Skinning rhythm, the ideal track angle and using heel lifters right: how to get up the mountain efficiently, without your legs burning out.
The short answer: good uphill technique isn't strength, it's efficiency — move right and you go further before your legs start burning. When skinning (walking on skins), you glide the board over the snow instead of lifting it like you would hiking. Over a multi-hour tour that saves enormous amounts of energy.
The key lies in the track angle. A good skin track holds the grade as constant as possible at 12 to 15 degrees — steep enough to make progress, flat enough to stay in rhythm. Once it gets steeper than about 20 degrees, even good skins increasingly lose grip and you slide back — from here you need a zigzag line instead of a straight track.
Heel lifters (risers on the binding) raise your heel in stages and take load off your calf and Achilles tendon — exactly the muscle groups that fatigue first on steep climbs. On flat terrain they stay down, on steeper terrain you flip them up.
And where the track needs a bend, the kick turn comes in: a 180-degree turn on the spot that lets you change direction without losing elevation. On moderate terrain it's purely a matter of practice — on truly steep terrain the kick turn becomes a real technical question (more on that in the pro guide of this series).
Push the front foot forward without lifting it much — the skin carries you as long as you glide instead of stomp. Small, even steps at your own pace beat big, energy-draining strides.
On flat terrain they stay down. As the slope steepens, flip up the first stage — your heel sits higher, noticeably unloading calf and Achilles tendon. Flip too early and it tips you forward off balance.
Target: 12 to 15 degrees of grade, constant across the whole track. Too flat and it takes forever; too steep and the skins slip. Anyone laying their own track thinks in long, even switchbacks rather than straight steep sections.
Once it gets steeper, skins noticeably lose grip. Instead of continuing straight, lay flatter switchback turns now — it costs more time but saves energy and prevents slipping.
On moderate terrain: stop, plant your poles to the side, lift the uphill ski/board half, rotate it 180 degrees into the new direction, follow with the downhill half. Practice this on flat terrain before you need it somewhere steeper.
Watch for even loading while skinning — lopsided, tense steps over hours lead to overload in knees and hips. Keep your track away from slope edges, cornices and obvious avalanche trigger points; the most efficient line is worthless if it runs through dangerous terrain.
Watch experienced tourers set track before you break trail yourself for the first time. The rhythm of a good track — even switchbacks instead of straight steep sections — is something you learn fastest by copying, not by thinking it through.
12 to 15 degrees is considered the ideal compromise between pace and effort. Past about 20 degrees even good skins noticeably lose grip, and a flatter zigzag line beats a straight track.
They raise your heel in stages, noticeably unloading calf and Achilles tendon — exactly the muscles that burn first on steep climbs. Use them from moderate grades on; on flat sections leave them down.
Whenever the track has to change direction by significantly more than 90 degrees, usually at switchback bends. On moderate terrain it's purely practice; on steep terrain the technique gets more demanding.
Because skins increasingly lose grip past about 20 degrees and you slide instead of progressing. A switchback track at a constant, moderate angle is slower per meter but faster and less tiring overall.
Splitboarding: Mastering the Transition