Continuing our blog theme of preparing for the upcoming winter, we’re examining a topic that most skiers either love or hate: training. If you’re lucky enough to be in your 20s, living in the mountains and getting out skiing and touring several days per week, then a) I’m jealous and b) you probably don’t need to do any training. Bookmark this page for 10 years from now. For the rest of us, or those younger skiers with the foresight to understand that their body won’t always feel this good, a bit of preparation can make ski seasons more enjoyable, safer, and sustainable in the long run.
Ski touring and backcountry skiing demand more than just solid turns on the descent. Long climbs, heavy packs, unpredictable snow, and back-to-back days in the mountains require strength, stamina, and resilience far beyond ripping around a resort. The good news is you don’t need to be an elite athlete to prepare — with the right approach, anyone can build the fitness to enjoy long days on the skin track.
The big disclaimer here is that your training should be extending the life span of your athletic body, not shortening it. Don’t do anything that aggravates injuries or causes excessive stress on your joints, and aim for every training session to be of net benefit to your long-term health. If any of the recommendations in here don’t work for you, don’t do them - nothing is worth wrecking your knees for.
As Baz Luhrmann put it in “Everybody’s Free” - “Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.”
So, disclaimer done, here are six simple but effective ways to get your body mountain-ready.
1. Build Your Engine
Backcountry skiing is an endurance sport at heart. You’ll spend hours moving uphill at a steady pace, so it pays to develop a strong aerobic base. The best way? Do more of what keeps your heart rate moderate and sustainable: hiking, running, cycling, or brisk walking with a pack. Aim for regular sessions that keep you moving for an hour or more. The goal isn’t speed — it’s consistency, so that steady uphill travel feels natural when you clip into your skis. There are those who measure their training and divide heart rates into zones - if you’re one of those people, we’re talking about zone 2-ish here. You’re not lying on the couch, but your breathing is such that you can hold a conversation throughout the workout.
2. Strengthen Your Legs and Core
Your legs are your powerhouse, but your core is the stabilizer that holds everything together. You don’t need a complicated gym program — simple exercises like squats, lunges, step-ups, and planks will go a long way. Try carrying a backpack during step-ups to mimic the load of ski gear, but be conscious of how you step down in order to prevent joint damage. A strong core will also help when you’re maneuvering with a heavy pack or balancing through tricky terrain. In my humble and experience-not-science-based opinion, front squats are the king of all strength exercises for ski touring. Don’t go too heavy or you’ll risk injury, and hire a coach to hone your technique for the same reason.
3. Get Comfortable Under Load
In the backcountry, you rarely travel light. Skis, skins, avalanche gear, food, water, extra layers — it all adds up. Instead of being surprised on day one of winter, train with weight on your back. Go for uphill hikes or stair climbs with a pack. Start light and build up gradually. The idea is to make carrying gear second nature, so it doesn’t slow you down or tire you out too early. The fitness required to carry a heavy pack is unique, and many people who don’t look like athletes or perform particularly well in other areas of fitness can be exceptional at it just by virtue of having done it for years. There is no training session that will improve your ability to carry a big pack more than carrying a big pack.
Top tip - Carry water as the weight in your pack, then empty it out at the top and save your joints on the walk down.
4. Practice Long Days Out
Fitness isn’t just about raw strength or cardio capacity — it’s about how your body holds up when you string together long hours, or even multiple days. Schedule the occasional “big day” in your training: a long hike, a back-to-back weekend of outdoor activity, or a cycle tour. These sessions teach you how your body responds to fatigue, and they’re the best rehearsal for the rhythm of ski touring. To go long, you have to train long.
5. Work on Mobility and Balance
Snow conditions can change from smooth powder to crusty wind slab in a heartbeat. Staying agile keeps you upright and efficient. Stretch regularly, especially hips, hamstrings, and calves. Add some balance work too — even standing on one leg while brushing your teeth, or using a wobble board will help. Small habits like these make you more adaptable when the terrain gets awkward or the snow catches you off-guard. There are seemingly infinite balance exercises out there so feel free to dive down the rabbit hole of online fitness “experts”. My advice would be to keep it simple - find a few interesting-looking balance exercises and give them a go. If you find them tricky but you slowly get better at them, they’re probably helpful.
6. Don’t Forget Recovery
Training breaks your body down — recovery builds it back up. Sleep, hydration, and rest days are part of the plan, not an afterthought. If you push too hard without giving yourself space to recharge, you’ll arrive in the mountains tired instead of ready. Think of recovery as the secret weapon that keeps you fresh and injury-free.
A friend of mine was an extremely successful (I’m not kidding - he won the Olympics) athlete, and he once said that he wasn’t a professional athlete, he was a professional recoverer. Even an Olympic champion is training for far fewer hours than they’re not training, so the majority of their time is spent on recovering from effort, not the work itself. If you sleep an extra hour per night and make a conscious effort to drink more water and eat more vegetables, your performance will be transformed.
Ultimately, preparing for backcountry skiing isn’t about perfect workouts or scientific schedules. It’s about steady, practical preparation that builds confidence as much as strength. Move often, carry a pack sometimes, push yourself now and then, and give your body the rest it needs.
Everything in moderation. Except powder.
