Ski Touring Checklists

Checklists

• Personal Ski Gear
• Clothing
• Sundry Personal Stuff
• Group Gear
• Overnight Trips
• Afterwards
• Other Checklists

Personal Ski Gear

• Skis suitable for the tour or lesson (these are hirable)
  Common varieties used on Club trips are:

  Light day touring

  Best for on trail skiing.
  These are double cambered edgeless skis (no metal edges), usually with 'track' style (NNN or Salomon) bindings.

  Heavy day touring

  Best for general ski touring, including off trails and overnight tours.
  These are soft double cambered, metal edged skis and they usually have NNN-BC bindings. This style of ski is the most popular with Club members.

  Cross-country downhill (XCD)

  Best for short tours going up and down steep hills.
  These are single cambered, metal edged skis, usually with 3 pin or cable bindings.

  Lighter and heavier skis are available, such as for racing or lift serviced telemarking, but they are used by skiers who are outside the range of this page.

• Boots & matching bindings. Check that the boots are firm, as floppy boots make controlling you skis very hard. (Hirable)
• Stocks (hirable)
• Climbing skins (if required)
  Cross-country downhill skiers are the main users of skins. They are used for climbing steep slopes, especially on skis without a base pattern, and taken off for the downhill runs.
• Wax (if required)
  Most cross-country skis are waxless. If you are an Australian using wax, then you should be writing this page.

Clothing

• Thermal underwear;
• Stretchy outer clothes in nylon, polyester, or wool.
  Note: Wool is no longer the best fibre for the outer layer, having been replaced by a few different synthetic fibres. Wool's problems include: snow sticking to it; and being not very breathable.
  Important: No cotton. It gets very cold when it is wet & it takes all day to dry;
• Extra warm clothes - down, Polarfleece, Windstopper, etc., jumper or jacket.
  Carry in pack & put on when you stop;
• Waterproof shell - jacket and overprints.
  Goretex, japara, Rainbird, Peter Storm or similar are suitable. Completely waterproof shells will work, but your perspiration will be trapped inside the shell and you will get wet from the inside. Cheap nylon shells seem to be worst for this. (Hirable);
• Hat.
  Depending on the conditions, it could be a beanie, a warm peaked cap with earflaps or a sun hat;
• Mittens or gloves.
  A mitten shell is often enough to keep your hands & fingers warm. A waterproof shell is needed when the weather is not fine. A lot depends on the weather of the day;
• Gaiters (hirable);
• Socks.
  Thermal socks can be good. Some skiers prefer a thin undersock with a thicker outersock;
• Sunglasses (wraparound is best) or goggles.

Sundry Personal Stuff

• Daypack or bum bag;
• Water bottle(s) and water.
  Take at least 1 litre. Some people carry a hot drink in a small stainless steel thermos;
• Survival gear - waterproof matches, torch, digger;
• Whistle;
• Sunscreen;
• Food, including high energy snack food such as chocolate or scroggin;
• Pocket knife;
• Camera & film;
• Something to sit on.
  A pack is often enough. Many packs have foam mats within them, forming a structural member, which can be removed for sitting upon. A small mat can be made by cutting up a foam sleeping mat;
• Spare car keys.

Group Gear

• First aid kit;
• Ski repair kit, including a spare ski tip;
• Scraper and wax;
• Watch;
• Compass & map(s);
• Waterproof matches or lighter;
• Bivvy bag (hirable) or space blanket.

Overnight Trips

Everything needed on day tours plus:

• Tent (or be ready to dig a snow cave).
  A winter tent is needed. It needs to be able to shed snow & stand up to strong winds. Tunnel tents of various designs are most popular.
  The tent must have snow pegs, which are wider & longer than standard pegs. Standard pegs are too small to grip the snow properly & will just pull out;
• Snow shovel;
• Sleeping mat, either expanded foam or inflatable mattress.
  2 are usually better;
• Sleeping bag.
  A winter bag, or one rated to -10C, will be suitable;
• Stove & fuel;
• Something to rest the stove on. A wooden board, metal plate or foam mat will all stop the stove melting a hole & disappearing into the snow;
• Matches or lighter;
• Pot(s);
• Cup & plate;
• Spoon, knife, fork;
• Headlamp or torch.
  Make sure the batteries are reasonably fresh;
• More food;
• More warm clothing.
  Enough for another layer all over is usually almost enough;
• Cards (for when you are tent-bound).

Afterwards

• Dry socks;
• Set of warm dry clothes, including a jumper or jacket;
• Money for usual after-tour dinner.

Other Checklists

Other sites have their own checklists, most suited for their owners' own circumstances & environments. They may give you more hints for your own checklist.

• R.E.I. of Seattle, Washington, USA, has several gear checklists, for groomed day touring, backcountry day touring, overnight touring, first-aid kit & ski repair kit.
• The Nakkertok Nordic Racing Team of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, has a pre-race planning checklist.
• The Colorado Firstrax web site has a Survival Kit Checklist for backcountry skiing.
• Emin Gün Sirer, of University of Washington, Seattle, USA, has created a checklist for winter (snow) camping.