Ski Mountaineering: The Complete Beginner’s Guide
6 Min. Read
In just a few weeks, ski touring will become an Olympic sport. At the 2026 Winter Games in Bormio, Skimo will make its debut. But you don’t have to be an Olympian to discover this sport. Over 600,000 people in Germany already enjoy ski touring. What draws them in: tranquility instead of chairlifts, nature instead of slopes, full-body workout instead of queues. Here’s everything you need to get started.
How Ski Touring Differs from Downhill Skiing
On the slopes, you ski down. With ski touring, you climb up. It sounds simple, but it changes everything. Instead of chairlifts and queues, you ascend the mountain with skins under your skis. At your own pace, on your own route, without noise and après-ski music. Once at the top, the silence envelops you like a warm blanket. And then you ski down through untouched snow.
The **German Alpine Club** counts over 600,000 active ski tourers in Germany. That’s a tripling in the last 20 years. Particularly the segment of **resort ski touring** is growing rapidly: around 220,000 DAV members use designated ascent tracks in ski resorts. Getting started has never been easier.
And the best part: you don’t need a ski pass. No waiting, no crowds. Just you, the mountain, and the snow.
What many underestimate: ski touring is a full-fledged endurance workout. During the ascent, you typically move at 60 to 75 percent of your maximum heart rate. The perfect zone for basic endurance. On steeper sections, the intensity increases to 80 to 90 percent. This means: you train fat burning and peak performance in the same session.
What Happens in Your Body
During the ascent, mainly the **thighs** (quadriceps and hamstrings), **glutes**, and **calves** are working. Using poles activates the shoulders, arms, and entire core musculature. During the descent, the picture changes: the adductors, abductors, and deep core muscles absorb the forces. This is eccentric load, exactly the type of training that makes muscles stronger and more resilient in the long run.
The calorie burn is impressive. Sports science calculations suggest **700 to 800 kilocalories per hour** during the ascent. For comparison: a measurement by Swiss television SRF Puls showed that normal downhill skiing, including lift times, burns only around 255 kilocalories per hour. Ski touring thus provides about three times the load with significantly less impact on the joints.
The best part: you control the intensity completely. A slower ascent in the basic endurance zone burns mainly fat. Steeper tracks or a faster pace drives up the heart rate and trains the anaerobic threshold. One and the same sport, two completely different training stimuli. And the best part: you hardly notice it because the landscape distracts you. Anyone who has ever spent three hours on a treadmill knows what that means.
The Right Equipment: What You Really Need
For a **piste tour** (the recommended starting point), you’ll need touring skis with touring bindings, touring ski boots with walk mode, and climbing skins for the ascent. Additionally, a backpack with 20 to 35 liters capacity, spare clothes, and provisions. This is the basic equipment. If you’re still hesitant about the investment: many sports stores and ski resorts offer **complete rental sets**.
As soon as you venture into the **backcountry**, safety equipment becomes mandatory. An avalanche transceiver (LVS-Gerät), avalanche probe, and avalanche shovel are the absolute minimum. An airbag backpack increases your survival chances in an avalanche but is not a substitute for knowledge and caution.
For starting with piste tours, even regular piste skiing equipment with touring skins will suffice for testing. Many ski resorts now offer special touring afternoons where you can rent equipment and learn the technique under guidance.
For clothing, follow the layering principle: functional underwear as the base, an insulating mid-layer, and a windproof and waterproof hardshell as the outer layer. You’ll sweat during the ascent and get cold during the descent. Your system needs to handle both.
Rule of thumb: Start with a piste tour using rental equipment. If you’re still smiling after three tours, invest in your own gear.
Your First Tour: How to Plan It Right
Start with a **piste tour in a ski resort with a designated ascent track**. Out of 48 ski resorts in the Bavarian Alps, 20 have such tracks. There, you’ll be safe from avalanches, other tourers will show you the way, and in case of emergency, mountain rescue is nearby.
For beginners, the German Alpine Club (DAV) recommends **500 to 1,000 vertical meters** for the first tour. Plan for an ascent speed of 200 to 300 vertical meters per hour. A tour with 800 vertical meters will take about three hours uphill. The descent is much faster, plan for about a third of the ascent time.
Important: Never go on a tour alone, especially not as a beginner. Bring enough water and a snack. Start early in the morning when the snow is still firm and grippy. And check the **avalanche report** before each tour. The avalanche information services of the Alpine countries publish daily updated danger levels.
Safety on the Mountain: The Minimum You Need to Know
Piste tours are relatively safe. However, as soon as you venture into the **backcountry**, you need avalanche knowledge. The DAV regularly offers **avalanche courses**. They take one afternoon and can save your life. No YouTube video replaces a course with practical training in the snow.
Basic rules for the backcountry: Maximum slope incline for beginners under **30 degrees**. Check the danger level before the tour. Set your avalanche transceiver to “send” and do a partner check. The DAV SnowCard is a free tool for risk assessment and also available as an app. It helps you relate slope incline and avalanche danger.
And the most important rule: if the weather changes, visibility worsens, or the terrain is steeper than planned, turn back. No summit is worth it. The mountain will still be there tomorrow. This humility towards the mountain distinguishes experienced tourers from beginners. Not speed, not technique, but the willingness to say no.
If you’re looking for a chill after training: Ice bathing is the perfect complement to ski touring. Both sports train your ability to handle extreme conditions. The difference: in ski touring, your whole body moves; in ice bathing, it stays still. Both make you more resilient.
Skimo at the 2026 Olympics: What This Means for the Sport
At the Winter Games in Milano-Cortina, ski mountaineering will make its Olympic debut. Three disciplines are on the program: Women’s Sprint, Men’s Sprint, and Mixed Relay. The venue is Bormio. This means a sport that has long been considered a niche will take the world’s biggest stage.
For you as a beginner, this mainly means one thing: better infrastructure, more offers, and more attention. Ski resorts will designate more uphill tracks. Manufacturers will offer more affordable entry-level models. And the avalanche course at the German Alpine Club (DAV) will be more crowded than ever.
The German scene also has reason to cheer. In previous world championships, German athletes have regularly secured top positions. The Olympic debut could give the sport in Germany the boost that mountain biking experienced in the 1990s when it was included in the Olympics. The best time to start is right now, before everyone else does.
Anyone just starting out in sports will find ski touring to be one of the most beautiful ways to combine fitness and nature experiences. No other winter sport combines endurance, strength, and mental fortitude as elegantly as ascending through pristine snow on skis.
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Image source: Pexels / Alois Lackner