In this plan, you’ll find the minimal training we recommend for skiers bound for a moderate multi-day hut trip and or ski traverse like the Wapta traverse in Canada or the Oertler in Italy.

This plan is ideal for ski tourers who have never engaged in an organized training program or who have not done so for a long time. It is also meant for those without access to snow on a daily or even weekly basis. It starts at 7 hours/week and builds to 10 hours/ week and includes a lot of vertical elevation gain and loss. While there are options for the use of machines like a stairmaster or steeply inclined treadmills, the ideal training will take place on big hills outdoors, preferably skiing at least 1-2 days/week. Many of the mid-week workouts will allow you to do dry land training when skiing is not an option.

This plan is based on scientifically sound training principles and a combined thirty years of professional endurance coaching experience and sixty years of world-wide skiing, climbing and mountaineering experience.

The plan starts with a self-administered Aerobic Threshold assessment test. From this you will establish the training intensity limit for most of the aerobic base training that will dominate your training. This plan also includes a simple, easy-to-apply strength program to develop what is called strength reserve, the ability to repeatedly execute strength-dependent movements such as taking a step while wearing a heavy backpack.

During the last 4 weeks we introduce more intensity into the aerobic workouts in the form of weighted uphill hikes. Do not increase the intensity of the other aerobic workouts and hope to gain more benefits or try to squeeze a 1 hour workout into 30 minutes. There is no shortcut when it comes to aerobic adaptation.

This plan is based on your RPE, or “Rate of Perceived Exertion,” where workout intensities are guided by how hard you are working based on your perception of effort (how hard the workout feels to you) rather than by heart rate. This plan is an adapted option for those who want to learn to calibrate their true effort levels in their workouts.

Whether you use an RPE-based or heart rate-based training plan, we recommend that you use a chest-strap heart rate monitor and GPS watch to log all your training.