Tips and Tricks Page
Some useful tips and tricks when you are ski-touring plus a suggested spares and repairs kit. Further down some tips on maps & navigation and on carrying skis and on using sledges
Last Updated - February 2008
Suggested Spares and Repairs Kit
Spray on instant skin-glue - good for re-sticking the tails of your skins while out skiing. Regular skin glue - in case you need to re-glue a whole skin.
Spare skin - the quickest solution in foul weather if you have problems with your skins sticking. Two or more are good in big groups.
Glop Stop / Skin Wax - When you need to use this stuff, (in heavy wet snow) it is really essential.
Plastic Cable ties - see below.
Duck Tape - see below.
Screwdrivers, Penknives as necessary to adjust your bindings.
Store some duck tape on your poles
Duck tape on your poles....a great palace to store some emergency tape, and you also get lower hand grips on your poles for those steep traversing skinning lines. The peak in the background is the Gran Zebru
Plastic Cable Ties
Plastic zip ties (cable ties) make an excellent emergency repair - you can buy them form most hardware and DIY stores, usually somewhere near all the electrical bits and bobs. I had a Russian client in Chile once who repaired his snowboard binding with two penny plastic cable ties on the first day in a blizzard and they lasted for two more weeks.....
They are also good in the short term for attaching skins whose glue is failing.
Hat Catchers
I got this one form a skier - but it works well on windy days when you want a sun-hat on. Tie a short length of cord to the back of your hat, the other end can be tied to your rucksack, but usually works fine just with a know in the end stuffed under your jacket. never lose a hat in the wind or while skiing again.
Maps & Navigation
Look out for the special ski touring editions of maps published in Switzerland, France and some other countries - these have recommended skiing routes marked on, and in the case of the Swiss maps, grades and timings for each section of the itineraries. Poorer quality ski touring maps are also available in Italy.
A GPS is extremely useful for ski touring, if not then you certainly need an altimeter to supplement your map and compass.
If you think you may have to relocate your tent or snowhole in a blizzard or in the dark try tying your bright orange skin bag to the top of a 2 metre avalanche probe. Easy to spot in bad weather. Also, depending on your priorities you can leave a transceiver switched on inside the tent or snowhole and use another one to search for it, not a good idea if there is high avalanche risk of course.
Loading skis on your rucksack
There are more ways to do this than you can really think of.... Here are some of my favourites.
The High A-frame - this is good for descents (a low A-frame usually results in catching the back of your knees painfully). It is pretty stable, though your centre of gravity is a bit high. However it certainly keeps the skis out of the way - useful for example when abseiling....
Abseiling with skis from the Wildes Hinterbergl summit plateau, Stubai Alps, Austria.
The Low A-frame. As the high A frame but with skis loaded as low as possible - good in high winds or when scrambling - both situations where you want a low centre of gravity. Nasty if you are descending, especially steep steps, as you keep catching the backs of your legs with your skis.
Crossing a river in Patagonia with a low A-frame set up.
The
Loose Side Tie is particularly good when walking through trees, bamboo or other
similar vegetation, as there is less to catch. Load your skis on the sides, but as low as possible and
with the tips free - that way you won't get hung up on overhead branches.
The Loose side tie, good for getting through trees. I would generally recommend not carrying as much as this!
The One Side Tie is where you bind your skis together first, then put both on one side of your pack - useful if you're going to have to take them off your pack regularly to hand carry them. The disadvantage is that it can make your pack lop-sided.
The Diagonal Back Sling can work well, if you have the right sort of tie-in on your rucksack. It certainly looks cool....
Hand Carry . In extreme circumstances the easiest way to carry your skis can be in your hands, or even person to person, hand over hand. One of the more bizarre examples being when boarding roll-on roll-off ferries by the steep side ladders, which are 2 metres clear of the water because the ferry has run aground!
Sledges
Sledges are great for carrying loads on expeditions.
Even a 20kg pack is probably worth putting in a sledge if the terrain is right, as its much easier to pull a sledge than to ski with a load on your back. There is more on sledges on our Sledges and Pulks page
One other good tip is to put your rucksack in the sledge with the straps uppermost and free, then when you need to pick up the sledge/sack combination you can sling it straight on your back..
Snoweye An impressive array of ski web cams from around the world - check before you go whether there is any snow, though they don't all work!!
