guides hate collapsible poles as they can break, but if you intend to do any climbing it can be convenient to be able to tuck them away. When skinning, consider that you will be grasping the pole as much as half way down. Tape on the pole, plus gloves with a grippy plam are useful.

Digital Avalanche Transceiver, shovel and metal probe. The Mammut Pulse is the current benchmark transceiver, which is extremely easy to use. The main thing is to practice using it, something we will do on all of our courses and tours. Also consider the Ortovox S1+. Black Diamond makes probes (we recommend one that is at least 240cm long) and shovels, which you should carry whenever you are off piste.

What about clothing and other equipment?
Clothing. Remember that ski touring happens in the spring � it�s not the depth of winter, nor can you expect the high temperatures of the summer months. In terms of clothing, you need a lightweight layering system. Think lightweight and breathable shell fabrics. Softshell trousers, lightweight thermal base layers and thin fleece mid-layers. A floppy hat, category 4 full protection sunglasses and 30+ sun block is essential. A warmer, shell covered glove, as well as a liner glove, preferably with a sticky palm (for skinning), should be packed along with a woolly hat and �buff� (which can also be used as a headband). We wouldn�t recommend heavier, bib style gore tex salopettes, nor a 3-ply gore tex shell. You will sweat to death on the ascent! For huts, consider carrying some lightweight trousers and a shirt to change into. A puffball insulative vest or synthetic jacket is useful, especially on tours earlier in the season (March). Socks should be long and tried and tested with your boots to avoid blisters. Take Compeed, plasters and zinc oxide tape.

Packs. For hut-to-hut tours, a 45L pack would be about average, whereas for day touring, you can get away with 35L. Make sure it has attachment points for carrying your skis. Packs with a separate compartment for your shovel/probe, as well as access to the main compartment itself from both the back and front are a good idea. It is really useful for digging out your crampons, which you�ve invariably packed at the bottom of the rucksack.

Crampons, axe and harness. We recommend steel crampons for most tours, rather than super light aluminium crampons. Take the latter if you don�t think you will use them! You�ll be glad of a �proper� crampon if you find yourself on ice or hard snow. There are now many lightweight touring axes weighing around 300gms. Most of these are good for spreading avocado on your sandwich and little else. The Grivel Air Tech Racing is a little heavier at 400gms, and it has a forged steel head. The Black Diamond Alpine Bod is a suitable, lightweight harness.

How much uphill and how much downhill?
Ski touring is not the same as nailing it down from the Bochard Lift at the Grands Montets over and over again. You can do that any day! Depending on the tour, you can expect to skin for about 4-5 hours, and then take a couple of hours over the descent. On the way up, you might need to change into crampons for exposed, icy sections, or at least use your ski crampons early in the morning when the snow can be icy. Skinning uphill can actually be a lot of fun in terms of choosing a safe line, which will require the least amount of kick turns. If there�s a skinning track in place, you might not have to make too many decisions about the route finding. Bad visibility or snowfall might be okay in the resort, but out in the mountains you are pretty much hut bound if you can�t actually see where you�re going. There are too many cliffs or crevasses around to try and navigate by compass bearing alone.

Many of the popular ski mountaineering peaks culminate in a rocky summit ridge, which may require a rope and some �climbing� (often just �scrambling� really) to get to the top. On the downhill, it�s important to think about the aspects of the slopes you intend to ski and what the avalanche risk is. On Jagged Globe ski touring trips, we�ll be talking about the state of the snowpack, what the weather (snowfall/temps/wind) has been doing, so what the chances are of, for example, slab avalanches on a particular angle of slope with a particular aspect. On potentially hazardous sections, we�ll ski in �pitches�, with the guide out front, then the group skiing one by one across any potentially risky slopes.

Ski touring is incredibly liberating � you might have the whole of an untracked high mountain valley as your play area. You cover a range of ground at a speed you could never imagine on foot. This allows you to really experience all of the mountain, and to be back at the hut by the early afternoon! You�ll ski some lovely spring powder, right through to hard, icy breakable crust and frozen slush. Learning to master (if not love) it all is part of the game!

Where to start?
Some experience of skiing off piste is definitely the starting point for many people interested in trying ski touring. If you come from a mountaineering background, it�s likely that the skiing element will be the bit you are worried about. Conversely, if you�re a pretty good skier, you may be more aware of what you don�t know about travelling on glaciated terrain. The Jagged Globe Ski Touring Techniques courses cover both off piste skiing and everything that you need to learn to go ski touring � from avalanche awareness through to kick turns and skinning, defensive skiing techniques to ropework and cramponing.

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