GT: Tips and hacks for happy ski touring

Geartrade writer Beth Lopez averages a hundred days per season backcountry skiing in the Wasatch, with nearly two decades of ski touring under her belt. She adores mentoring newer backcountry skiers and teaching avalanche safety courses, sharing the practices she’s picked up and fine-tuned over the years. Beth figures that warm, well-fed, well-hydrated, and well-oxygenated skiers are the happiest skiers—and are in the best position to stay safe and make smart decisions. When creature comforts are tended to, no one has to miserably grind through the day. We dig her philosophy, and we thought we should document a few of her tips for logging a couple hundred thousand vertical feet every winter and enjoying every minute of it. Here are the little things she’s found will uphold morale even on the longest, darkest, and chilliest days of winter.

Pre-heat the inside of your boots on the drive up.

This tip may not apply to folks blessed with naturally warm feet. But for the rest of us mortals, it can be a real challenge to keep our feet comfortable on a chilly ski tour. Pre-heated boot interiors help a lot—just put a warm heat pack in each boot before driving to the trailhead. By the time you slip them on, they’ll be pleasantly toasty, which sets you up for better circulation and comfort. You can make simple homemade microwaveable heat packs by putting about one cup of rice in a sock, then sewing or tying it shut. Microwave it on medium heat for about a minute and a half, then set the toasty warm sock deep inside your ski boot. Repeat for each boot, and reuse the heat packs over and over throughout the winter.

If you’ve still got cold feet, get a pair of boot gloves.

Neoprene “boot gloves” look a little nerdy but can be snapped up online (or, sometimes, UnNew here on Geartrade) for around $30. They’re low-tech, easy to slide over your ski boots, and up the warmth of your ski boots by about 20+ degrees. It’s the simplest solution around and makes frostbite far less likely.

Behold, the thermos burrito.

You burn an off-the-charts number of calories ski touring. Not only is it intense exercise, but you’re doing so in cold temperatures, which makes your body work even harder to stay fired up. You need more food than you realize, and often, energy bars and gels just fall flat. They’re hard to get excited about, and easily freeze rock-hard. Enter the thermos burrito. Beth preheats a frozen burrito before her tours, then slides the hot burrito into a travel coffee thermos with a screw-cap lid. It will stay hot for hours, and offers energizing nutrition and a delightful dose of warmth. While Beth appreciates the geometric perfection of a tightly wrapped burrito fitting effortlessly into a thermos interior, she does also dabble in hot ramen noodles and hot mac and cheese as reinvigorating comfort foods that warm one’s core on the way down.

Carry warm, appealing hydration you’ll actually drink up.

We all know we lose moisture through sweat in the summer, but we often neglect our hydration during winter sports. We lose a surprising amount of hydration in the winter too, not only through sweat but through respiration. Our warm, moist breath goes out into the cold, crisp mountain air, sapping a little moisture from our bodies every time. We quickly get dehydrated, compromising our athletic performance. Blood volume is reduced and our cells just can’t get the nourishment and oxygen they need to perform like they otherwise would. Beth carries an insulated bottle of warm lemon water, warm electrolyte water, or warm tea with honey on every tour all winter. It’s not as convenient as sipping out of a CamelBak straw on the skintrack, but an insulated bottle keeps your fluids nice and warm, meaning your body doesn’t have to work to heat them up once you’ve consumed them. Instead of a jolt of cold water, your core gets a nice heat bump—along with the hydration you need. Adding honey to your warm drink gets some extra sugary carbs into your system—which is nice for performance and tasty at the same time.

Take breather breaks—they’ll make you smarter.

It’s easy to get sucked into the “race to the top” mentality on the skin track. If one person is hauling ass on the way up, everyone else feels like they’d better bust a move too. No one wants to feel like the slowest one, and no one wants to get left behind. If you temper the group’s pace just a little and take regular breathers, you’ll experience better morale, smoother movement, safer group dynamics, and smarter decision-making. Beth’s friend and frequent touring partner, Russ Costa, is a neuroscience professor in Salt Lake City who studies decision-making in the backcountry. He confirms that when a skier is breathing hard trying to skin as fast as possible, their blood just can’t get the optimal amount of oxygen to their brains—dampening their decision-making capability. Not only is a rushed group less likely to thoughtfully communicate or pause to observe what’s happening around them—and more likely to let a skier drop behind, exposing them to the risks of touring solo—but it leads to worse risk assessment and worse camaraderie. For these reasons, Beth suggests maintaining a pace that’s comfortable for the entire group. If someone starts falling behind, she adjusts the whole group’s pace to keep the herd together. If everyone is breathing comfortably enough to converse and tell dad jokes, the pace is good.

Proactively adjust layers before you get too cold or too hot.

The best way to stay comfortable ski touring is to peel layers off just before you get too warm, then put them back on just before you get too cold. (We have an entire article here on Geartrade if you want to go in depth on the subject!) If you leave your trailhead puffy on after you start to get sweaty, you’re going to be damp for the rest of the day. Peel it off as soon as you’re warm so you can stay drier. Then, the moment you get to the top of your line—or to more wind-exposed terrain—throw a layer back on to trap your body heat in. This kind of proactive temperature moderation keeps you in the comfy zone all day.

Always, always, pack your “Oh Sh*t Kit”

You probably already keep a first aid kit in your pack. (If you don’t, you should!) But when ski touring, you should also carry an “Oh Sh*t Kit” full of other emergency staples such as binding repair kits, several Voile straps, baling wire, zip ties, duct tape, emergency mylar blanket, matches, anti-glop wax, and more. It sounds like a lot, but everything above will fit into a very small s tash sack tucked into the bottom of your pack. And it’s the difference between a nice day and a horrible day. For instance, if someone’s ski binding breaks seven miles from the car, a fix-it kit will swiftly mend things—otherwise, you could have a miserable multi-hour slog back. Anti-glop wax can turn the day around from “this sucks, let’s go home” to “let’s take another hot pow lap.” And if someone tears a knee or breaks a leg, a mylar blanket will come in handy as you stave off hypothermia and shock. That’s a wrap on Beth’s favorite little touring tips for a happy and safe crew. We’d love to hear yours! Beth Lopez is a seasoned writer and creative director who loves to tell tales of adventure and discovery—and finds writing a powerful way to give a voice to people, causes, and places. Beth runs amok in the Wasatch mountains when untethered from her computer. She believes there’s no such thing as a bad ski day and considers animals her favorite people. Don’t tell her mother about her Instagram mountaineering photos. Follow us on Instagram + Facebook: Tag us @geartrade with the hashtag #unnewoutdoor #wearitout on your post or story for a chance to be featured on our page.

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