Ski Touring for Beginners: The Gear You Actually Need

Ski touring is the simplest deal in the mountains: you walk up, you ride down, and the whole white world between the lift lines is suddenly yours. Some people fall for the quiet climbs and mellow descents and never want more. Others use classic tours as a stepping stone to steeper, wilder lines. Both are right.

What follows is what we have learned over countless tours, a decent number of summits and, let us be honest, plenty of deeply ungraceful attempts at skiing bottomless powder.

Skis: pick your compromise

• Light and affordable: lightweight touring skis, often with a foam core, are friendly on the wallet and on the climb. In chopped-up snow they are less stable, and they do not float as well in deep powder.
• Wood core with reinforcement: fibreglass, carbon or thin metal layers make a ski far more stable and powerful on the descent, especially in difficult snow. You pay for it in weight on the way up.
• The do-it-all ski: everyone wants one. Just remember that versatile means compromise: not the best up, not the best down.

Our advice: decide whether you are in it for long climbs or wild descents and buy accordingly. If you honestly do not know yet, a 50/50 model that behaves on piste and off it is the right first ski. More detail in how to choose freeride and touring skis.

Bindings

There are hundreds of ski brands and only a handful of serious touring binding makers, and every year they shave off grams and add stiffness. What matters for you: the binding must be compatible with your boots, hold reliably in every kind of terrain, and switch between walk and ski mode without a wrestling match. Some models let you switch with the boot still in, others make you step out. Try it in the shop with gloves on.

Climbing skins

Skins stick to your bases and let the ski glide forward but not slide back. Classic glue skins are still the most popular, with glueless adhesion systems as the alternative. More important than the technology is a solid attachment at tip and tail. Good skins give you a confident step and far less backsliding and swearing.

Look after them. Tired glue or a broken tail clip can end a tour by 9 am. Store skins on their liner sheets, dry them properly after every day, and re-proof them so they do not soak up water and collect snow.

Boots: the most important thing you will buy

The wrong size or shape turns every tour into a slow march of misery. Take your time and get them fitted.

• Heat-mouldable liners: common on better models. They shape to your foot, which means more comfort and fewer pressure points.
• Weight versus stiffness: light is lovely on the climb, stiffness is what controls the ski on the way down. Modern boots do both better than ever and keep their flex in the cold.

Buying smart

• Try before you buy. Borrow from a friend or rent first. It saves a lot of money and disappointment.
• Used gear and last season's models are great value. Check the condition carefully, especially the skins, which wear out first.
• Experience beats equipment. Nothing replaces days out. Over time you find out what actually suits you.

Safety kit: the holy trinity

Ski touring happens on snow, in open mountains. Sometimes that snow does not stay where it is. That is called an avalanche, and heading out without the basic three is plain foolish:

1. Avalanche transceiver
2. Probe
3. Shovel

Owning them is not enough. Practise rescue several times a season. Bury a backpack with a transceiver inside and go find it. You will be shocked how exhausting and slow digging is without a strategy. Full details in our beacon, shovel and probe guide.

Also in the pack

• First aid kit
• Bivvy bag or at least an emergency blanket
• Thermos with something hot
• Headlamp
• Charged phone with the local mountain rescue number saved (112 works across Europe), and a whistle

One more tip: learn a few key words in the local language. Avalanche, fall, injured, help. You hope never to use them.

Respect the mountain, bring your friends

Mountains hold as much risk as beauty. Check your gear, the weather and the avalanche forecast for the area before every tour, and tell someone where you are going and when you plan to be back.

And the big one: never go touring without people you can rely on when it counts. The evenings in a hut with those same people after a hard day out are, frankly, half the reason we do this.

Start with us

Want to learn to move safely and confidently in the winter mountains? On our Intro to Ski Touring & Splitboarding camp we teach touring from scratch: uphill and downhill technique, avalanche equipment and tour planning. If you ride red and black pistes comfortably, you are ready. Questions first? Drop us a line.

Quick answers

What gear do I need to start ski touring?

Touring skis with touring bindings (or a splitboard), climbing skins, touring boots, adjustable poles, a backpack, and the avalanche kit: transceiver, probe and shovel.

Should a beginner buy or rent touring gear?

Rent or borrow first. Once you know what kind of touring you enjoy, buy boots first, because fit matters most, then skis and bindings.