A Journey into Ski Touring: Where it began

We both spent time piste skiing when we were younger, on school ski trips and then in our early working lives the occasional budget ski week.

It was on one of these school ski trips where I became aware of ski touring as a way to explore the mountains, like some of my early alpine climbing, but with more enjoyable descents! From then on, I became more interested in ski touring, finding a second hand pair of Rossignol Bandit skis on eBay, equipping them with some Fritschi frame bindings and then heading up to Scotland, a relatively achievable drive from our university base in Newcastle, to try and learn some basic ski touring skills. Many Scottish weekends led to a few simple excursions out on the skis (a particularly memorable northern corries ski tour) amongst other winter climbing endeavours. This culminated in a 4 week trip to the alps with a university friend. Our aim was to break into ski touring. On the advice from a mountain guide we had met in the pub after a BMC winter skills lecture, we headed to Pralognan la Vanoise.

The trip presented many challenges. I found out what I didn’t know about travelling in the mountains on skis in terms of skiing ability. Realised that a certain amount of money was needed to make the most of huts and lift passes. I was also slightly intimidated watching the afternoon avalanches from our apartment balcony!

After university and settling into the working world, Philippa and I started to ski together. We managed a few alpine ski trips and the occasional good day at Scottish ski centres. This lasted for about 10 years until we were both inspired to have another go ski touring. We sourced some second-hand touring equipment from ebay and then just before covid, we enjoyed a fantastic day skiing on the side of Creag Meagaidh. With some easy angled slopes for skinning up and some clumsy descents, we were hooked

Covid came shortly after this adventure, firmly putting the brakes on future trips. When we emerged we were keen to get back to more skiing and booked a cheap post-Covid trip to Chamonix. No touring planned but just a chance to get back on our skis for a full week skiing. What followed was a slow but steady journey towards becoming self sufficient ski tourers. We still have loads to learn but we will reflect on it here as we continue to improve.