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Backcountry Skiing Starter Kit
New to touring? This skier-friendly gear will help kickstart (er…kick turn?) your search for untracked powder.
Everybody needs to start somewhere, and that’s as true for backcountry skiing as it is for any other sport. Thankfully, if you’re thinking about going beyond the ropes, it’s likely you already have a decent understanding of ski gear. The equipment you’ll find in this kit is more specialized than your standard resort fare, but most of it will feel familiar. After you peruse our choices, stick around for gear tips, as well as a detailed explainer of the philosophy behind this kit.
Editor's Note: Before we dive in, we want to emphasize the importance of venturing safely into the backcountry. Take an avalanche course. Go on tours with experienced, knowledgeable partners. Read the avy forecast, and err on the side of caution as you learn to step out in consequential terrain. Your gear choices will get you there, but your decision-making in the field is paramount.
Volkl Blaze 104 ($850)
Scarpa 4-Quattro SL ($799)
Dynafit Radical ($400)
Osprey Soelden 25 ($170)
Outdoor Research Cloudchaser 3L ($385)
Outdoor Research Cloudchaser 3L ($385)
Black Diamond Glidelite Mix ($180)
Black Diamond Heavyweight Screentap ($55)
Mammut Barryvox 1 Tour 280 Package ($449)This is one of the most versatile touring-friendly skis you can buy. The playful, easygoing Blaze is light enough for going uphill while having enough structure to handle most types of snow. If you throw a hybrid binding on it, this ski crosses over nicely into the resort as well.
The 4-Quattro SL is built for the skin track, but it’ll feel more like the resort boots you’re used to than lighter touring models. With a four-buckle design, a moderately stiff flex, and a GripWalk sole, you can also press this boot into resort duty if you want.
If you truly have your sights set on touring, we recommend getting a dedicated binding rather than a hybrid one. The Radical is a classic of the genre that’s not fancy, but it’s dependable and will save you a hefty chunk of change compared to competitors.
The Soelden 25 is the smaller version of one of our favorite touring packs, the Soelden 32. It still has enough room for all of the gear, snacks, and safety equipment you’ll need for a single-day tour, while remaining low-profile enough to wear on a resort day.
Built for backcountry skiing, the Cloudchaser line offers a high degree of breathability and excellent freedom of movement at a reasonable price. Its waterproofing isn’t as impenetrable as Gore-Tex, but as a backcountry novice, it’s likely that you won’t be venturing out in mega storms.
Weather Protection
Warmth
Comfort
Breathability
Durability
Sustainability
The bottom half of the Cloudchaser outfit has the same material as the jacket, with the same benefits. If your ideal ski day is as much about the ascent as the descent, this stretchy, soft, and breathable bib is the way to go.
Weather Protection
Warmth
Comfort
Breathability
Durability
Sustainability
Skins aren’t cheap, but the Glidelite Mix provides some welcome value. It offers a thoughtful balance of grip and glide, which is helpful as you learn the ins and outs of proper skinning technique.
You can use your existing resort gloves for backcountry descents, but they’ll be too warm for most climbs. These liners are thin enough that your hands won’t overheat, but they add a touch of protection between your skin and the elements.
Avalanche safety gear might be the most important purchase you make, and this package lands you a high-quality beacon, shovel, and probe with one (reasonably priced) swipe of a credit card. Just make sure you know how to use everything before you step out into avalanche terrain.
How We Built the Backcountry Skiing Starter Kit
Putting together a whole new skiing setup can seem like an imposing mountain to climb, but the good news is that you can use a lot of the gear you already own. For example, although touring-specific ski helmets exist—they’re lighter than traditional helmets, and generally have better ventilation—you can absolutely wear your resort helmet on descents in the backcountry. You’ll incur a small weight penalty, but as a beginner, you’re likely not traveling too far. You probably don’t need a touring helmet’s breathability quite yet, either, which mostly comes into play for ascents in mountainous zones with overhead hazard—and less so in the mellow terrain you’ll likely find yourself frequenting.
You also don’t need to spring for new goggles or poles. While there are some goggles that ventilate better than others (the Julbo Launcher comes to mind), you’ll be wearing them for the downhill, not while you’re working hard and generating lots of body heat in the skin track. Just make sure your resort goggle has higher-than-average optical clarity (the Smith 4D Mag and the Anon M6 lead in that category) and a wide field of view—you’ll need both to suss out variable, ungroomed snow in the backcountry—and you’re good to go. For poles, the ones you use in the resort might not have the extended grips or adjustable lengths that make sidehilling on a skin track a bit easier, but they’ll support you all the same. (You’ll want ones that have powder baskets, though, as small baskets are less ideal for the backcountry’s generally softer snow.)
The same philosophy applies to some of your ski apparel, with a few notable caveats. We don’t recommend touring in an insulated resort jacket or pants, even if the fill is relatively light. You’ll overheat quickly—and if the jacket spends most of the day in your backpack, it’ll be bulky and heavy. However, if you wear an uninsulated shell jacket and pants at the resort, they’ll crossover to backcountry use just fine. Yes, having backcountry-focused shells that are lighter and breathe better than their resort equivalents (like our picks, the Outdoor Research Cloudchaser 3L Jacket and Bib) is nice, but unless you’re touring in particularly wet conditions, you probably won’t wear your jacket until you rip skins at the top. If you’re fine with enduring a bit more sweat and a few extra ounces that come with resort apparel, you’ll save yourself a bunch of money.
Socks and base layers can also be repurposed. Keep in mind that wool base layers will hold on to much more sweat than polyester or poly-wool blends, though, and you’ll be perspiring more in the skin track than you would when riding lifts. Your resort midlayers and fleeces can also pull double duty in the backcountry, although we recommend against those with significant bulk and insulation. Continuing with our comments on sweat, you’ll also be better served wearing synthetic insulation for the ascent rather than down, given its significantly greater breathability. (We’d pick a lighter synthetic jacket, such as the Arc’teryx Atom, over the Patagonia Down Sweater, for example.) If you’re only bringing along your insulated jacket as a warming piece for the summit and the descent, either would work.
Whether you take our advice on the specific products in this kit, or cobble together your own system, there’s a general philosophy to keep in mind as you build your first backcountry skiing setup. Skiers who are newer to touring will benefit most from gear that’s predictable and reliable; it might be a bit heavier and less backcountry-specific than ultralight products you might see your local hardos using, but it’s user-friendly and will feel more familiar on descents. If the goal is to savor every hard-earned turn, this gear will help you do so.
We stand behind all of the picks in the following section, of course. But if you want to save some dough on hard goods, especially skis and boots, take a gander at used gear online or in the secondhand section of your local gear shop. There’s plenty of value to be had, and you can sometimes nab gear that’s in great condition for a fraction of the price you’d pay for it new.
Skis
There are plenty of sub-1600-gram skis out there, designed for dedicated backcountry experts whose Strava splits might fill you with awe. Yes, ultralight skis certainly make it easier to fly up the skin track, but there’s a distinct downside—the downhill (duh). Feathery touring models often cut ounces by eschewing metal altogether or using carbon in their construction, which can result in a ski that’s chattery in firm conditions and more difficult to ski in any snow short of powder.
That’s why we’re recommending beginner ski tourers check out the Volkl Blaze 104, which will be much better behaved on descents than an ultralight ski. Its core is mostly wood, but it also has a thin Titanal layer in the middle of the ski, right where your boot and binding sit. This design (plus some TPU in the tip and tail) makes the Blaze more damp than ultralight skis, which is a godsend as you learn to navigate wild snow that can be much more difficult than controlled resort groomers. Its 104-millimeter waist and wide shovel can also float in soft snow while keeping the ski nimble in trees and on hardpack.
On the flipside, the Blaze is still lighter than a dedicated resort ski, allowing you to power it efficiently up a skin track. We still see the Blaze plenty in the resort too, though, so you can use it inbounds with a crossover binding (or even an alpine one) if you wish. If the Blaze doesn’t appeal to you, similar skis with predictable, crossover appeal include the Salomon QST Echo 106 and the Elan Ripstick 102.
A quick note on touring ski length: For the backcountry, you might want to choose a ski that’s shorter than what you normally ride in the resort. A shorter ski weighs less, and it’s easier to pivot around when you’re making kick turns on skin track switchbacks. You’re also probably not zooming around the backcountry at the speeds you would in the resort, and so the stability granted by a longer ski isn’t as necessary.
Boots
In this category, we decided to recommend models that lean a little more uphill-oriented than true hybrid boots, which are more downhill- and resort-focused but heavier, and with less range of motion. (The heavier the boot, the less fun you’ll have going uphill.) That eliminates models like the Atomic Hawx Prime XTD (which we chose for our Crossover Ski Kit) and the Tecnica Cochise, both of which have walk modes but weigh more than 1,800 grams in their 120-flex versions. Our pick, the Scarpa 4-Quattro SL, checks in at 1,430 grams and has a 61-degree range of motion (which is larger than either the Hawx or the Cochise). Beginners will appreciate this boot’s lower bulk and increased flexibility when they stride, especially as they start planning longer tours.
Having said that, the 4-Quattro SL is still built like a traditional four-buckle boot, and skis a heck of a lot better than an ultralight touring boot such as Scarpa’s F1 LT (or XT) or the Atomic Backland line. And even though the 4-Quattro is comparable in stiffness to Tecnica’s vaunted Zero G touring boots (the Zero G Pro Tour was our pick in our more advanced Backcountry Ski Kit), it’s a bit more durable and warmer than those models, which rely on thin, light, and stiff Grilamid rather than the 4-Quattro’s Pebax. The 4-Quattro is also more affordable than the Zero G and has a GripWalk sole rather than a touring sole—a cherry on top for making the 4-Quattro a more versatile pick if you still want to hit the resort (with a compatible alpine binding) every once in a while.
Bindings
This is probably the hottest take you’ll read in this article: We don’t think that skiers who want to dive into the touring world should buy a hybrid binding like the Salomon S/Lab Shift2 or the Marker Duke PT. Our reasoning is that they’re simply too heavy for a dedicated backcountry setup and belong more in a Crossover Kit for skiers who want one gear loadout for all of their ski days. Our pick, the Dynafit Radical, weighs 400 grams less than the Shift2 (520g vs. 920g, respectively), which may not seem like a lot until you’re endlessly switchbacking up 35-degree slopes or breaking trail in deep powder. This is an easy way to make someone who’s getting used to ski touring fitness hate their new chosen sport, which is why we’re nudging you towards a lighter design.
Now, the Radical won’t feel as natural when you’re descending as the Shift2 or the Duke PT will. Those bindings convert to alpine-style heel and toe pieces for the downhill, which provide better power transfer and stability than the Radical’s pin construction. However, the Radical is still a relatively beefy touring binding that skis perfectly fine, and chances are you’re toning down your descents as it is. We’d even wager a bet that many novice backcountry skiers won’t really notice the difference whether they have the Radical or a more expensive touring binding underfoot. Those bindings—which include models like the ATK Raider 13 Evo and the Marker Alpinist—may be both lighter and more pleasant on the downhill, but they also cost hundreds of dollars more. Bindings are an area where we’re willing to choose a model that’s not exactly cutting edge in the name of easing the burden on a beginner’s wallet.
Beacon
Beacon, shovel, probe. You’ll hear those three words strung together countless times as you start to tour in avalanche terrain, and for good reason. They might be the difference between a close call and a catastrophe in the event of an accident, and you and your touring partners should always carry them—and know how to use them. (Again, we’ll stump for taking an avalanche course, or at the very least a single-day rescue course.)
Get a modern beacon, otherwise known as a three-antenna transceiver. (It’s almost impossible to find a two-antenna transceiver these days; just be wary if you buy your beacon secondhand.) Learn how to operate it so you can use it efficiently even when you’re under pressure, and make sure you keep it at least a hand’s breadth away from your phone when it’s in send mode, and double that in search mode (same goes for your GPS watch; hold the beacon in your opposite hand when searching, so there’s less electrical interference with the signal).
We chose the Mammut Barryvox for this kit, partially because it’s a field-proven beacon with search and receiving ranges of 70 meters, and its screen is easy to read and interact with. The other reason is that it comes in a handy package with a shovel and probe that’s very reasonably priced (especially now that there’s a newer version of the Barryvox available), which is a bonus as this kit’s totals begin to add up. You can’t go wrong with the new Barryvox or Barryvox S2, as well as the Ortovox Diract Voice or the Arva Evo BT.
Shovel and Probe
In a vacuum, we think bigger is better for shovels and probes. For the former, your touring partner will probably have better peace of mind if they know you have more surface area for digging them out if they get caught in a slide. (Just remember to make sure that the shovel blade fits in your backpack.) In terms of probe length, it’s better to have a probe that reaches further down into a debris pile if you’re searching for someone, even if you’re touring in an area with shallow snowpack like the Rockies in Colorado. The probe that comes in the Barryvox 1 Tour 280 Package we recommended measures a medium-long 280 centimeters, but Mammut, BCA, Ortovox, and other companies all sell probes that extend more than 300 centimeters.
Pack
Any ski pack that’s larger than about 25 liters can carry enough for a “normal” single-day ski tour in average winter conditions. You’re probably not carrying an enormous puffy for frigid weather or schlepping more than the usual amount of food, water, or gear in preparation for huge distances or technical ascents. Our recommended model, the Osprey Soelden 25, slots in at the bottom of that range, which also makes it svelte enough to take on resort chairlifts. (If you want more storage room than the 25L Soelden provides, perhaps if you’re going out on longer missions right off the bat, level up to the 32L version.)
Just be sure that whichever pack you choose has a separate pocket for holding your shovel and probe. It’s much easier to access them when they’re not blocked by other gear, and in the event of an accident, those precious seconds can make all the difference. The Soelden does that well, and also boasts a nice blend of organization, durability, and comfort. We’re also big fans of the more expensive Ortovox Switchback line, which comes in 27-liter and 32-liter sizes.
Add-Ons
Our add-ons are less strict gear picks than recommendations for things that can help increase your backcountry safety. First up is a med kit—it doesn’t have to be anything fancy (a small hiking kit will do the job), but someone in your touring party should carry one. Make sure to carry moleskin or another form of blister mitigation as well, as you might be new boot goofin’ your first few times in the skin track. Nobody likes to turn back because their feet are killing them.
Packing a small repair kit is also a good idea. Encountering a malfunction with your boots, skis, bindings, or poles can turn an easy breezy tour into a potentially dangerous epic, and so having the ability to make minor to medium repairs can go a long way towards helping you return to the car in time. Most guides and folks in the know recommend that a repair kit contain some combination of a multitool, zip ties or steel wire, a pole splint, and some cordelette. If you want to pay for the convenience of having somebody put one together for you, Traverse Equipment sells this kit for $90.
Radios are also becoming more and more popular among backcountry skiers. We don’t see any downside to them except for the cost, but the main kit in this article is already pricey enough, so we didn’t include one above. However, a radio isn’t just for letting your friends know you’re about to drop into a gnarly line. You can also use it to keep track of group members if you’re in thick trees, if someone in your party goes the wrong direction, or if your group decides to split up. Communication is key on backcountry tours in general, and a radio makes it all the easier. As for specific models, the Rocky Talkie Mountain Radio is a durable, compact, and user-friendly option.
Is the Backcountry Skiing Starter Kit for You?
Our Backcountry Skiing Starter Kit is for any skier who’s decided they want to spend more time beyond the boundaries of the resort, and who wants a separate set of (some) gear that’s more uphill-oriented than a crossover setup. They might still be learning how to properly execute a kick turn and are getting used to the feeling of skiing on lighter equipment, but they want to use gear that will serve them well as their backcountry skills progress. All the gear in this kit will do just that, allowing backcountry beginners to become smart, capable ski touring aficionados.
If you’ve spent a lot of time in the backcountry but want to freshen up your gear closet, check out our Backcountry Skiing Kit.
If you’re a skier who wants one set of gear that will feel good in the resort and on some light-to-moderate tours, our Crossover Kit is the way to go.
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