Ski touring (backcountry skiing or off-piste skiing)

Andrej Stroj

Beside good physical condition and skiing knowledge, basic precondition for safe touring is successful finishing of ski touring school, alpine climbing school or mountaineering school in one of several mountaineering associations. School is needed in order to achieve the basic knowledge and skills necessary to move across mountains in snowy conditions. Here are some basic tips which of course cannot replace the actual attending of these courses.

Before going touring:

• Take good care of your equipment; be sure it is in order and in good condition, so that it would not let you down in a critical moment.
• When choosing a tour, be sure it is consistent with your abilities.
• Before going on a tour which you are not familiar with, study its description from literature and try to go across it on a map beforehand, so that you could predict what kind of difficulties can be expected.
• Always watch weather forecast and reports on the condition of the snow cover for the area where you plan the touring. Choose your tour according to the information. In case of adverse conditions (high avalanche risk, expected large amount of precipitations, etc.), it is best to postpone the touring.
• If it is possible, ask around, regarding the conditions on the tour, among off-piste skiers who were recently there. For this purpose, ski touring web pages can be very resourceful.
• Bring along all necessary equipment. One should keep in mind that an ice axe and crampons are the basic equipment for travelling across mountains in snowy conditions and should be brought on every demanding tour. Other obligatory equipment is shovel, probe and avalanche transceiver (Ortovox, Pieps, etc…). Of course, this equipment makes sense only is every member of the group has it, and is trained to use it.
• Mobile phone is also a part of the obligatory equipment. Before going on touring find out the numbers of Mountain Rescue Service covering the area you plan to visit.

On touring:

• Avoid going on touring alone. However if you decide to go on an individual touring, choose a popular tour among ski tourers and where there is a better chance to have someone to help you in case of an accident.
• Set out touring early enough to have some spare time in case of a trouble. Due to higher temperatures in the afternoon there is an increased risk of avalanche.
• In case of low visibility it is best to cancel the touring.
• Travelling speed should be accommodated according to the slowest member of the team. Stay close to the group and avoid unnecessary waste of energy. Remember that in case of an accident you will need additional strength in order to help the victim of for going to find help.
• Ski touring downhill is best planed on a direction of ascent. That way you are avoiding the risk of stumbling across unnecessary obstacles during your descend (ice, slopes where there are risks of avalanche, lack if snow, steep jumps and rocks).
• Slopes where you think there are risks of avalanche should be passed one by one and not in a group. Likewise, in situations like this, loosen the safety strings on your skis and skiing rods.