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Alpine Touring
Inspired by the back of the beyond, alpine touring skis and gear will take you there
Wild, unsullied snow blanketing slopes far and wide beyond ski-area boundaries. Skiing them strikes the heart of backcountry skiing, one of skiing's broader topics.
Backcountry skiing is a broad topic because it includes a wide range of activities such as touring for exercise, traveling to a backcountry hut, searching for untracked powder and ski mountaineering. Broad also because the equipment preferred for these excursions includes a comparable range of gear, categorized as cross-country, telemark and randonnée.
The categories have been popularized as alpine touring, or randonée, the French word for trekking. While the French, oddly enough, and Swiss just call the skis designed for alpine touring simply "touring skis," in North America, the term alpine touring, or simply "AT," has stuck. In a category of its own, AT skiing has been honed to include specialized AT skis and gear. Here, we'll explore AT skiing and AT skis, and get into some general information about skis and how to select a ski that's right for you.
Why AT?
If you're interested in visiting the winter backcountry, AT gear is a great way to go. The boots are warm and light, skis and bindings are increasingly easier to use and the equipment is now versatile enough to be used at the ski area as well as in the wilderness. Many ski patrollers use AT gear as their everyday choice at resorts such as Telluride, Jackson Hole, Aspen Highlands and Big Sky, where they might be expected to ski anything from groomed runs to back-gate avalanche control routes. The versatility and comfort of AT gear fits their demands.
As mentioned, many types of skis can be used for backcountry skiing. Years ago, one started out with wide wooden touring skis and leather climbing boots. The technology then took a step to metal edges, metal skis, fiberglass skis, and step-in AT bindings. Today, in the latest step in search of the perfect ride, AT aficionados wear plastic boots and use carbon-fiber skis.
Backcountry snow can be skied with alpine skis, but unless the skis are unusually light and soft, why would you want to? Since the mid-90s, ski design has progressed to a point where we can ski lighter, wider, shorter skis than ever before, actually with increased control. Because AT skis have all this going for them in addition to less weight, they even cost less than a comparable alpine ski. Typically, a new AT ski will weigh up to a pound less and cost $100-$175 less than a new alpine ski.
Even more importantly, the AT (or telemark, as they are nearly interchangeable) version is engineered to flex and turn correctly in powder. In the Rocky Mountains, we tend to prefer wider, softer skis for our softer snow, and so many of our skis are also designated for telemark skiing. Most alpine skis are engineered for proper flex and turning characteristics on groomed runs. When skied in deep, soft snow, these skis earn their nickname, "boards" - they become boards. Skis designed specifically as AT skis are usually intended for long tours on glaciers or randonnée racing.
Is Light Right?
One of the main advantages of AT and tele skis is that they weigh less than regular alpine skis, and less weight while ascending a slope is a good thing. The diet for AT skis involves using fewer components for dampening and thinner (or fewer) layers of fiberglass and metal. Is a light ski always the best choice? Not for everyone or every condition. If you like long tours and hut trips, then less weight is a factor to consider.
On the other hand, a ski for all conditions (a quiver of one) should have enough damping (control of vibration) to be comfortable at the area or on spring conditions, and wide enough to float in deep powder. The most forgiving skis usually have a little more "beef." Randonnée racing ("rando" racing involves climbing and then skiing a minimum of 5,000 vertical feet) skis tip the scales at less than 5 lbs per pair (less than 2,000 grams) while backcountry powder skis can reach 8 lbs (3,600 grams). Somewhere within that range you'll find your perfect ski. Our favorite skis these days are 6.25 lbs (2,800 grams) but we'll often ski 8 pounders on day trips.
We met a group of climbers/skiers at a hut in the San Juans who thought that the lightest skis equated to the best skis. They were surprised at how much more stable our AT skis were in variable conditions, and how much better they held traction when skiing a hard-packed road to the highway. Light weight needs to be considered, but so does the ability to perform in expected conditions.
A Diet of Fatties?
Fat skis and tires both provide a smooth ride. Fat skis float in powder and crud, are more poised in variable conditions and make the downhill a smooth ride. Of all the dimensions assigned to a shaped, or parabolic, ski, the waist measurement (in millimeters) is usually the most telling. Waists of 87-90 mm are the most popular for AT and tele skis in the Rockies. These match up with tips of 118-126 mm to provide a great ride while still being narrow enough for quick turns in the trees and light enough for long climbs and multi-day trips.
Wider skis in the 95-99 mm waist sizes are great fun in the soft stuff and are available in weights light enough to tour (3,600 grams or just more than 8 lbs). Even wider skis, the 100-plus mm guys, are the true fatties these days, but they can be a drag on a climb. Skins that wide require a noticeable increase in effort and are seldom seen more than a few miles from the trailhead, except on really strong skiers.
If your skiing includes lots of spring corn or groomers with the family, there are some great skis available in the 81-85 mm waist regime. Some of these skis have relatively wider tips for terrific hold and response in short turns for firm snow or narrow couloirs.
Europeans are fond of skis in the 75 mm waists, but they don't see much powder and they're famous for touring 25-30 kilometers per day for days on end. Their skis are great for that, but not nearly as adept at managing breakable crust and knee-deep crud.
Curves Are Good
When parabolic skis started taking over in the mid-90s, confusion over dimensions and nomenclature followed. In ski-style shorthand, ski width refers to the waist dimension, and shape refers to either sidecut or turn radius. Many skis will have one or both of these dimensions marked on the top sheet. Backcountry skis should have a sidecut of 14 mm to 16 mm, or a turn radius of about 20 to 25 meters. This means that the skis will be stable and capable of sweet turns through the trees. Modern Giant Slalom (GS) race skis have similar shapes, but naturally are about as flexible as a two-by-four. Extreme sidecuts like those on slalom race skis have numbers like 22 mm of sidecut and a turning radius of 14 meters. These would be "hooky" at best in the powder, and in cut-up crud they'd be as spooky as the proverbial cat in a roomful of rocking chairs.
These modern sidecuts are a major reason why today's short skis hold on firm conditions, whether turning on windpack or traversing the surface of an old avalanche. Sidecut and flex combined determine a ski's turning and holding characteristics.
Long ago I skied on a 207-215 cm ski. I also used to drive a 1959 VW microbus. The bus was slow and cold. It held my gear and several friends, but under a load the bus was even slower. I've since discovered the joys of heaters, defrosters and maintaining the speed limit on nearly any grade. Likewise, a modern shaped ski is designed to float in soft snow and transfer your weight to the snow over a shorter length. Manufacturers provide charts with acceptable weight ranges for the various ski models and lengths. In addition, testing a variety of rental skis can provide general guidelines for local conditions.
It's possible to ski a wider or longer ski than recommended without much problem if we ski only fresh snow. The limitations will show up when we take an oversized ski onto firmer conditions, such as an expanse of windpack or a road with hard snowpack. With less force on the ski than for what it was designed, a ski won't hold well. It will respond more slowly because it isn't loaded in the turn - like the old VW, it goes down the hill but driving it is not much fun. Ski materials and flex stiffness affect the recommended length. A ski with metal or carbon fiber layers (not just stringers) can be skied shorter than a comparably sized ski with only fiberglass in the layup.
A mountaineer weighing 190 lbs without gear would be comfortable on powder skis in a 180 cm length. If the ski were a little softer than average, he might want a 185. Similarly, if the ski was beefy, with multiple layers of carbon fiber or Titanal, a 177 would be plenty. Remember, the 200-lbs racers on the World Cup circuit use a 165-cm ski, so it's mostly a matter of matching the flex to the intended use and skier.
If you're really unsure about the right length of ski, try out different lengths. Demos are available at most ski shops, or maybe a friend has a pair in a similar size or model. If you are at the edge of the sizing chart on the high or low end, then consider your ability and adjust up or down a ski length. For example, if you ski well, weigh 120 lbs. and the recommended weight range of a 160 cm ski of interest is 110-125 lbs, consider going up a size to the 167 ski (particularly if you plan on skiing with a pack on most of the time).
Women-specific Skis
Women's skis really are different than men's. Beyond the occasional feminine colors and graphics, women's skis are usually lighter and softer for a given length. But also the flex is modified and the waist is often re-positioned. The reasons for this are biomechanical - women ski with a different stance than men, their centers of gravity are also different than men and they don't pressure a ski like men either.
In the early 1970s on a small island in Puget Sound, Keith Roush, owner of Pine Needle Mountaineering in Durango, pried his first pair of hand-made skis from a mold just in time for a ski descent of Mt. Rainier. Since then, half his life has been downhill.
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