Ski mountaineering is form of ski touring that variously combines the sports of Telemark, Alpine, and backcountry skiing with that of mountaineering. The spectrum of ski mountaineering spans from ascending a mountain in pursuit of virgin powder to achieving a mountain's summit using skis as a tool, with skiing down secondary.
Ski mountaineering may be distinguished from general ski touring by a willingness to travel over any part of a mountain, not just trails for ascending or sheltered powder snow fields for spirited descent. This may include significant rock, ice, or broken glacier sections, as well as high-altitude traverses as part of multi-peak ascents.
In addition to skins and ski crampons for traction, ski mountaineers may use a range of technical equipment - including crampons, ice axes, and ropes - to reach otherwise inaccessible or dangerous points on foot. When skiing is the primary goal, skis are carried on backpack as far as the mountaineers go; when not, they are removed and cached until the climbers return from their continued ascent.
Read more about Ski Mountaineering: History, Locations, Equipment, Competition
Famous quotes containing the word ski:
“The goal for all blind skiers is more freedom. You don’t have to see where you’re going, as long as you go. In skiing, you ski with your legs and not with your eyes. In life, you experience things with your mind and your body. And if you’re lacking one of the five senses, you adapt.”
—Lorita Bertraun, Blind American skier. As quoted in WomenSports magazine, p. 29 (January 1976)