Father & Daughter Ski Touring in St Anton

6th April 2024 | Simon Miller, St Anton.

Last modified on April 9th, 2024

Why would one chose to walk up a mountain on skis when it is quicker and easier to ski down them? Ask Simon Miller and his daughter Tabitha who went out touring with a local guide.

Devotees argue that its appeal lies in the fact that it offers exercise, escapism, and is a means of accessing both untracked powder and peaceful picnic spots.

All sensible reasons, but were they good enough to warrant the effort?

In a bid to find out, my daughter and I set off for St. Anton to see if ski touring could ever rival the appeal of traditional downhill skiing.

We booked a six-day holiday with a plan to alternate between touring and downhill days.

Tabitha, aged 13, is an ultra-keen skier but even she was unconvinced by the concept of ski touring.

“Dad, why can’t we do normal skiing?”

“You’ll love it,” I replied, hoping that my confident tone wouldn’t belie the fact that I feared this trip would prove to be yet another case of Dad getting it badly wrong.

We explained our plan to the Skischule Arlberg guide office.

They were hugely accommodating and delighted to have a young convert – or so they hoped.

They also introduced us to Gregor Fischer who would be our guide for the day.

Touring in St Anton. Image © Simon Miller/PlanetSKI

Any guide’s first and foremost task is to keep you safe, his second is to ensure you have a cracking day.

We explained our skill and fitness level to Gregor so that he had a sense of what was possible/sensible.

Together we studied the weather forecast and agreed the best days for touring and agreed a rough itinerary.

The avalanche risk was at 2 out of 5 but this is only a very general indicator.

Knowing the local terrain and the “history of the winter weather” are essential skills that a guide brings.

I would never contemplate any proper backcountry touring without a qualified mountain guide.

We left Gregor and headed to the ever helpful Alber Sports to hire touring boots & skis.

Unlike downhill skis, touring skis have bindings that can be fixed at the heel for “normal” skiing but also allow the heel to lift when in “walk” mode.

In order for the skis to grip the snow, rubber “skins” are attached to them, thus enabling the skier to walk uphill.

Touring in St Anton. Image © Simon Miller/PlanetSKI

We also hired the usual off piste safety kit: shovel, probe and avalanche beeps, equipment we hoped never to need.

The following morning and, with a fortifying mountain breakfast safely in our bellies, we met Gregor who went to great lengths to check not just our safety kit, but also our clothing.

Good ski clothing makes touring much more pleasurable, so it’s important to have adaptable kit that can both keep you cool and unrestricted when skinning up a mountain, and defend you against the wind-chill at the top of an exposed ridge.

My newly acquired Helly Hansen kit with its combination of vents and lightweight mid-layers was given the thumbs up by Gregor.

I may not be a professional ski tourer, but turns out I at least looked the part.

Touring in St Anton. Image © Simon Miller/PlanetSKI

Finally Gregor showed us the signals he would use to indicate when we should militantly ski in his tracks and when to ski left or right of them in order to avoid danger.

And with that, we were off.

You don’t need to be a great skier to ski tour.

There is almost always an easy way down, and part of your guide’s job is to know your level and make sure there is a safe way down.

Ski touring opens up the mountain to you so, whether you are looking for the perfect picnic spot or bottomless powder, get some skins on.

Normally, ski touring up pistes strikes me as insanity, but as all the higher lifts were closed due to exceptionally high winds, it was the best/only option to get around the mountain.

Touring in St Anton. Image © Simon Miller/PlanetSKI

We set off from the top of the Zammermoos lift in the direction of the Schlinderkar.

Within minutes, were looking down both physically and metaphorically on all the skiers below whilst experiencing a tremendous sense of well being and tranquility.

A few crows were dancing in the wind as we gained more height but, as yet, no eagles seeking a marmot dinner.

Very quickly, Tabitha mastered the energy efficient slide of the ski and was tracking Gregor step-for-step.

She got into a rhythm and set a pace I couldn’t keep up with.

“Impetuous youth – she’ll crack,” I thought.

Soon we were each in our own zone.

Arriving at the ridge we stripped off our skins and converted the bindings back to downhill mode for a wonderful descent down towards Stuben.

Touring in St Anton. Image © Simon Miller/PlanetSKI

It seemed a fair reward for all our hard work.

I thought the day was done, but no, Gregor had seen our skill and fitness level and decided we could manage one more climb.

Again Tabitha set a relentless pace.

Gregor and I let her get on with it.

The effort was worth it as it presented us with a real backcountry descent down to the Maroi valley underneath the wonderfully named Knödelkopf (“dumpling head”).

I have often stood at the extremities of a resort and looked beyond the lift infrastructure into the vast, untracked backcountry.

Ski touring allowed us to stand in just that spot, blue skies above and not a soul in sight.

Suddenly Gregor used the unofficial “Quiet, look! Chamois” signal.

Dozens of them scampered just above us and there were even more in the distance.

You just don’t get this sort of wildlife experience with piste skiing, confined to the boundaries of the resort and surrounded by people and ski installations.

To my mind this is the one of the real pleasures of ski touring – though we still hadn’t seen any eagles.

Onwards & downwards we skied without encountering anyone.

An unexpected highlight was the long, gentle ski beside the valley stream.

Bouncing along, with only the occasional pole to keep up the momentum, this was relaxing, idyllic skiing at its best.

Our day ended at the Wagner Hütte from where a bus took us back to St. Anton.

So, what was the verdict on the ski touring vs downhill debate?

Certainly, I really enjoyed my day on skins.

Whilst touring doesn’t offer the thrills of downhill, it certainly offers adventure of a different variety.

Surprisingly, the teenager also loved it and, after having skinned 1350m uphill, felt a huge sense of achievement.

But the real testament to the joy of ski touring was that, when I suggested we return to downhill skiing the next day, the teen asked if instead we could do another day on our skins.

Turns out Dad isn’t always wrong – and besides, we still hadn’t spotted any eagles.