Ski touring in La Plagne: the meditative appeal of uphill skiing

A writer describes ski touring in La Plagne, France, in January, calling upward skiing a meditative way to escape resort crowds and “press pause and find silence.” On the climb the writer counts “One, two, one, two,” notes the soft, velvety silence and the bustle of La Plagne far below, and pauses in the sun to strip layers and drink water while taking in an expansive mountain panorama.

Friends spread out on their own rhythms; the writer observes Tom heading down and others chatting and laughing, blown away by the breeze. The piece explains basic ski-touring technique — sliding skis up snowy tracks at altitude, known as “skinning,” using bindings that let the heel lift and mohair skins that stick to the snow — and says the author found touring easier than hiking uphill.

It traces touring’s roots as a way to reach untracked peaks and multi-day hut-to-hut routes such as the French haute route, and describes it as more environmentally friendly than helicopter access. The writer says their interest has grown over a decade, starting in Verbier and later touring in places including Siberia, Greenland, Senja and Hokkaido.

In La Plagne they climbed the two-and-a-bit-mile Combe piste on the Bellecôte glacier and were rewarded with a 2,000-metre descent in untouched powder; the article notes Paradiski was packed that January because of poor lower-resort snow, and that touring opened a run away from the crowds.

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