Ski touring | Snuitide

Ski touring (topptur) — or randonee, from the French aller en randonnée — is the ski discipline that has grown most in Norway over the past twenty years. In the 1990s it was a marginal niche: Nils Faarlund and his circle were among the few who pursued systematic ski mountaineering, pin bindings were almost impossible to get hold of, and the tradition was primarily tied to the Alps and Scotland. From around 2007 sales in Norway began to take off — and today ski touring is by far the largest growth activity within Norwegian skiing, with its own range in every large sports shop and specialised importers.

Structurally, ski touring is a combination of three activities: ascending on skis with skins, a short transition at the top, and a descent that is often technically demanding. The only equipment shared throughout is the skis — the binding has to be able to be both locked and free, the boot has to cope with both walking and skiing, and the pack has to hold skins, extra clothing and avalanche equipment alike. It is involved, but that is also what makes the activity attractive: you get both the endurance of a long ascent and the adrenaline of a steep descent in the same outing.

What sets ski touring apart from mountain skiing

The difference is qualitative:

Steepness. Mountain skiing typically goes in terrain below 25 degrees of steepness — flat, gently sloping, open expanses. Ski touring climbs slopes of 25–35 degrees (with skins) and skis down slopes of 25–45 degrees. It is an entirely different terrain category.

Avalanche exposure. In steep terrain above 30 degrees the avalanche hazard is real. Ski touring almost always takes place in terrain that is avalanche-prone under certain conditions, and avalanche knowledge is therefore not optional.

The equipment. Ski touring requires pin bindings or frame bindings that can be locked for the descent, randonee boots that cope with both walking and steep skiing, and avalanche equipment that is non-negotiable in genuine avalanche terrain.

The pace. A typical ski tour has 800–1,800 metres of ascent, 2–5 hours of active walking time, and 30 minutes to an hour of descent. It is a shorter timescale than most mountain-skiing trips, but with higher intensity.

For many it is also a qualitatively different experience — more focused, more mental, and more dependent on the group making good decisions together.

The way into ski touring

Ski touring is not the activity to begin with. The way in is usually:

Cross-country skiing or mountain skiing to build a ski base and fitness
An introductory avalanche course before your first real ski tour in avalanche terrain. NVE-approved courses with local mountain-sports clubs, the Norwegian Ski Federation (NSF), or companies are the natural place to start.
A club tour or going with experienced people before you set out alone. Local mountain-sports clubs have regular ski-touring evenings and weekends.
Light day trips in familiar, easily read terrain before the more ambitious routes
Building out to more exposed routes after seasons of experience

The most common mistake is to skip the avalanche knowledge. People read magazines about Hurrungane and order equipment, and are on top of a steep slope on a Saturday morning without knowing what varsom.no is actually telling them. It is not theoretically dangerous — it is categorically dangerous. From around 2010 Norwegian avalanche accidents have been more strongly tied to the informal growth in ski touring than to the organised scene, because the informal growth does not always follow the same path of competence-building.

Where ski touring actually happens

Norway has a handful of areas built for different levels of ski touring:

Hurrungane (western Jotunheimen) is southern Norway’s ski-touring mecca. Around 20 summits over 2,000 m a.s.l. concentrated in a small area — Store Skagastølstind (‘Storen’, 2,405 m a.s.l.), Dyrhaugstinden (2,147 m a.s.l.), and several others. Access bases: Turtagrø, Sognefjellet, Spiterstulen.

Sunnmøre and Romsdal is classic alpine randonee terrain — summits near the sea, fjords running down into the ocean, powerful climbs. Areas such as the Sunnmøre Alps and Romsdalen require experience and local knowledge.

Lyngen at 70°N has the most internationally recognised ski tours in Norway. The Lyngen Alps offer alpine summits dropping straight into the Lyngenfjord, and are established objectives for European and North American randonee tourists. The classic competition is Lyngen Skimo in March.

Lofoten has shorter but dramatic routes — alpine mountains straight from the sea, the Lofoten Skimo competition in March, and an active local randonee culture.

Trollheimen, Dovrefjell, Femundsmarka have gentler ski-touring options for those who want to build experience without being in the steepest terrain. Classic for a first and second real ski tour.

The Finse area and Hardangervidda have short ski-touring options around Hardangerjøkulen and a few mountain massifs — a gentler alternative to Hurrungane.

Season and conditions

The ski-touring season in Norway is narrow:

December–February has short daylight and cold temperatures. Fewer trips, but often stable snow conditions.
March is the classic ski-touring month — longer days, the snow begins to become more stable, and the light is better.
April and the first half of May are the peak ski-touring months in the mountains. Long days, warm snow during the day, but also more avalanche hazard during transitional periods.
May–June has ski touring in the high mountains, but the season ends quickly below the tree line.

March and April are statistically the most accident-prone months for avalanches in Norway. The avalanche season is at its peak, people are out, and the combination of spring melt and varied conditions makes the snowpack unpredictable.

Safety — equipment that is not optional

In ski touring that is actually in avalanche terrain, four things are categorically obligatory:

Avalanche transceiver — carried on the body, checked every trip
Shovel — aluminium with a metal handle
Probe — to locate a person under the snow
Competence to use it all under stress

Training is what actually saves lives. A person under the snow has 15–20 minutes before the survival rate falls dramatically. A competent group search can find and dig out a person in under 15 minutes; inexperienced groups often need 30+ minutes. The difference is often death or life. Clubs and mountain-sports clubs run search training regularly — join in.

Beyond this: a helmet for the descent. Skins and randonee equipment goes through the whole system in detail.

Avalanche assessment — the core of the skill

Ski touring without avalanche assessment is not ski touring — it is gambling with steeper terrain. The daily routine for a ski-touring planner:

Check varsom.no the evening before — hazard level, avalanche problem, exposed terrain
Check yr.no for the weather forecast and wind — particularly wind over the last 24 hours that has built wind slab
Check local observations — Facebook groups, local reports, conversations with people who have been out
Assess the route against this — what steepness, which slope sections, which return options
Set a turnaround time and evaluation points — where you will check whether the plan still holds
En route — observe the terrain, whumpfing sounds, fresh avalanches, wind conditions

Reading an avalanche forecast goes through this in detail. It is not theory you read once — it is a skill you build over several seasons.

Climate change and ski touring

Ski touring is probably the ski activity most robust against climate change, because it takes place in the high mountains where snow still accumulates. But there are nuances:

The season shifts. The spring season comes earlier some years, and late winter is more unstable than before. April snow is more of a mix of winter and spring than it was 30 years ago.

The avalanche pattern changes. More mild-weather periods bring more transitional hazard and the wet-snow hazard rises more quickly. Avalanche forecasters have noted that the avalanche problems change character with warmer winters.

Glacier access changes. Glacier crossings that were previously reliable have developed open crevasses earlier in the season, and some classic routes now require more glacier travel or entirely different access strategies.

For anyone planning ski touring in 2026: take it that yesterday’s conditions are not necessarily today’s. Local observations and an up-to-date forecast are even more important than they were ten years ago.

Next steps

If ski touring is new: take an introductory avalanche course before anything else. NVE-approved courses are the simplest place to start.

If you have an introductory course and want to go further: go with a club or mountain-sports club on regular ski-touring weekends. You learn more from a weekend with experienced people than from several months alone.

For equipment: skins and randonee equipment goes through the choices.

For competition: Lofoten Skimo (March), Lyngen Skimo, Sunnmøre Skimo, and the Birken skimo for those who want a measurable dimension.

Learn more

Text: Snuitide (2026).