Ski touring introductory course 1 Day

If you dream of leaving the crowds behind and exploring the backcountry, then our ski touring course is for you!

Ski touring provides a fantastic way of exploring the backcountry and enjoying some superb ski journeys and adventures away from the resorts. You are able to mix the fun of off-piste skiing whilst making a journey through the magical & remote environment of the mountaineer. For those with some off-piste ski experience and moderate fitness level this introductory one day course provides the inspiration & information to add a whole new dimension to enjoying their ski journeys. You will learn how to climb with skins and kick-turn efficiently, how to avoid avalanche terrain and use essential avalanche safety equipment, plus many more important ski touring skills. This is the ideal course to kick off your ski touring career, or as preparation for a classic ski tour such as Mount Kazbeg.

While conducting a medium sized ski tour, your guide will demonstrate how to dress properly so that you can remain comfortable for an entire day while going through radical changes in physical output and exposure to the winter mountain environment. We keep the total tour length and vertical gain down to around 350-400 meters to leave lots of time for questions and practice. During the course you will become familiar with each type of alpine touring binding, boot, and ski, and be shown the different functions of each item. We will also cover basic avalanche procedures, making quick and easy transitions between skinning and skiing, and discuss common pitfalls faced by all groups of backcountry skiers. At its core, this is a course about efficiency - how to build skills to maximize your energy while backcountry skiing so that you too can grab some untracked powder days or even weeks after the resorts are skied out.

Skills Covered - Intro to Alpine Touring:

Basic avalanche beacon skills

Use of shovel and probe

Backcountry ski equipment

Dressing for uphill skiing

Dressing for downhill skiing

Use of alpine touring bindings

Use of climbing skins

Making kick turns

Transition to downhill skiing from skinning

Transition to uphill from downhill skiing

Maintaining adequate hydration and nutrition

Common pitfalls of groups skiing together

When to travel together and when to spread out

What to do if an avalanche occurs