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Ski Touring

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Very quickly... what is it? Ta.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@Charliegolf, walking uphill on skis with freeheel bindings and sticky 'skins' underneath.

Used to get to places that lifts do not reach, or simply as a fun fitness exercise.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
OMG, body-swerve then! Very Happy
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Or an excuse to drink in every hut on the way up.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
It's something crazy people who are too tight to buy a lift ticket do.


http://youtube.com/v/25y2ZbTroxY


http://youtube.com/v/yipAOf9ZweI


http://youtube.com/v/43ShX30dDfc
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Charliegolf wrote:
OMG, body-swerve then! Very Happy

no body swerve, its a delightful feeling getting in the skinning rhythm zig zaging to the summit heart pumping sweating a snack at the top then skiing some pow or corn
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I'm getting my touring set up this year. This will be my second attempt. My 1st was bought not knowing anything about it. I got sold a pair of last seasons Fisher Ranger 98 freeride skis and as they have a slot on the bottom of the Ski tale for touring Skins , the keen sales manager encouraged me to put last seasons touring bindings on, just in case, in the future, I might like to tour. So why not.. The prices was writing
Long story short they didn't work for me, they were heavy frame bindings, set up in the wrong position on the Ski for me. They were horrible.Didnt ski at all well and I had no intention of touring at that time.
Fortunately i found Jon https://www.thepisteoffice.com/ who set up my skis properly and I swapped the binding to standard Alpine bindings and chose a more suitable position.
A couple of years later and the
http://youtube.com/v/RgpzJeIjVDU Salomon Shift binding is out and now I've got into Off Piste skiing I'm keen to give it a go. Mainly for what the Canadians call Slackcountry touring. Just getting off the lift and maybe wanting to go that little bit further up, maybe a 20 or 40 minute climb. And if I'm not that into it then I'm not left with a compromised set up, as ultimately for me it's all about the decent. So fingers crossed
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Ski touring is huffing and puffing your way up to a pass on skins. When you get there, you can look back at the ski area you've just left... all those dots are people! You can then look at an equally large area to ski in, which is empty... Very Happy Very Happy
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Get a pass...just saying!
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Do both (like me) - ie enjoy both lift-assisted skiing and touring Very Happy.

Two completely different things though - ski touring is more like a good hike in the mountains (or even the hills of England wink) with the bonus of a ski descent instead of a walk down. Mrs MA and I get about 20 ski days each winter in the North Pennines, Lakes and Scotland on days when the ski lifts are shut - most years we're ski touring in Scotland into June.

The remoteness/wilderness aspect of a multi-day ski tour, staying in refuges, in the Alps is just amazing. And you can get the wilderness experience off the back or sides of the ski areas in Scotland.

Go on! Give it a go! Very Happy
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
+1 @mountainaddict. (On my deathbed, it'll be that week in the Stubai I remember Madeye-Smiley )
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
If you like hillwalking then you'll probably like touring. Some exercise, great views, an element of self sufficiency etc. but with (usually) a cracking bit of downhill skiing afterwards.

If you don't like hillwalking, you probably won't.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Quote:

If you like hillwalking then you'll probably like touring. Some exercise, great views, an element of self sufficiency etc. but with (usually) a cracking bit of downhill skiing afterwards.

If you don't like hillwalking, you probably won't.


Exactly. The overall experience has more in common with hillwalking* than resort skiing.
(*or mountaineering if you are adventurous)
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Summed up perfectly by @mountainaddict,

A good mountain hike with the added bonus of a ski down to finish! Very Happy

It's the wilderness experience that does it for us. You can't beat having a ski run to yourself!
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
The Glenmore Lodge vid - he uses 'ski mountaineering'. Is that term interchangeable with touring?

I've always been a bit wary of the Eagles as they ski mo. Is it semantics with no practical difference (i.e. I won't need a rope)?
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@Val Desire, in the Glenmore Lodge video the terms are not interchangeable. He sets out a simple hierarchy from rolling Nordic skiing, through touring, to ski mountaineering. As a climber I would take the latter to mean the use of (and proficiency with) an axe and crampons on steep ground as a minimum. Ropes and other paraphernalia would depend on the technicalities of the up.

As for the Eagles, and what they mean. Who knows? I would guess their website might provide examples of what is required for different levels of tour.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
It's just another way to exercise ones dogs isn't it?

http://www.stylealtitude.com/powder-hounds.html
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@Val Desire, the Eagles do everything from totally mellow day tours to exploratory ski mountaineering

There isn’t really a clear definition between ski touring and ski mountaineering. I think of the divide as being whether you need climbing techniques as part of the uphill but that’s just my personal definition
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@Arno, if I have to take a harness, axe, crampons be roped in, rapel etc then to me at least that is ski mountaineering.

Not something I do without a guide, and hard to take the dogs too Toofy Grin
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
If you can take your dog it’s touring, if you can’t it’s mountaineering
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@Arno, brilliant Smile
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...


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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Arno wrote:
If you can take your dog it’s touring, if you can’t it’s mountaineering


So what's "randonnee", is that when you take cheese sandwiches?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
@DB, as you probably know, picnics & thermos are all part of relaxing touring Cool

I'm forever motivated / inspired when I come across French couples, well into their mid / late 70's enjoying a nice picnic before their descent.
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Been doing Backcountry skiing for over 3 decades, silly me I thought it was all about the untouched powder.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@pinhead,

Classic ski touring in the Alps is more about bagging peaks and skiing down them before the spring snow goes to slush than untracked powder. Of course sometimes you get lucky.
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Quote:

If you can take your dog it’s touring, if you can’t it’s mountaineering



Great definition Very Happy
For some reason it makes me think about the feather and the whole chicken but that's probably just my mind on a friday afternoon
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Arno wrote:
@Val Desire, the Eagles do everything from totally mellow day tours to exploratory ski mountaineering

There isn’t really a clear definition between ski touring and ski mountaineering. I think of the divide as being whether you need climbing techniques as part of the uphill but that’s just my personal definition


I'd agree with that - but when it's abbreviated to skimo I think rando racers in spandex Puzzled
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Quote:
+1 mountainaddict (On my deathbed, it'll be that week in the Stubai I remember )
Great stuff Jude1 - what a week it was!! Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I reckon there are 3 different ways to distinguish between ski touring and ski mountaineering.
1. Technical difficulty of ascent (and maybe descent if it involves abseiling)
2. Overall aims, especially if the use of skis is only part of the trip - e.g. if the aim is to ascend a peak, and you can do the approach on skis, but need to then climb, you could describe the whole trip as ski mountaineering, but you probably wouldn't call it ski touring
3. When racing, as it's always referred to ski mountaineering (or skimo) when racing, probably because ski touring racing is a bit of an oxymoron
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@clarky999, plus One

And have you ever seen some SkiMo competitors on their descent Laughing

Though hardly surprising given what they are actually skiing on.

We have a massive annual event near here and the guys are seriously quick on the "UP" but.............

Think maybe 20 or so years ago could have been a sport I could have got into.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
So, in summary...…..
If you're a decent faffer, by the time you've sorted the skins, layers, sunscreen, packed lunch, dogs, more layers, water proof gear (just in case),the dog's lunch, avi kit, (did I mention layers?) the lifts will have closed. So don't forget a headtorch.


Then your on your way. Good tempo and you start to get warm so you stop to remove some layers. but your bag is full of maps, flask, lunch, dogs lunch, layers, that you end up wrapping stuff around your waist. Meet & chat to an old French couple. Carry on. Have lunch but you realize that it's more like supper time. Finally it's time to enjoy yourself. WHERE'S THE *** HEADTORCH?





That would be me to a "T" Laughing Laughing Laughing
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@GeorgeVII, just for you Laughing

http://www.stylealtitude.com/fafffactor.html
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Just to get us stoked for the upcoming touring season ….


http://youtube.com/v/6tJqvbh-GNA
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@DB, chuffing Nora, those boys can ski, and they seem to be having a nice time.
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@DB, Great vid Smile I feel a Churchill dog "Oh yes!!" coming on.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
This vid in our back yard pretty well encompasses nice sedate Spring ski touring, except no picnics.

And good views of La Grave / La Meije (1:21 - 1:26)


http://youtube.com/v/o6GFORFxMas
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
This one from up the road here is very much one for the ski touring / ski mountaineering debate.... Shocked

http://youtube.com/v/fMBAKcwbQ5I
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 You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
F'cin nutters Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy
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@gvj,

It's skiing, Jim, but not as we know it. Awesome!
The exposure both on the uphill and downhill is extreme - oh, to have the ability to ski that! On the other hand, if you ski often enough with that sort of exposure, eventually, you will die...
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