Why almost every beginner falls over on a kick turn, at what steepness you need one, and how to learn it cleanly in clear steps.
Why does almost every beginner fall over on their first kick turn? Honest answer: because the kick turn is one of the most technically demanding movements in all of ski touring — an almost full 180-degree change of direction on two parallel, slippery boards, often on a slope where slipping has unpleasant consequences. The good news: it's learnable, and you need it starting around 30 degrees of slope angle — the point where a straight track simply gets too steep to walk.
Ascent technique is the underrated part of ski touring. While everyone talks about avalanches and the descent, ascent technique decides whether you arrive up top relaxed and with energy in reserve — or exhausted and frustrated. Someone who hasn't mastered the kick turn unconsciously avoids steep sections, wastes energy on unnecessary detours, or in the worst case slips out of the track.
Before the kick turn: walk in the existing track with small, even steps, weight centered over the ski, skis as flat as possible relative to the fall line. Big steps cost more energy than many small ones.
Starting around 30 degrees of slope angle, a straight track gets too steep to walk — this is exactly where zigzag climbing with kick turns begins. This isn't an exception, it's the normal case on any steeper ski tour.
Plant your downhill pole below the binding of your downhill ski, the other pole as far uphill as possible. Shift your weight fully onto the downhill ski, lift the uphill ski and rotate it about 180 degrees with a "windshield-wiper" motion — as if drawing a half-circle in the air with your foot. Set it down, shift your weight, repeat with the second ski.
How easily the ski tip lifts during the turn depends on your binding and its mounting point — on some skis the tip "swings" up almost by itself, on others you have to push down with your heel first, the true kick turn. Practice both variations so you're confident with changing gear.
At the turnaround point, peel off your skins, fold them glue-side together (keep them warm inside your jacket in cold weather) and switch your binding to descent mode. Practice this at home until it takes under five minutes — every extra minute at a cold turnaround point costs energy and body heat.
Kick turns often happen exactly where the slope is already steep enough for avalanches. Practice the technique first on flat, safe terrain before you need it for real on a steep slope — a wobbly kick turn on the wrong slope can lead to a fall, and a fall in an exposed spot can trigger a chain reaction all the way to a serious tumble. As steepness increases, group positioning also becomes part of safety — more on that in the next guide. If your footing feels unsteady, just pause and breathe instead of rushing on.
Deliberately practice kick turns equally on both sides. Almost everyone has a "good" and a "bad" turning direction — usually whichever matches their dominant standing leg. Someone who only trains one direction eventually stumbles on long kick-turn sections, because the weaker side gets called on disproportionately often.
Starting around 30 degrees of slope angle, a straight track gets too steep to walk safely — that's the point where zigzag ascent with kick turns begins.
Usually because the weight isn't fully shifted onto the downhill ski before lifting the uphill one. Without that weight shift, you lack the stable base needed for the turn.
On some bindings and skis the tip lifts almost by itself during the turn; on others you need to push down with your heel — that's the true kick turn. Both variations are worth practicing.
Practiced tourers manage the full change (skins off, binding switched, poles adjusted) in under five minutes. It's worth training, because every extra minute at a cold turnaround point costs body heat.
Ski Touring: Safe Slope Behavior — Steepness & Spacing