7-Day Ski Touring Adventure
A week of backcountry ski touring through alpine wilderness. Hut-to-hut with significant avalanche awareness. Off-piste only — no resort skiing. For experienced skiers with touring equipment and avalanche training.
How to read this template
This is a real itinerary, not a preview. Everything below is what an operator would send — and what their guides would carry.
- 7 days
- Each day is a segment. Reorder them, drop one, insert a rest day — the rest of the itinerary follows.
- 42 blocks
- Everything inside a day is a block: a transfer, an activity, a meal, a night, a briefing. Blocks carry their own type and colour.
- 87 fields
- Distances, ascent, times, prices and notes are structured fields, not prose — so they total, sort and export instead of only reading well.
- 11 internal notes
- Marked Internal — guides onlybelow. Your guides get them; your clients never see them.
One itinerary, three audiences
The same content exports three ways without being rewritten: a client PDF with the internal notes and cost lines stripped, a guide sheet that keeps them, and an internal ops sheet with margins. Most tools give you the first one and leave the other two to a spreadsheet.
The itinerary, day by day
Transfer to the mountain base town. Equipment check at the guide's office: touring skis, skins, boots, beacon, probe, shovel, harness.
Last night in civilization for a week. Hotel with gear drying room and secure ski storage.
Book the hotel for the contingency night as well. A closed col pushes the whole hut chain by a day and there is no rebooking a mountain hut at short notice in season.
Comprehensive avalanche safety session: reading the bulletin, terrain assessment, decision-making framework (3x3 filter), companion rescue. Practice transceiver search, probing, and shoveling in the field behind the hotel.
All beacons set to same frequency. Check every morning: turn on, confirm SEND mode, group check (one SEARCH, others SEND). Search pattern: signal search (wide sweeps), coarse search (follow arrow), fine search (grid pattern). Probe in spiral from strongest signal. Dig downhill of victim. Target: 3-minute companion rescue.
Verify all beacons are current model with 3-antenna. Spare batteries per person. Practice scenario timed — accept only sub-4-minute results. If anyone fails, run the exercise again until confident. This is life-saving, not optional.
Dinner and route briefing. Weather forecast, snow conditions, and hut reservation confirmations. Pack bags tonight.
Pack touring packs. Skins trimmed and waxed. Boots in ski mode. Beacon, probe, shovel accessible at all times — not buried in the pack.
First touring day. Skin up from the valley through forest, then open slopes to the first mountain hut at 2,400 m. Steady pace — the group finds its rhythm. Kick turns on steeper sections. Rest every 45 minutes.
Staffed winter hut. Dormitory, half-board. Drying room for skins and boot liners. Order packed lunch for tomorrow.
Winter huts run on a reduced warden roster — confirm the hut is staffed on your date and not in self-service mode, which changes what the group must carry for food.
Hearty mountain dinner. Extra carbs for tomorrow's col crossing.
Guide reviews tomorrow's terrain on the map. Check the evening avalanche bulletin. Discuss slope angles on the planned route. Decision: go/no-go for the col based on conditions.
Bulletin danger level 3+ = abort col and take the valley alternative. Wind slab on N-NE aspects above 2,500 m is the current concern. Dig a snow profile at the hut to assess local conditions. Brief the group on tomorrow's turnaround criteria.
Long day: skin up to the col at 3,100 m, then descend to the next hut. The ascent involves steep skinning and a boot-pack section near the col. The descent is the reward — 800 m of untracked powder or spring snow depending on season.
Committing day: once over the col there is no return without reversing the whole ascent. Avalanche assessment at 06:00 and again at the base of the final slope — if either says no, the group stays put and loses the hut booking rather than the alternative.
Col approach: slope angles 30-38° on the north face — prime avalanche terrain. Space the group 30 m apart. One person crosses exposed sections at a time while others watch from safe zones. If recent wind loading visible (pillows, cornices), take the ridge alternative (adds 1.5 hours but avoids the face). Guide checks snowpack with pole test at key transitions.
Quick lunch in a wind-sheltered spot near the col. Energy food and hot tea from thermos. Don't linger — conditions change fast at 3,000 m.
Hut in the next valley at 2,300 m. Warm, welcoming after a demanding day. The descent earns every comfort.
Celebration dinner. The col is done — the most technical challenge of the week.
Summit the week's highest peak. Skin and boot-pack to the summit at 3,400 m. Exposed ridge approach — crampons and ice axe may be needed. The descent is the best ski run of the trip: 1,100 m vertical of varied snow.
Cornice on the summit ridge — approach from the windward side. Turnaround time: 11:00. If cloud base drops below 3,000 m, abort. Rope-up for the final 100 m if icy. The north face descent has consistent slope angles of 35° — manage spacing and ski one at a time through the steep section.
Check conditions at 04:30. Decision criteria: wind below 40 km/h, visibility above 200 m, no precipitation. If marginal, delay start by 1 hour and reassess. Carry emergency shelter, satellite communicator, and first aid. Summit register in the cairn — sign it.
1,100 m descent from summit to hut. Varied terrain: steep couloir, open bowl, tree runs in the lower section. The ski run of a lifetime if conditions are right.
Afternoon rest at the hut. Today earned it. Stretch, eat, sauna if available.
Celebrate the summit. Share photos of the descent. Discuss conditions for the remaining days.
This day is held in reserve for weather delays or as a rest day. If conditions are good, a short tour from the hut. If weather is poor, a rest day with indoor activities. Ski touring requires flexibility — the mountain decides.
If good weather: short tour to the nearby peak (600 m, 3 hours). If bad weather: rest at hut, repair gear, review route for Days 6-7. If very bad weather: do not leave the hut. Always have a flexible day in a touring week — trying to push through bad conditions is the leading cause of touring accidents.
Depending on conditions: a gentle 3-hour tour to a nearby viewpoint, or a full rest day at the hut. Flexibility is key — the mountains don't follow schedules.
Time at the hut: play cards, read the hut book, study maps, or nap. Mountain hut days have a charm of their own.
Lunch and dinner at the hut. Enjoy the rest — tomorrow is the final touring day.
Final skinning up: 700 m to a ridge with panoramic views of every peak climbed this week. Then the grand finale: a long descent all the way to the valley floor — 1,500 m vertical. Varied terrain from open bowls to forest glades to the final schuss to the road.
Longest descent of the week on six days of tired legs, and the snow will be heavy by afternoon. Start early, ski it in short pitches, and accept the valley route if anyone is skiing badly.
Hotel in the valley town. Hot shower, real bed. The luxury of civilization after a week in the mountains.
Grand celebration dinner. Stats: 5 touring days, 1 summit (3,400 m), approximately 4,500 m total ascent, 5,500 m total descent. Certificates of completion.
First evening in a town for a week. Bars, restaurants, shops. The re-entry to civilization is always slightly surreal after days in the mountains.
Final breakfast together. Exchange contacts, plan the next tour.
Transfer to airport or station. Return rental touring equipment to the guide's office if applicable.
Backcountry ski touring week complete. A rare and rewarding experience in true mountain wilderness. Recovery: no hard exercise for 5 days, stretch daily, eat well.
Return all group equipment: ropes, snow study kit, satellite phone, first aid kit. Compile expense report. File route report with local guide association. Note snow conditions for future season planning.
Return rental ski touring equipment: skis, skins, boots, beacon, probe, shovel. Check for damage and report. Personal equipment: rinse skins, dry boots, wax skis.
An IFMGA guide for seven days at a maximum of six tourers, six nights across a valley hotel and mountain huts on half board, hut reservations made and reconfirmed, avalanche safety equipment for the group including transceivers, shovels, probes and airbag packs, a rope and glacier kit where the route needs it, and the daily avalanche assessment that decides whether each day runs as planned.
Touring skis, skins, boots and poles — hireable locally from about 45 EUR per day; helmet; the single lift used on day one; travel to the valley town; travel and off-piste rescue insurance; drinks at the huts, which are cash only; and gratuities. Ski touring insurance is the expensive exclusion here and the one you cannot skip.
Hut drinks over six nights add up to more than guests expect and there is no card machine above the valley. Tell them to bring the whole week in cash, with a figure attached.
Insurance covering ski touring, off-piste and glacier travel with helicopter rescue is mandatory and is checked before departure. This is the most commonly excluded activity in travel insurance: policies that cover winter sports usually stop at the piste, and those that cover off-piste often exclude glacier terrain or unaccompanied touring. Read the wording rather than the headline. Bring photo ID, an alpine-club card if you hold one for reduced hut rates, and your insurer's 24-hour number on paper as well as on your phone.
Verify each policy names ski touring specifically. A guest who assures you they are covered for winter sports is usually telling the truth and still uninsured for this trip, and the distinction only becomes visible when a helicopter is on its way.