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Comment by h43z | Hacker News Reader

On the other hand Ski Touring is on the rise at least for now. Due to the high prices of ski resort tickets and bad snow conditions many (like myself) started to pick it up. It's the healthier and environmentally friendly version of alpine skiing. As many lower altitude resorts are turning off their cable cars the slopes are invaded by beginner and fitness oriented ski tourers. They are perfect for those because there is no danger of avalanches and no mountain experience is required and they are satisfied with less snow than alpine skiers. Some ghost ski resorts have started to have high parking ticket prices now to at least get some revenue out of it.

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I love ski touring and prefer it to skiing these days, but man equipment is expensive. I don't mean high tech, I mean any. And basic stuff is super heavy, not exactly motivating for beginners. Renting it creeps up the price towards paying for ski resort ticket. Used stuff is well... used, with benefits and drawbacks like anything else. You need to be at least an OK powder skier before starting it.

Its simply a different sport. It can be done in similar place, but I prefer proper wilderness whenever possible. And yes, risk of dying in avalanche is non-0 in most places.

Ski touring is actually something I gave up a few years ago since snow is basically non-existent where I live. That was profoundly different 10-15 years ago.

I do alpine skiing every year but I have no illusion that the tourism severely hurts the environment, although there are a lot of other detrimental factors besides CO2 output.

I mostly ski in regions where your place lies around 2000m and snow is guaranteed. But even this far up you see more and more snow cannons deployed. They also create huge reservoirs with artificial snow to extend the skiing season. Huge waste of energy and skiing on artificial snow is awful, but it probably is financially viable.

> Due to the high prices of ski resort tickets and bad snow conditions many (like myself) started to pick it up.

If anything, ski touring is often more expensive (gear wise, might save on the ski pass if not starting from the top of a lift). It also has a bigger dependency on snow quality if one want a fun ski experience and isn't mainly in it for the touring part.

That does not have to be true. You can get a decent set for 500-600 EUR. And if you use ghost slopes of ski resorts you are actually not that depended on snow like alpine skiers. In my area many ski lifts are not open for business because the slopes are not in perfect shape but that does not stop any ski tourers to go there and enjoy the just decent conditions which are perfectly fine for one or two runs.

I wouldn't call it healthier due to the risk of avalanches and in my experience it's not negligible. It requires some complex skills of being able to both judge the terrain and act fast if something happens. And even then, accidents happen. How many people die annually on the slopes of ski resorts and how many die in avalanches while skiing?

Well, in this case, your decisions define "healthier". In fact, it's up to you whether you study the daily snow bulletin and decide to ski in moderate avalanche danger. It's up to you whether you ski down the steepest descents.

However when skiing in a resort, others can bump into you by accident. Your muscles cool down while sitting on the chair lift, and get tired at the end of the day without really noticing it, which leads to a number of accidents. I've torn my ACL in a resort couple of years ago, and ski touring feels much safer - at least for me.

Avalanche training and equipment is necessary. The skills aren't really that complex, there are a few rules to follow that will save your life. I can't prove it but I believe most of the avalanche deaths are people with zero training who don't take the situation seriously. You can learn all the necessary skills in a single afternoon.

You can learn the (basic) skills in an afternoon, but being able to use those skills calmly, quickly, and safely in an emergency situation is a whole 'nother ball game. That requires practice, practice, and more practice (at least for me).

That's why I was talking about regular slopes and not the back country. And I meant healthier like physical exercise wise.

> It's the healthier and environmentally friendly version of alpine skiing.

I used to think that too, but recently I'm softening to the argument that a given number of vacationers on even the nastiest bulldozed runs has much less regional impact than if the same number of users would go touring instead, everyone spreading out to seek their own patch of untouched nature.

Of course in terms of global impact (energy use per person) touring is nonetheless much better.

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