Take me on a free ride
11 December 2024
Uphill, you drag yourself step by step. Downhill, you enjoy a free ride: free from ski lifts and their ever more expensive tickets. That's the essence of ski touring, which has recently experienced a massive boom across Europe, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic. The popularity of this skiing alternative led to a clash of interests: alpine skiers fear crashing into ski tourers that cross the slope; ski resorts see them as freeloaders usually not paying for using the ski areas. Others point to the harm done to wild nature by ski tourers.
This season, ski resorts attempt to resolve the dispute by implementing rules for ski touring: in some, ski tourers now have to pay to use the slopes, some imposed "curfews" for them, and others only allow for ski touring on specially marked trails.
 | Theresa Adelmann With the prices of ski passes rising, the number of ski tourers is likely to keep growing in the upcoming years. For all the newbies, it is crucial to familiarise themselves with safety measures. Even though I feel at home on the slopes and know the International Ski and Snowboard Federation's (FIS) rules better than the Lord's prayer, I still have to go over the ski touring rules before I set out on my first-ever ski tour this Christmas. |
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