ski touring

[NickyRannoch]

The nights are fair drawing in and it is definitely colder than it was so thoughts are turning to winter and I fancy getting into ski touring.

Thing is I have never skied in any way shape or form. I just fancy it as a great option for linking up multiple hills and big distances in the short winter days. So where do I start?

Is it a distinct discipline that means i should go an a specific ski touring course or do I need a bit of experience on the downhil slopes at Glen Shee first?

[malky_c]

Different skis, different boots and bindings and different techniques to downhill skiing, so I'd say downhill skiing won't help much. Might as well get stuck straight into cross-country skiing if that's what you are after.

I say this as someone who occasionally does downhill skiing, but never cross-country. Must give it a go sometime. I think the answer is to look through charity shops for a cheap pair of skis and boots and work it out yourself (obviously going for forestry tracks to start off rather than the middle of the Cairngorms).

[denfinella]

Again, as a downhill skier with no experience in cross-country / touring, I'd suggest going straight into cross-country skiing. However, there's no need to wait for snow to arrive. Try the Huntly Nordic and Outdoor Centre, which is a cross-country dry ski "slope" (google it).

Once there's (relatively) low level snow, a couple of places with prepared trails are Loch Morlich, Clashindarroch Forest (see the Huntly centre website for info), and Glen Tanar in Deeside. However I dare say there are places closer to your neck of the woods too.

Obviously once you really get into ski touring you wouldn't be skiing on prepared trails, but it'd probably be easier to start with first. Also this is probably fairly obvious, but there'll still be downhill skiing involved in ski touring (e.g. descending from the plateau, assuming you have your sights set on the Cairngorms), so some lessons on a downhill slope, natural or artificial, might be worth a shot too.

Also try winterhighland as a website dedicated to Scottish snowsports, including touring. Walkhighlands and winterhighland are my two sites of choice when it comes to the outdoors!

[jmarkb]

Different skis, different boots and bindings and different techniques to downhill skiing, so I'd say downhill skiing won't help much.

This would be true if classic cross-country track skis were suitable for the Scottish hills, but they really aren't! At the very least you need Nordic skis with metal edges and some sidecut to making turning on the downhills actually feasible without superb technique. It's possible to have quite a lot of fun on this type of ski in Scotland, though unless you acquire at least some basic skiing skills, anything but the gentlest downhill will be slow, tiring, frustrating and scary! If you are fit it is possible to cover quite long distances, but the route opportunities that avoid steep slopes and have reliable snow cover in Scotland are rather few.

The majority of tourers in Scotland these days use Alpine touring gear rather than Nordic: these are basically lighter weight downhill skis with a binding that can be released at the heel for going up and locked in for going down. This makes the downhills a fair bit easier, though you cannot travel as fast on the level.

Whichever option you go for, time spent acquiring skills on the piste will be well spent. However, skiing off piste is often much more challenging as you can encounter any manner of tricky snow conditions, and defensive tactics such as stem turns, sideslipping or even kick turns can be very useful!

You shouldn't expect magically to be able to travel a lot faster in the hills on skis: in typical Scottish conditions of windpacked or icy snow, the speed gained on the downhills is offset by being slower uphill and faffing around with bindings and skins.

(For what it's worth, I started out on Nordic kit, went through several iterations of buying beefier and beefier kit as my ambitions outstripped my abilities, and eventually converted to Alpine. I'm no star skier: no better than intermediate - i.e. happy on red pisted runs - but I still really enjoy the touring here.)

Is it a distinct discipline that means i should go an a specific ski touring course or do I need a bit of experience on the downhil slopes at Glen Shee first?

The real answer is both: see for example the expected pre-requistes here: http://www.glenmorelodge.org.uk/course-skiing-skills-display.asp?course_id=76

Kit is unfortunately pretty expensive: at least a grand for a reasonable Alpine touring set if bought new.
To begin with, second hand would be good option. There are a few ski touring clubs which may have kit for hire if you are a member: http://www.mcofs.org.uk/ski-touring.asp

Hope that helps!

[malky_c]

Oh well, you learn something new every day!

My knowledge was based on a mate who spent £50 (or something) on a pair of clapped out Nordic skis and did quite a lot around Inverness. This was 2 or 3 years back when there was snow right down to sea level for weeks on end. Thinking about it, I'm not sure he went properly into the hills.

[NickyRannoch]

Over a grand? Ill just get a second hand snowmobile.

Cheers for the replies I think I would be paying to go on courses or guided tours in the first instance and maybe hiring if I find im into it. Whenever I read tom weirs winter accounts he always seems to be zipping about the gorms or black mounth on skis and it seems like a great way to travel.