page_title: Ski touring
section_title: Ski touring regions
hierarchical_section_title: Ski touring / Ski touring regions
caption_attribution_description: From a skiing trip to Skorafjell (1583 m a.s.l.) in western Norway.Trip to Skorafjell #1
context_page_description: Ski touring is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas. Touring is typically done off-piste and outside of ski resorts, and may extend over a period of more than one day. It is similar to backcountry skiing.
  Ski touring combines elements of Nordic and alpine skiing and embraces such sub-disciplines as Telemark and randonnée. A defining characteristic is that the skier's heels are "free" – i.e. not bound to the skis – in order to allow a natural gliding motion while traversing and ascending terrain which may range from perfectly flat to extremely steep.
  Ski touring has been adopted by skiers seeking new snow, by alpinists, and by those wishing to avoid the high costs of traditional alpine skiing at resorts. Touring requires independent navigation skills and may involve route-finding through potential avalanche terrain. It has parallels with hiking and wilderness backpacking. Ski mountaineering is a form of ski touring which variously combines the sports of Telemark, alpine, and backcountry skiing with that of mountaineering.
context_section_description: Ski touring can take place anywhere that has suitable snow and terrain as well as reasonable means of access to the trailhead, i.e. plowed roads, snowcats, or aircraft.
caption: Skiers in western Norway
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Make": "OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.", "Image Model": "u-miniD,Stylus V", "Image XResolution": "314", "Image YResolution": "314", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0", "Image DateTime": "2006:06:12 23:28:18", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "286", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 20, 0, 1, 0, 20, 0, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1096", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4287", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/320", "EXIF FNumber": "10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Creative", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "64", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:04:01 11:26:46", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:04:01 11:26:46", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "361/100", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "119/20", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1024", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "590", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "720", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Custom", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}