In the rucksack: Ski-touring and snow-shoeing

In the camptocamp guidebook, the field describing gear specific to a particular route or tour is does not include the gear that is considered standard for the particular activity or type of route. You will find below a list of such usual gear for ski-touring and snow-shoeing.

The lists were established for:

• Routes that are in good condition.
• For people with adequate experience and expertise for the route’s level of difficulty.
• For people who follow French-alpine traditions for ski-touring and snow-shoeing. Other regions, within or beyond the Alps, might have other traditions and use other techniques or gear. Do not hesitate to improve this article by indicating how things are done elsewhere.

Ski-touring

Usual gear

Individual

• Clothing
• Sun glasses, sun screen, individual first-aid kit, toilet paper.
• Food for the tour, water (thermos for keeping it liquid).
• Avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe
• Skis, bindings, poles, skins, ski-crampons

Collective

• Fart or antibott.
• Quick glue for skins
• Strap or duct tape etc for skins.
• Metal wire, screwdriver, pliers
• Small collective first-aid kit, space blanket.
• Navigation: altimeter, compass, map, possibly a GPS.
• Tools for signalling you need help: radio, mobile phone, mirror, whistle, flare...

If the itinerary goes through crevassed terrain (glacier), has hard/frozen snow and/or requires the use of mountaineering techniques, you will need to add part of all of the gear for snow, ice and mixed climbing.

Example of route-specific gear

Technical mountaineering equipment, except if the glacier, conditions or alpine grade make it obvious that technical gear is required. There is no point in specifying that you need ice tools and crampons for the NE slope of the Courtes.

Snow-shoeing

Usual gear

Individual

• Clothing
• Sun glasses, sun screen, individual first-aid kit, toilet paper.
• Food for the tour, water (thermos for keeping it liquid).
• Avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe
• Snowshoes, poles.

Collective

• Metal wire, screwdriver, pliers
• Small collective first-aid kit, space blanket.
• Navigation: altimeter, compass, map, possibly a GPS.
• Tools for signalling you need help: radio, mobile phone, mirror, whistle, flare...

If the itinerary goes through crevassed terrain (glacier), has hard/frozen snow and/or requires the use of mountaineering techniques, you will need to add part of all of the gear for snow, ice and mixed climbing.

Example of route-specific gear

Technical mountaineering equipment, except if the glacier, conditions or alpine grade make it obvious that technical gear is required. There is no point in specifying that you need ice tools and crampons for the NE slope of the Courtes.