How Alpine Touring Works?

What do you get when you combine hiking and downhill skiing? If your answer is "a lot of work," chances are you have yet to discover the joys of alpine touring. While touring may require plenty of physical exertion, the payoff can make it worth the extra effort. Alpine touring takes you off the beaten ski trails to discover fresh snow and spectacular views.

If you're ready to skip the ski lift and experience backcountry skiing, you'll need some extra gear and a good guide. Alpine touring doesn't necessarily require different gear than what you'd use for downhill or cross-country skiing, but investing in some specialized stuff can make the trek safer and more enjoyable. As far as time commitment, climbing a snow-covered mountain can take a few hours -- and, considering that one hike up will get you just one ski down, you could spend a day or even a few weeks alpine touring.

One of the biggest draws of alpine touring is the sense that you're headed into undiscovered wilderness. The sport is growing in popularity, but there are still plenty of hills that are rarely touched by other skiers, so you'll feel the fresh snow crunching (or slipping) beneath you as you explore the land.

But before you head out to find the next empty mountain, there's some information you'll need to have -- from what to bring to who to travel with. Traditional ski trails are marked and defined, but the pristine alpine touring trails are typically not regulated by a ski resort, which means you'll have to depend on an expert guide so you don't end up skiing over a cliff or causing an avalanche.

So strap on some skins (we'll explain later) and get ready for alpine touring ski.

Emergency Gear for Alpine Touring

You definitely won't be skiing the bunny slopes when you're alpine touring, so it always pays to be as safe as you can. Here are some emergency items that you might want to pack:

Helmet. Because things fall -- especially rock and melting ice. And you really don't want to get knocked out cold in the middle of nowhere.
Avalanche beacon. This transceiver allows other beacons to locate you beneath the snow. They're available in digital (easier for the inexperienced to learn, but less precise), analog (more precise, but tougher to learn) and combination models. This tool can be pretty complicated, so it's important to practice using it.
Avalanche probes. These segmented poles, which typically extend to about 8 feet, can dig through avalanche debris.
Shovels and saws. These essentials can cut through slabs of ice, and some models can be attached to ski poles.
Compass or GPS. This comes in handy in all kinds of emergencies -- from avalanches to whiteout conditions.
ABS Escape. You can often rent this newer, fairly pricey safety device from ski resorts. It's an airbag that inflates instantly when activated, displacing the snow that could bury you in an avalanche.
First-aid kit. Make sure there's an emergency warming blanket and enough medical supplies to allow you to survive a trek out of the wilderness.
Backpack. You can purchase special alpine-touring packs to haul your gear at Telemark Pyrenees.

Planning an Alpine Tour

If you want to go alpine touring, the Alps would seem an obvious starting point. And ski touring in Europe is, in fact, very popular. You can travel for a week or more through Switzerland or Italy, staying in mountain refuges along the way. But alpine touring is also popular in the United States. The Adirondacks in New York are considered a good place for beginners because the mountains have a gentler slope. Beginner trips can range from one to three days.

The best time to go depends on your level of expertise. "Corn snow," prevalent in the spring, is best for newbies because there's an upper "crust" that can support weight. Also for this reason, morning trips are safer, because the temperature hasn't had a chance to rise. Powder snow is popular with more experienced alpine skiers. Fresh, untouched powder requires quicker climbing so you don't sink, but the payoff is that it also allows more of a "floating" feeling as you ski. Powder, which is more prevalent in the dark, colder days of winter, is also more dangerous because light powder can disguise rocks, stumps and ice.

TELEMARK Ski - WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

Almost everyone has already seen such a skier on the slope or out of the slope, perhaps you were interested in looking after because of the strange looking technique. This was a telemark skier. The...

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