Santeri
Steep Skiing Techniques with Dave Searle
★★★★★
Really great course. I got a lot out of the course that helped me progress my skiing the rest of the season. 5/5 would recommend.
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Innsbruck · Ski touring
Ski Touring Course in Innsbruck
A ski touring course teaches you to climb on skis: fitting skins, kick turns, setting an efficient track, and managing transitions, alongside reading the avalanche bulletin and practising companion rescue. Around Innsbruck the terrain suits beginners well.
What the course usually involves▼
Ski touring is how you get away from the lifts, and Innsbruck is one of the best places in the Alps to learn it — the Sellrain valley is twenty minutes from the city, has almost no lift infrastructure, and is angled for people learning.
Equipment. Touring bindings and their walk and ski modes, boots and their walk mode, and skins — attaching them and stripping and stowing them without gluing them to your jacket.
Skinning technique. How to skin efficiently without lifting the whole foot and ski - the art of glide.
Kick turns. The hard part. Turning a long ski through 180 degrees on steeper terrain, which is the safest and easiest way to travel uphill in steeper terrain.
Skin track setting. Reading a slope for a line that climbs efficiently while staying clear of avalanche terrain.
Transitions. Fast changeovers from climbing to skiing.
Avalanche basics. The Lawinenwarndienst Tirol bulletin is one of the most detailed in the Alps, and learning to use it properly is a skill: problem type, aspect, altitude, not just the danger number.
From a first day, the progression opens quickly: longer Sellrain tours, the Stubai glacier objectives, and multi-day hut tours. Request a guide and say where you want to get to.
What you'll learn▼
- Fitting, stripping and stowing skins
- Switching bindings and boots between walk and ski mode
- Efficient skinning — sliding rather than stepping
- Kick turns on a steep and narrow track
- Using heel risers and knowing when they help
- Setting an efficient skin track that avoids avalanche terrain
- Fast transitions from climbing to skiing
- Transceiver, shovel and probe use and the group check
- Reading the Tyrolean avalanche bulletin and applying it to terrain
- Skiing down with a pack in touring boots
Location context▼
The Sellrain valley, twenty minutes southwest of Innsbruck, is the region's touring heartland — minimal lift infrastructure and a dense network of tours from gentle to serious. Kühtai at its head sits at 2,020 m and holds reliable early-season snow.
Other options within easy reach include the Wattental east of Innsbruck, the Stubaital to the south, the Gschnitztal and the Axamer Lizum for lift-assisted starts. The variety of aspects means a suitable tour is usually available.
Most of these valleys are within half an hour of the city centre, so a touring day does not require relocating to a resort.
The season runs December to April, with the higher Stubai glacier tours coming into condition from March.
What people say afterwards
Enea
Basic Mountaineering Course – Punta Helbronner 2 days
★★★★★
Really good, Francesco was great, I learned a lot and had a great time
yanxiang
3 days Alpine Training & Summit Pigne d’Arolla (3,796 m)
★★★★★
It was great! I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about alpinism techniques.
Alexandra
Crevasse Rescue course
★★★★★
The guide was super competent and the course was very useful for me. Thank you!
Satyen
Basic Mountaineering Course – Punta Helbronner 2 days
★★★★★
Really great 2-day BMC course in Italy! Learned a lot about mountaineering, safety, and glacier travel. The instructors were knowledgeable, patient, and made the whole experience super fun. Highly recommended!
Finlay
Monte Rosa tour: Climb, learn and discovery the High Mountains
★★★★★
Absolutely incredible tbh. The guides were always willing to give more info than the course outlined if you had a question.
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FAQ
Do I need to be a good skier to learn ski touring?▼
Ski touring near Innsbruck needs you to ski off-piste confidently, because you have to ski down whatever you climb up — in touring boots, with a pack, in sometimes variable types of snow.
Do I need my own touring equipment?▼
No. Ski touring equipment in Innsbruck — skis, skins, boots, poles and avalanche kit can be hired in Innsbruck. Hiring first makes sense — touring setups vary and it is worth trying before buying.
How much does an introductory ski touring day cost?▼
Ski touring courses near Innsbruck start from around €150 depending on group size and whether it is a shared or private day. Equipment hire may cost extra: it's a good idea to request a guide for a quote.
Where will we tour?▼
Usually the Sellrain valley or Kühtai, twenty minutes from Innsbruck, chosen and confirmed a few days before for goodconditions. The Wattental, Gschnitztal and Stubaital are also alternatives.
Is this the same as an avalanche course?▼
No. A touring day covers avalanche basics — the group check, a transceiver search, terrain awareness. A dedicated Lawinenkurs goes far deeper into bulletin interpretation, snowpack assessment and rescue drills.
Where does it lead?▼
Ski touring near Innsbruck progresses to longer Sellrain tours, the Stubai glacier objectives, then multi-day hut tours. Tell a guide what you are aiming at and they will build toward it over several days or several seasons.
Plan your own guided trip
Tell us your dates, who's coming and the day you have in mind. We'll match you with qualified guides who know these routes, and send their quotes straight back to you.