clothing

Clothing is a critical component of your backcountry arsenal. For starters, any sort of ski touring is extremely aerobic in nature, so you tend to perspire - a lot. In addition, you are out there by yourself, with a return to the car often not a convenient option, so you need to rely on what you bring with you.

With that in mind, there are basically two classes of clothing suited to backcountry adventures - hard shell (normally a laminated fabric like Gore-Tex® which repels water extremely well and breathes moderately well, and soft shell (Schoeller DrySkin is a good example) which repels snow and water moderately well, but breathes very well).

Hard Shell garments, left to right: Arc'teryx Alpha SV, Mountain Hardwear Swift, Arc'teryx Beta AR pant

Weather watching will be your key to selecting the proper set of clothing, but wet or snowy weather near freezing will often be the time to opt for hard shell, while a nice high pressure window or spring/summer touring is the time to break out the soft shell garments for climbing comfort.

Soft Shell garments, left to right: Arc'teryx Alpha Comp Hoody, Arc'teryx Gamma AR pant, Cloudveil Prospector, Cloudveil Symmetry pant

As with any performance sport, your underlayers should be some sort of wicking polypropylene fabric and not cotton - the ability to stay dry as you sweat in the mountains is crucial to comfort and safety. A light Windstopper® piece, either vest or coat, is nice as a middle layer and often good for skinning in cool weather, and a compressible warm insulating garment of down or Primaloft® is essential for all but the warmest trips.

Mountain Hardwear Compressor PL (Primaloft), OR Trance Sweater (down)

Don't forget a couple of ski hats, Powerstretch or Schoeller for going uphill, wool for downhill or cold weather, and a cap with a brim for sunny weather.

Left to right: Cloudveil dome hat, Jytte Java hat

Gloves require attention as well; ones that work well for alpine skiing where you seldom sweat much are generally too warm for ski touring. There are a number of good options available in both Windstopper® and Schoeller fabrics - look for a leather palm for durability, and bring more than one pair. I normally bring a pair of alpine mittens along as well in case the weather gets really foul.

Eyewear is critical - you will be out on the snow for hours on end, if not days. Two pair of quality sunglasses with side protection (a pair to loan or replace the ones you lose when you yardsale), as well as a pair of good double-lens goggles in case it's snowing to beat the band come time to ski, and you're good to go.