Checklist for ski touring

Once you are planning a ski tour of several days, you should ask yourself: “What to take?” Who does not know the feeling of missing an important tool for your journey? Even if it a mere piece of tape to fix the skin to the ski, which could eventually save your whole tour.

Professional’s tips:

Clothes:
Functional underwear, spare clothes, fleece jacket of sweater, ski touring pants and socks, wind- and waterproof jacket, thin as well as thick gloves (for the mount and descent respectively), warm hat, sun protection, touring shoes.

Gear:
Touring ski, climbing skin (one spare pair per three tourers), adjustable poles, crampons, backpack, sunglasses, helmet, ski glasses, sunscreen, food, drinks (roughly 1 ½ litres), mobile phone (charged), map, altimeter, compass, maybe GPS, glue spray or tape for loose skins, headlamp, toiletries for multi-day tours.

Additions for alpine tours (high altitude):
Rope (at least 40 m), ice pick, crampons, chest and sit harness, two ordinary carbines, two screw-locker carabines, ice screws, mountaineer glasses, long slings, prusiks, accessory cord (5m).

Safety:
LVS device (set to send), avalanche shovel, avalanche probe, first aid kit with survival blanket, bivouac sack, possibly ABS Avalanche Airbag System and AvaLung.