Ski touring is an outdoor activity for lovers of the great outdoors and beautiful peaks.
You can practice ski touring from December to May in the Northern Alps.
It is necessary to have a good physical condition to practice ski touring, it is necessary to be able to walk ski with the feet during several hours to swallow of the uneven. On average, the ski touring routes are between 300 and 1800 meters. Obviously it is possible to make consecutive days with nights in a refuge or in the valley.

How to start ski touring?

It is always better to start ski touring with a professional or in a club, you will find trainers who will pass on the good bases to start on skis. It is recommended to have a good experience of alpine skiing when you start in order to know how to ski in all snow: fresh, powdery, hard or crusty.
The descent can quickly become a nightmare if you burn the stages and you do not know how to make a turn in all terrain on slopes at 30 °.
The best is to start with easy routes of 300 to 600m drop, you can take the time to improve your conversions but also not to get too tired and save energy for the descent. Even when you start you have to have fun.

What equipment for ski touring?

Today there is no longer a big difference in skiability in ski touring equipment and on piste ski equipment. The touring skis and the light bindings are adapted to the 2 practices and have the same system of TUV standard.
Take skis your size with a skate between 80 and 95 mm to have a versatile and light ski, all brands make great all-terrain touring skis.
We prefer the ski binding with insert which allows a more natural course of the foot in walking function, but also a very significant weight gain on the climb. There are different kinds, all of which have their advantages and few disadvantages.
The sealskins are very important, some are more adherent because they are typed for climbing and grip, others more for gliding and ski-mountaineering competitions, there are also models without glue.
I prefer the models with front and rear stirrups, with glue, because when it is cold, the models without glues quickly reach their limits.
Sticks with a large washer, telescopic or not, are also important, you need a good point with good foam on the handle, the ejectable straps are suitable in case of risk of avalanche.

Safety equipment

The essential trilogy: DVA (avalanche victim detector), shovel and probe are part of the backpack.
The digital DVA must have 3 antennas, the batteries must be new or not less than 50% full, alkaline type battery.
The snow shovel must have a bucket of capacity between 2.5 L and 3L in order to shovel a large volume of snow in case of emergency, the handle must be telescopic and have a pick function to practice the technique of shoveling in V or of the treadmill, the metal bucket must be unbreakable to shovel the hardest snow.
We save enormous time in shoveling, much more than in research with the DVA.
The probe must measure at least 2.40m and be solid, too fragile and too light probes are to be avoided, we will prefer a large tube diameter and conical shanks for more rigidity.