Tour Better
Backcountry skiing is a balance of adventure, fitness and skills. The more you tour, the better your systems and the smoother the day. I surveyed a few ski pals for their favorite backcountry skiing tips and tricks for making the most of any ski tour. From planning and layering to gear maintenance and must-have items, here are our top 10 ski touring tips.
#1. Read the Avalanche Forecast
Yeah, yeah, you’ve heard it a million times. But I mean, really read the forecast, don’t just look at the hazard rating. Pay special attention to “the problems.” If you don’t know the problem, you can’t fully understand the hazard. What are the current snowpack concerns: storm slab, buried surface hoar, wind slab, etc?
Knowing the problems arms you with details like avalanche type, location, probability and potential size. It also tells you what to look for when digging a pit and evaluating snow conditions. Most importantly, understanding the avalanche problems helps you find the best and safest skiing. Read more about understanding the avalanche hazard.
#2. Plan Your Tour
Digital mapping tools make it incredibly easy to explore terrain and create a preset tour plan. You can use known routes or plot your own. A tour plan is incredibly useful when heading into new terrain or exploring new zones. Having the basics of your route and where you hope to ski mapped takes the guesswork out of route finding and sets you up with the lay of the land before you even start skiing.
Digital mapping programs like On X Backcountry offer overlays, including slope angle, slope aspect and avalanche exposure, to help create the best routes possible.
#3. Start the Day with a Morning Meeting
It takes communication to benefit from collective wisdom. Always share observations, ask questions and discuss your ski plan with your ski partners.
Professional guides start every day with a morning meeting covering the weather, avalanche concerns and ski objectives. Making a morning meeting part of your routine puts everyone on the same page and makes the day go more smoothly. Read more about the morning meeting ritual.
#4 — Wax Your Skis
Sounds simple enough, I know, but I am consistently surprised by how many people do not wax their skis regularly. Waxing (and scraping) only takes 10 minutes if you are set up to do it, and smooth-gliding skis make every run more fun. You don’t need to get fancy with your wax; having a universal cold and a universal warm option keeps the options simple and your skis sliding as they should. Read our do-it-yourself ski waxing tips.
#5 — Maintain Your Climbing Skins
We are talking about on-the-go maintenance while you are out ski touring. Skin glue degradation (snow and ice buildup) usually happens over time. Checking for snow and ice (and clearing it) at each transition keeps your climbing skins working smoothly all day.
If it’s extra cold and your skin glue is losing effectiveness, try storing your climbing skins inside your jacket next to your body to warm them up for a couple of laps. Read more of our climbing skin tips and tricks.
#6 — Know When to Ditch the GORE-TEX
That’s right. Waterproof, breathable gear is not always the best choice for ski touring. The key to staying dry, warm and comfortable while ski touring is layering so your body breathes more and sweats less. GORE-TEX and other waterproof, breathable pants and shells have their place, but the uptrack is not one of them unless it is storming hard. Non-waterproof layers breathe way better than any waterproof, breathable layers.
In fact, breathable softshell pants will keep you dry and comfortable in all but the wettest storm conditions. How, you ask? Well, number one, you will sweat less on the uptrack, leaving you drier and more comfortable when you stop to transition at the top. Number two, the dense weave of softshell pants resists wind and water very well, especially when your body is working hard. Breathable softshell pants let your body self-regulate its temp better than waterproof, breathable pants.
The same goes for your upper body. While you should always pack a waterproof, breathable shell, you can keep it in your pack while on the uptrack most of the time. A breathable midlayer insulator like the Arcteryx Proton Hoodie or the OR Deviator Hoodie blocks wind, resists most precip and, most importantly, lets your body breathe while you work to break trail and climb uphill. Use your shell when it’s storming hard, on exposed windy ridgelines and for descents. The better your body can breathe and vent on the uptrack, the drier and more comfortable you will stay over a full day.
#7 — Don’t Leave Good Snow to Find Good Snow
While you should generally stick to your tour plan unless you encounter unexpected avalanche conditions, you should also consider the advice: don’t leave good snow to find good snow.
What does this mean? It means that if you unexpectedly find great conditions in an area that is within the scope of your tour plan, take advantage of it. Just because you talked about skiing zones A, B and C doesn’t mean you can’t just ski zone A when you find better-than-expected conditions. Great snow doesn’t last forever; ski it while you can.
#7 — Add Two-Way Radios to Your Packing List
The list of tech we pack into the backcountry grows every year. While we try not to support overreliance on gadgets, it’s hard to argue with the effectiveness of radios for maintaining good communication and safe travel protocols while backcountry skiing.
When the terrain splits your crew, different paces cause separation, or you simply want to set up a photo, two-way radios let you stay in touch, manage travel and get the shot you want.
The best two-way radios we have used are the Rocky Talkie 5-Watt radios. They offer a pro-caliber 5-watt range, which translates to real-world functionality in the mountains. The usable range for the Rocky Talkie 5-Watt radio is several miles at a minimum and up to 10+ miles, given an ideal line-of-sight scenario in the high alpine. Read our Rocky Talkie 5-Watt radio review
#8 — Pack a Thermos
Packing snacks and water is a no-brainer, but having a hot drink raises the bar for any snack stop. Having something hot to drink is a good way to ensure you hydrate because cold water can be hard to drink on a chilly day. Vacuum bottles come in all shapes and sizes. I recommend a half-liter size to complement the water you carry. Be sure your thermos has a built-in cup so you can let it cool a bit before you drink it. This Zojirushi Stainless bottle is a good example of a thermos sized for backcountry skiing. It costs more than similar-looking and cheaper vacuum bottles, but you get what you pay for here. The Zojirushi is proven and built to last.
#9 — Pack Snacks and Eat Them
Again, it sounds so simple, but I have seen more than one ski partner fade because they are not snacking throughout the day. Packing food for the backcountry is about choosing snacks and treats you can eat in short breaks versus packing a full lunch that requires an extended break to consume. Depending on your crew, if an extended lunch break is part of your program, make sure you also have small snacks you can grab on a transition or on the uptrack when you need a little boost.
Pushing all day and stopping to eat a lot in one sitting is not the easiest on your body and can leave you feeling uncomfortable on the skin track. Eat in small amounts and eat often.
#10 — Ski More
That’s right. One of the best things you can do to improve your backcountry experience is to ski more. As the saying goes, once you hit the 10,000-hour mark, you’re an expert. So go ahead and take another run, plan another tour and get out there skiing as much as you can because the more you ski tour, the better your systems will be, and the more skiing you will get every time you head out.
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