n all your packing, remember the mantra that light is right! You will also need a rucsac to carry this all in. There are lots of good ones on the market. The only specific considerations for ski touring are that the sac has waist and chest straps (for stability when skiing) and that it has a mechanism for attaching skis (for when it gets too steep to skin and you have to boot it up).
Here's what you need to pack for a basic one day or overnight (hut based) ski tour.
Personal gear:
- Wicking knickers (and bra if female)
- Wicking base layer (long or short sleeve)
- Fleece (plus spare)
- Thermal leggings (powerstretch or equivalent)
- Waterproof over-trousers
- Waterproof jacket
- Gloves (plus spares)
- Hat
- Sunglasses and goggles
- Boots
- Skis
- Skins
- Poles
- Harscheisen (ski crampons)
- Avalanche transceiver
- Avalanche probe
- Snow shovel
- Harness
- Ice axe
- Crampons
- Glacier kit (HMS, screw gate, 2xsnap, 2xPrussik, 2xsling)
- Head torch
- Water (Camelbacks are excellent, but can freeze up in cold conditions)
- Food for the day
- Tickets, money, passport
Group gear (spread around the group): - Map
- Compass
- Altimeter
- GPS (optional but a real "nice to have")
- Emergency shelter (large enough to cover the group)
- Emergency food
- Two 30m 8mm rope
- Ice screws
- Ropemans
- First aid kit
- Repair kit
- Sun cream
- Mobile phone
For a multi-day (hut based) trip like the Haute Route, we would add: - Spare socks
- Spare underwear
- More food
- Personal wash kit
First Aid Kit (detail)
- painkillers
- anti inflammatories
- anti diarrhoea tablets
- blister kit
- 2x bandages
- sling
- 1x large dressing
- 2 small dressings
- surgical tape
- antiseptic cream
Repair Kit (detail):
The critical point is to be able to make field repairs to your skiing equipment. Otherwise something as simple as a broken buckle (happened to us), broken binding (happened to us), non-sticking skin (happened to us) or snapped ski pole (happened to us) can turn a nice day out into a real epic if you lack the equipment to make a rudimentary repair. In a basic kit, we would carry: - zinc oxide tape
- colltex quick glue (for re-sticking skins in the field)
- silicon spray (to prevent snow balling on skins)
- superglue
- araldite
- duct tape
- plastic twist ties (assorted sizes) - amazingly useful for all sorts of running repairs
- wire
- leatherman (or equivalent multi-tool)
- spare ski basket
For a longer trip we would consider adding: - acetone (to clean glue off ski bases)
- scourer (to help with cleaning glue off bases)
- spare screws and rivets
- wax
- filler (for reparing small holes in ski bases)
- spare pair of skins
- one spare collapsible ski pole
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