Alpine Ski Touring
Introductory Trips
Ski Touring (or ‘Ski Mountaineering’) is a great way to experience the Alps during late winter and spring.
Once the mountain huts open for the season there are many wonderful skiing opportunities, taking you away from the busy pistes with long, exciting off piste runs and scenic tours over high passes and even to mountain summits.
Ski Touring Introduction
The Ski Touring Introduction course gives the off piste skier the chance to sample the ski touring experience. This introductory-level course will teach you how to travel safely in the mountains on skis. It is an ideal springboard to longer ski touring trips such as the legendary Haute Route or most of our intermediate ski tours.
Difficulty
Prices
from £1,520.00 Deposit £200.00Duration
7 Nights(6 days skiing)
Region
European Alps
Ski Andermatt
Andermatt has a well-deserved reputation for fantastic off piste skiing and ski touring, whilst retaining the charm of a small Swiss village. Its snow record is un-beaten in the Alps, so great conditions are a reliable bonus on top of its small resort charm. It also remains relatively quiet compared to other resorts.
Difficulty
Prices
from £1,820.00 Deposit £300.00Duration
7 Nights(6 days skiing)
Region
European Alps
Ski Val Maira
Val Maira in Italy is a great place for relaxed day touring. It's quiet, there is gentle terrain and you have trees in case of bad weather.
Difficulty
Prices
from £1,695.00 Deposit £200.00Duration
8 Nights(6 days skiing)
Region
European Alps
Ski Silvretta
The perfect choice for your first ski tour, or for those looking for a mellow week. Superb huts and perfect ski touring terrain. 3,000m summits and long off piste descents. Enjoy!
Difficulty
Prices
from £1,595.00 Deposit £200.00Duration
7 Nights(6 days skiing)
Region
European Alps
Ski Private Guiding
We regularly organise ski tours and instructional ski mountaineering courses for groups of friends. For example, in recent years we have organised private Introductory Ski Mountaineering courses, Haute Routes, a Grand Lui Variation Haute Route, a tour of the Gran Paradiso National Park and a tour of the High Atlas in Morocco.
Difficulty
Prices
quote on requestDuration
2 NightsRegion
European AlpsIntermediate Trips
Ski Touring (or ‘Ski Mountaineering’) is a great way to experience the Alps during late winter and spring.
Once the mountain huts open for the season there are many wonderful skiing opportunities, taking you away from the busy pistes with long, exciting off piste runs and scenic tours over high passes and even to mountain summits.
Ski Bivio
An early-season 'ski safari' to high mountain summits. Skiing from our hotel base in the delightful village of Bivio, and using our transport to ski from Bergun and St Moritz, this week offers the most skiing for the least skinning of all our ski touring weeks.
Difficulty
Prices
from £1,620.00 Deposit £200.00Duration
7 Nights(6 days skiing)
Region
European Alps
Ski Tour Engadin
Engadin and the Albula Alps (Switzerland) offers fairly mellow ski touring with no days involving more than 1000m ascent. There are additional summits which can be added if the team feels fresh and up for it.
Difficulty
Prices
from £1,620.00 Deposit £200.00Duration
7 Nights(6 days skiing)
Region
European Alps
Ski Haute Route
The Haute Route is arguably the most famous ski journey in the world, the classic traverse of the Western Alps from Chamonix Mont Blanc to Zermatt. For many people the Haute Route is the ultimate ski tour and it is a suitable follow-on to our Ski Touring Techniques course.
Difficulty
Prices
from £1,720.00 Deposit £200.00Duration
8 Nights(7 days skiing)
Region
European Alps
Ski Gran Paradiso
Culminating in the ascent of the 4,061m Gran Paradiso, this week offers wonderful skiing in one of the most beautiful areas of the Alps - a tour for connoisseurs. The ski touring combined with the tremendous Italian welcome and delicious food in the huts will make this a ski holiday to remember.
Difficulty
Prices
from £1,795.00 Deposit £200.00Duration
7 Nights(6 days skiing)
Region
European Alps
Ski Bernese Oberland
The quiet Oberland is one of the classic late-season ski touring destinations due to its network of high-altitude huts. This tour is a ski traverse over Europe's biggest glaciers through high, wild and remote mountain terrain. We spend the entire week touring above 2,500m over glaciated terrain.
Difficulty
Prices
from £1,620.00 Deposit £200.00Duration
7 Nights(6 days skiing)
Region
European Alps
Ski the A to Z of the Haute Route Plus
Where 'A' is for Arolla and 'Z' is for Zermatt - this ski tour is for those who have had their ambitions to finish the classic Chamonix to Zermatt Haute Route thwarted with an enforced stop in Arolla.
Difficulty
Prices
from £1,620.00 Deposit £200.00Duration
7 NightsRegion
European Alps
Ski Otztal
The Otztal Valley is in the Austrian Tyrol. It is easily reached from Innsbruck by train and bus in less than 3 hours. We are based from Solden, which has 3 lifts running over 3,000m. You will have a days off piste skiing, followed by a five day hut-to-hut tour.
Difficulty
Prices
from £1,620.00 Deposit £200.00Duration
7 NightsRegion
European Alps
Ski Stubai Alps
Just 1 hour from Innsbruck the Stubai Alps is extremely accessible, as well as wild and beautiful. This week is based in mainly large, comfortable mountain huts with lots of options for day tours, depending on the weather and the group.
Difficulty
Prices
from £1,820.00 Deposit £200.00Duration
7 Nights(6 days skiing)
Region
European Alps
Ski Swiss 4000ers
A big week for fit ski mountaineers with our sights set on skiing 4 x 4,000m summits. Objectives for the week include the Strahlhorn, Allalinhorn, Monte Rosa and descending the famous Schwarztor Gletscher. The week will be a mixture of hotel and hut accommodation.
Difficulty
Prices
from £1,720.00 Deposit £200.00Duration
8 Nights(6 days skiing)
Region
European Alps
Ski Private Guiding
We regularly organise ski tours and instructional ski mountaineering courses for groups of friends. For example, in recent years we have organised private Introductory Ski Mountaineering courses, Haute Routes, a Grand Lui Variation Haute Route, a tour of the Gran Paradiso National Park and a tour of the High Atlas in Morocco.
Difficulty
Prices
quote on requestDuration
2 NightsRegion
European AlpsCalendar
January 2027
- Available
- Full
-
Sat 16 – Fri 22 Jan
£1795 (from Chamonix)
Early booking offer available
February 2027
- Available
- Full
-
Sat 6 – Fri 12 Feb
£1495 (from Chamonix)
Early booking offer available
-
Sat 6 – Fri 12 Feb
£1795 (from Chamonix)
Early booking offer available
-
Sat 27 Feb – Sat 6 Mar
£1995 (from Rocca Pietore)
Early booking offer available
March 2027
- Available
- Full
-
Sat 6 – Fri 12 Mar
£1495 (from Chamonix)
Early booking offer available
-
Sat 6 – Fri 12 Mar
£1795 (from Chamonix)
Early booking offer available
-
Sat 13 – Sat 20 Mar
£1695 (from Arolla)
Early booking offer available
April 2027
- Available
- Full
Advanced Trips
Ski Touring (or ‘Ski Mountaineering’) is a great way to experience the Alps during late winter and spring.
Once the mountain huts open for the season there are many wonderful skiing opportunities, taking you away from the busy pistes with long, exciting off piste runs and scenic tours over high passes and even to mountain summits.
Steep Vanoise Week
Join BASI Instructor, Simon Christy, for the 2027 edition of this very special week.
Difficulty
Prices
to be announcedDuration
5 Nights(5 days skiing)
Region
European Alps
Ski Mont Blanc Extension
The highest peak in western Europe, Mont Blanc is a spectacular spring ski mountaineering objective. Technical and serious but never extreme, skiing Mont Blanc is the highlight for many a ski mountaineer.
Difficulty
Prices
to be announcedDuration
4 Nights(3 days skiing)
Region
European Alps
Ski Monte Rosa and Mont Blanc
What a way to end a ski season - high-altitude ski mountaineering in Switzerland followed by Mont Blanc! Your chance to ski several of the finest ski mountaineering objectives in the Alps.
Difficulty
Prices
to be announcedDuration
11 NightsRegion
European Alps
Ski Private Guiding
We regularly organise ski tours and instructional ski mountaineering courses for groups of friends. For example, in recent years we have organised private Introductory Ski Mountaineering courses, Haute Routes, a Grand Lui Variation Haute Route, a tour of the Gran Paradiso National Park and a tour of the High Atlas in Morocco.
Difficulty
Prices
quote on requestDuration
2 NightsRegion
European AlpsIntroduction
Ski Touring is a great way to experience the Alps. We offer some wonderful skiing opportunities, taking you away from the busy pistes with long, exciting off piste runs and scenic tours over high passes and even to mountain summits.
Our ski tours are led by IFMGA Mountain Guides, all of whom have skied all over the Alps and much further afield. To join our introductory level tour, you need to have previous off piste experience and be able to ski linked, short radius turns confidently. If you haven't skied off piste, we recommend that you join one of Off Piste Courses.
- What level am I? Check out our Ski Grading table.
Further Information
Find out more about our guides, transport and accommodation, equipment, insurance and course inclusions and exclusions... read more »Details
Ski Touring Technical Grades
Ski touring often requires mountaineering skills and equipment for safe movement in the mountains. Many ski tours have short sections requiring movement on foot. This is often the very last part of an ascent to a summit, a pass, or whilst traversing a ridge.Many summits have a ski depot where people changeover to climbing on foot for the last few metres to the top. This can be considered a reasonable objective for ski tourers not wishing to climb the steeper ground above.
This grade table is designed to give an idea of the technical requirements of our various programmes in common conditions. Some tours may include a harder summit as an option. These summits are graded separately.
The technical grade indicates the most technical part of any tour. Some tours may have one short technical challenge whilst others may require technical skills for multiple or long sections. The technical grade is to be used alongside the trip itinerary and ski grade to gain a complete picture of the demands of the tour.
Exposure. Many ski tours have sections on slopes or ridge lines above steeper terrain. A certain head for heights is needed on most tours. It is worth noting that a short difficult step in a gully will feel less exposed than a 100m walk along a ridge crest.
Whilst the technical requirement is to some degree linked to the exposure experienced, it is not always directly correlative.
The Technical Grades
| TO | Some very short [25m] sections on rocky or snowy ridge lines and gullies. Easy [up to 45 degrees] snow and rock with foot placements no smaller than the boot sole. Use of axe and crampons will be taught if required. Putting on a harness will be taught if required. |
| T1 | Some short sections [50m] on rocky or snowy ridge lines or in gullies. Easy [up to 50 degrees] snow and rock with foot placements no smaller than the boot sole. You should be capable of walking in crampons and holding an ice axe, though you may have only been recently introduced to them. Short Lowers [30m]. You should be able to put on a harness and use a screw-gate carabiner if required to attach to a rope. |
| T2 | May have Longer sections [150m] on rocky or snowy ridge lines and gullies. Moderate slopes [up to 55 degrees]. Rocky steps will accommodate the forefoot of the boot. Moderate angled snow and ice may be present requiring confident use of crampon front-points and ice axe blade pushed into the surface. You should be confident in changing from skiing to walking/ climbing in boots and back, quickly putting on crampons and stowing skis. Longer lowers [50m] and moving on fixed lines and via ferrata. You should be able to put on a harness, tie into a rope and have practised crevasse rescue, being able to participate under guidance. |
| T3 | May have Extended sections [300m] on snowy or rocky ridge lines, faces and gullies. Steeper sections [up to 60 degrees]. Foot placements may have you on the toe of your boots. Longer sections on snow and ice requiring confident front-pointing and the swinging of an ice axe to place the blade. Longer abseils or lowers [60m]. You should have experience of the placing and removal of ice screws, building a buried ski anchor and be able to secure a skier in a crevasse using a rope. You should be confident of being able to participate in a crevasse rescue. |
Travel and Transport
All course members are responsible for making their own travel arrangements to the course venue, unless we specifically include a transfer. Travel advice is provided in the course details (PDF). For courses that start in Chamonix, you are able to book you an airport transfer via your on-line account.During the courses any travel will be by private car or public transport/taxi. The guides have cars which will be used whenever possible. Occasionally, it may be convenient to use course participants' cars for short journeys.
Valley Accommodation and Food
Valley accommodation is normally in good standard hotels equating to at least 2 star quality. At the end of the Haute Route, we use the youth hostel in Zermatt, as it not possible to book hotels in the village for one night. The hotel accommodation is provided on a twin-share basis (with the exception of Hotel Le Chaumiere in Chamonix, where, during busy periods, you may be asked to share a triple or quadruple room with other course members of the same sex). In Zermatt at the end of the Haute Route we book a private dorm in the youth hostel. A single room supplement is payable should you want to have a room to yourself.Breakfast and evening meals are provided in all hotels. Normally it is a buffet breakfast with a mix of cereals, pastries, yoghurt and bread/cheese/meats/jam.
Mountain Hut Accommodation and Food
When not in the valley, we stay in Alpine huts ready to make an early start to ski a chosen summit. Mountain huts provide clean, basic dormitory accommodation. Older huts have larger dorms; refurbished huts tend to have smaller rooms for 2 - 6 people. In Austria some of the huts are more like hotels (with hot showers)! You only need to bring a sheet sleeping bag as blankets or duvets are provided.Breakfast and evening meals are included in your course cost, but lunch is not. Some people visit the bakery and/or carry up nuts/cheese/salami from the valley, but if you are on a longer hut-to-hut tour it's likely that you'll need to buy some lunch from the hut (either a sandwich, or a cooked lunch/pasta). In addition, you will need to pay for hot drinks, bottled water/beer/soft drinks. You should budget the following:
| Switzerland | France | Austria | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sandwich | CHF 10-12 | EUR 8–10 | EUR 8–10 |
| Hot Lunch/Pasta | CHF 18–20 | EUR 15–17 | EUR 12–14 |
| Bottled (1.5L) | CHF 10 | EUR 8 | EU 6 |
| Beer | CHF 9 | EUR 6 | EUR 6 |
| Tea/Coffee | CHF 5 | EUR 4 | EUR 4 |
