Backcountry Skiing Adventures

Frequently Asked Questions About Our Backcountry Skiing Adventures

• What is backcountry skiing?

  Skiing outside resort boundaries, in terrain that isn’t patrolled, groomed, or controlled for avalanches. Most of the time you get there under your own power: skins on your bases, free-heel bindings, and a climb before every descent. That uphill part is called ski touring, or alpine touring, and it’s what most people mean by backcountry skiing. A few related terms:

  • • Off-piste or sidecountry: ungroomed terrain reached from the lifts, often just past the ropes
    • Heli and cat skiing: backcountry terrain reached by helicopter or snowcat instead of skins
    • Backcountry cross-country: a different sport, on lighter skis and gentler terrain

  Our trips cover touring, lift-accessed, heli, and cat formats.

• Will there be a guide on these trips?

  Yes. Every trip is led by a professional ski guide with deep knowledge of the area, many holding IFMGA/UIAGM, ACMG, or AMGA certification. Groups stay small, typically 4 to 6 skiers per guide. On ski-and-sail trips you’ll also have a skipper, and often a chef. The one exception is our self-guided touring trip in Japan’s Aomori and Hakkoda, where the logistics are arranged and the route-finding is yours.

• Are these trips all-inclusive?

  Depends on the trip. The guide and lodging are almost always included, and so are some meals. Ski-and-sail trips usually cover every meal on board, and heli lodges tend to cover nearly everything, sometimes even the drinks. Typically not included:

  • • Flights to the starting point
    • Technical ski and avalanche gear
    • Travel and rescue insurance
    • Alcohol and guide tips

  Check the exact inclusions on each trip page.

• How fit and skilled do I need to be?

  Fitter than you need to be for a resort day, so be honest with yourself. Most multi-day touring trips ask for:

  1. 1. Skiing: comfortable on black runs and in ungroomed snow, often on slopes of 30 to 35°
     2. Climbing: 1,000 to 1,500 m of skinning a day, with Greenland and Svalbard pushing 1,800 m
     3. Endurance: 5 to 9 hours out, several days in a row

  If you can hike 1,000 m uphill with a daypack and still feel good the next morning, you’re in range for most touring weeks. Heli trips need less uphill fitness but more legs for repeat runs. Each trip page has a difficulty rating, or talk to us if you’re between levels.

• I'm new to ski touring. Is there a trip for me?

  Yes, as long as you’re already a strong resort skier. Start with a guided day or a short hut trip to learn skinning, kick turns, and transitions. Beginner-friendly days run near Whistler, Golden, Revelstoke, and Mount Baker, St. Anton has an intro-to-touring week, and Lyngen has a dedicated first-timers ski-and-sail departure. Heli and cat trips are another way in, since the machine does the climbing. Save the Haute Route and Svalbard for your second or third season.

• What gear do I need for backcountry skiing?

  For touring trips: touring skis or a splitboard, skins, touring boots, poles, and an avalanche kit with a 3-antenna transceiver, a shovel, and a probe of 2.4 m or longer. Ski crampons are often mandatory, and glacier routes like the Haute Route add a harness, a light ice axe, and locking carabiners.

  You don’t have to own all of it. Most trips point you to local rental shops, and some outfitters rent the full kit. Heli trips are the exception: powder skis and safety gear, sometimes including an airbag pack, usually come with the package. Each trip page has its own packing list.

• Can I splitboard on these trips?

  Yes. Most touring trips welcome splitboarders, and some outfitters, like our Japan guides, rent splitboards too. Long flat sections and traverses are more work on a split, so check the trip page or ask us before you book.

• Do I need an avalanche course before a guided trip?

  Not always, but it’s worth taking one. On a guided trip your guide makes the terrain and snowpack calls, and many teach rescue basics on the first day. Some advanced trips, though, expect you to already know how to use a transceiver, shovel, and probe, and to help in a rescue. An introductory avalanche course, like AIARE 1 in North America or similar courses in Europe, makes you a better partner and a safer skier, and it’s the next step if you ever want to tour without a guide. Check the trip page for prerequisites.

• What’s the difference between heli-skiing and cat skiing?

  How you get to the top. Heli-skiing uses a helicopter to drop your group on peaks and ridges, so you cover more vertical and more varied terrain in a day. Cat skiing uses a snowcat, a tracked vehicle with a heated cabin, which climbs more slowly and stays lower on the mountain. In practice:

  • • Heli: more vertical, bigger alpine terrain, higher cost, and grounded when the weather doesn’t allow flying
    • Cat: fewer runs but more reliable in storms, often great tree skiing, and a more social ride up

  Both are guided and both take you to untracked snow. The choice comes down to budget, terrain, and how much you care about vertical.

• What is a ski-and-sail trip?

  A backcountry ski trip where a sailboat is your lodge. You sleep and eat on board, take a dinghy to shore each morning, skin up from sea level, and ski back down toward the water. Overnight, the skipper moves the boat to a new fjord, so every day starts at a new set of peaks. The format is most popular in northern Norway and the High Arctic, where steep mountains rise straight out of the sea. You don’t need any sailing experience: the crew handles the boat, and you handle the skiing.