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The Pers glacier basin below Piz Palü in the Bernina Alps (Chapter 4:4)

Ski touring (or ski mountaineering) is one of the most demanding of mountain pursuits, and for those who have experienced it, it’s certainly one of the most enjoyable, whose appeal lies as much in satisfactions found when exploring a snow-covered world far from crowded slopes as in the silent beauty of the high Alps. It’s an activity that is growing in popularity as more and more accomplished skiers learn to appreciate the joys of off-piste adventure, and among mountaineers who wish to experience the Alps in winter as well as summer. As Bill O’Connor says: ‘the Alps are, more or less, snowbound from November to June, and those unable to ski are virtually excluded from their heart for all but three months of the summer Alpine season.’

Those whose experience of the Alps has been largely restricted to the summer need to learn additional skills beyond those of skiing and mountaineering in order to tour safely. Knowing how to assess the stability of snow, avalanche awareness and what to do to survive one are perhaps the most important. This is not the book to teach those skills, but it’s worth noting that 80% of avalanche victims are responsible for starting the avalanche they are caught in, and only four out of ten survive.