How do you start ski touring? Take off into yonder on the first attempt? Mmm, not a good idea. Ski touring beginners should first try it out close to the slopes, preferably accompanied by experienced ski touring friends. You’ll be safe from the dangers of the backcountry (e.g avalanches) and a ski tour can be quickly abandoned if need be. However, please be considerate: ski tourers who skin up at the edge of the piste must always walk one after the other and show consideration for alpine skiers on their way down.

There are now a number of ski resorts that have one or even several skinning lanes so that ski tourers and alpine skiers don’t get in each other’s way. Ideal for beginners are special ski touring trails and ski touring parks, where important know-how is provided on display boards or by trained staff.

Ski touring gear: The basic gear you will need

Special ski touring gear

If you want to try out ski touring as a beginner, you can now rent the necessary equipment in many local sports shops and ski hire shops. The big advantage: you can try out different gear…

• … for example, try out a wider downhill touring ski or a lighter ascent oriented touring ski …
• … see whether you prefer a pin or frame construction for your touring bindings.
• As far as boots are concerned, some people prefer harder and firmer because there is more grip on the descent. Others prefer touring ski boots, that are softer and more comfortable.
• In the case of ski skins which are attached to the base of the ski for ascending a mountain, a distinction is made between natural hair, synthetic or a blend of both.

If you still feel like ski touring after the first few tours, it’s worth buying your own ski touring set, not least because you can choose comfortable, well-fitting boots and equipment that are perfectly matched to each other and to your preferences.

Further gear for your first ski tour

• A ski helmet should not only be a matter of course for piste skiers, but also for tourers.
• For the first ski tours, a normal ski backpack with a volume between 25 and 30 liters will do. Inside it, you need a change of clothes, provisions and above all enough liquid.
• A drinking bladder with a tube that can be stowed away in a rucksack is practical. It is the ideal hydration system if you need to quench your thirst when on the move.

Emergency equipment is also compulsory for newbies!

What every ski tourer – from beginner to professional – should also have with them is emergency gear. This includes an avalanche beacon, also known as an avalanche transceiver, an avalanche probe, and an avalanche shovel. But it is not enough just to carry these things with you, you also have to be able to use them. At the latest when you start to focus on carving up the backcountry. For this purpose, the attendance of an avalanche course is highly recommended. In addition to Bergzeit, the German Alpine Club, ski and gear manufacturers, tourist destinations, and professional mountain guides all offer workshops, courses, and events for individuals to learn, refresh and hoan their avalanche safety skills.

Although falls are the greatest risk of injury on ski tours, accidents with fatalities are almost exclusively due to avalanches. Whether an avalanche is triggered depends crucially on the composition and strength of the snowpack. The composition of the snowpack is in turn dependent on a wide range of weather conditions. When snow falls, the snowpack grows, rain softens it, wind causes drifts to accumulate and sunlight changes the snow crystals.

The probability of surviving in an avalanche is low. Around ten to 20 percent of the buried victims die within the first few minutes due to mechanical injuries. Textbooks say that only those who are found and dug up in the first 15 minutes have a 90 percent chance of survival. After that, it drops exponentially. That is why it is so important that you know how an avalanche transceiver works and that you practice searching over and over again.

Avalanche report, topography, and slope gradient

It is no less important to be able to correctly interpret the avalanche situation report in winter. It is easily accessible on the Internet (Germany: www.lawinenwarndienst-bayern.de, Austria: www.lawine.at, Switzerland: www.slf.ch). You should also be able to assess the topography, slope, and slope characteristics. On popular tours, there is usually always a skin track, but you should not rely on this track leading safely to your destination. Furthermore, it could be blown out or simply end up somewhere unsafe. The same applies to the downhill run. The saying: “Some have hit that slope, nothing was triggered” has cost the lives of many a ski mountaineer.

Learn to ski tour: the right technique for skinning and skiing

Ski touring is only really fun when you have mastered the technique – this applies to both the uphill and downhill. In addition to gliding steps and the correct adjustment of the climbing aid, you should also master the technique of kick turning in steep terrain. Especially if the ascent is a little steeper, you will only make uphill progress if you have this technique down to a T.

Practice makes perfect – this also applies to ski touring

Of course, every ski tourer dreams of the perfect downhill run and fluffy fresh snow. But the reality is usually like this: plowed up the terrain, harsh underground, icy or deep slush. The question of whether you should be a good skier for ski touring is unnecessary. A skiing beginner will not be happy in the terrain, not to mention that it is dangerous. Often the downhill run is underestimated – according to the motto “Go only downhill! But going downhill in difficult conditions can be quite exhausting. On the one hand, this plays a role in tour planning when the descent takes much longer than expected. On the other hand, you risk injuries and even avalanche triggers if you are completely exhausted when you start the descent because falls put up to seven times your own body weight on the snow cover. And unlike in a ski resort, it can take a long time for help to arrive off-piste.

So if you’re not a good skier, you should first choose your tours so that you can ski down again on prepared slopes. And for deep powder snow: off-piste skiing is something you can learn. Gliding steps, kick turns, and jump turns are much easier to practice if you first try them on flatter terrain. Suitable courses for beginners and advanced skiers can be found in our German store, here at Bergzeit.