by Ski mountaineering is a combination of sports where speed, balance, nature and risk go hand in hand and can lead to many ways of excitement. As it is with surfing, so it is with skiing. I love skiing, but after a season on the slopes, skiing itself is slowly becoming a form of training and fitness. Constantly correcting the details of one’s movements, strengthening one’s strength, improving the feel of the snow, etc……. And the entertainment component of skiing is diminishing. Many of the “weekend warriors” around me who go skiing every week feel the same way.
Looking back at our beginnings, what we wanted was the ski life in the videos shown at the International Outdoor Film Festival. It was the feeling of a ski trip: from debating plans, setting goals, packing gear, and physical reserves, to boarding the plane to your destination and finally standing at the top of the mountain and leaping off. Day after day of training on the snow was just preparation for that ultimate goal.
I want to recapture that childhood feeling of excitement and anticipation that comes with the impending exploration of the unknown before going away.
If you too want to go on an adventure by way of skiing, then welcome to the realm of ski mountaineering!
Before we explain ski mountaineering, let’s briefly summarize the classification of skiing. Skiing can be categorized from different perspectives and everyone has their own understanding.
Regarding snowboarding, I will first categorize it from the perspective of skis and divide it into three branches: ALPINE SKI, TOURING SKI, and NORDIC SKI.
ALPINE SKI is divided into: RACE, PISTE, ALL MOUNTAIN, FREE SKI.
TOURING SKI is also divided into: RUNNING SKI, TOURING SKI, FREERIDE TOURING SKI.
NORDIC SKI is roughly divided into: CLASSIC, SKATE.
The above is a categorization according to the perspective of the equipment, and if it is categorized according to my personal understanding of skiing, it can be divided in this way:
One of the most closely related to mountaineering is SKI MOUNTAINEERING. In Europe, the definition of SKI MOUNTAINEERING includes “mountaineering gear may be necessary (ice axe, crampons and, possibly, a harness, a belay device, etc)”. “.
But today, we’re lowering the bar a bit, this time focusing on SKI TOURING, which Americans like to refer to as BACKCOUNTRY SKI.
Ski mountaineering, simply summarized in one sentence, can stick on the skid tape wearing a board to go up, but also can tear off the skid tape to slide down. This is generally called ALPINE TOURING.
Skiing websites once selected the TOP 10 AT routes. The three routes that impressed me the most are: the first one is the ascent route of Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe, which is located in Russia. I used to slide down from the Iron Triangle, the symbol of the top of Elbrus. It is also possible to slide from 5621 meters to the base camp at over 4000 meters, and then continue to slide to the entrance of the cable car station at over 2000 meters, which brings a feeling of exhilaration that has never been experienced before. The second one is the Moustagh Peak in Xinjiang, China, which is recommended because it is the highest altitude route that the average skier can climb and ski. The third route is from Chamonix to Zermatt. After seven consecutive days of skiing, the route starts from the French mountaineering town of Chamonix, passes through Italy, and then arrives at the outdoor town of Zermatt under the Matterhorn in Switzerland.
When it comes to ski mountaineering, from time to time it can feel high-end and difficult to accomplish. While others are taking pictures of the snow resort lifts, you take pictures of a guy stepping on a board and moving forward through a vast mountain of snow. It’s actually not that difficult from a gliding perspective (but there is a certain threshold in terms of avalanche response and risk control), it’s just that people feel alienated by it. In Japan, a lot of older people use AT as a hiking fitness sport, the same as the grandparents who walk fast with hiking poles in Ossen.
If you want to simply enjoy skiing, then feel the fun of sliding in the snow field; if you want to experience an adventure trip, want to face more unknown, want to adrenaline rush, welcome to walk into the mountains with me, start your own ski mountaineering journey.
