Fit for ski touring:
Preparation, tour & refreshment tips
When you're travelling on touring skis, the day doesn't just start with the first step in the snow, but weeks before - in training, in planning, in the choice of terrain and refreshment stops. In the valley of quiet slopes and wide lines, the Windau Valley, this principle becomes tangible: it's not the big lift that counts here, but the way up, the descent with depth and the destination - a stop where you can be yourself. This article provides you with three essential building blocks: how to get fit in advance, which tours the area has to offer - and where you can stop off afterwards. So you don't just get active in the snow, but with awareness and enjoyment.
Why fitness is crucial for ski tourers
1. strength: The ascent on touring skis primarily strains the leg and core muscles.
2. endurance: Long climbs up the mountain challenge your cardiovascular system.
3. balance & coordination: Stability is particularly important when skiing in deep snow in order to master the slopes safely.
4. flexibility: Smooth movements reduce the risk of injury in the event of sudden strain.
The perfect ski touring workout in the gym
1. leg strength: your engine for the ascent
- Squats (squats): Perfect for thighs and buttocks. Vary with barbells or in the Smith rack
- Lunges (lunges): Promote stability and specifically strengthen the legs.
- Leg press: Allows you to work with heavier weights and build strength.
- Calf raises: Indispensable for the often neglected calf muscles.
2. core stability: the key to balance
- Plank variations: Promote stability and train the entire core.
- Russian Twists: Support the rotational force required for ski touring.
- Cable Woodchopper: Simulates the lateral load that occurs during descents or balancing acts.
3. endurance training: your basis for long tours
- Stepper or Stairmaster: Simulates the ascent and strengthens the leg muscles at the same time.
- Treadmill with incline: Perfect for training uphill walking.
- Rowing machine: Promotes endurance, but also trains arms, legs and back.
- HIIT workouts: Interval training increases your resilience and makes you fit for changing speeds.
4. balance & coordination: safe on any slope
- BOSU exercises: Squats or lunges on a balance trainer strengthen your coordination.
- Slackline: Ideal for improving balance and body awareness.
- Single-leg exercises: For example, one-legged deadlifts or standing balances to increase stability.
5. stretching & flexibility: your injury protection
- Stretch your thighs, calves and hip flexors.
- Use foam rollers (foam rolling) to loosen the muscles and relieve tension.
Fitness tips for tour preparation
- Train functionally: focus on exercises that simulate movements from ski touring.
- Increase slowly: Increase weights or intensity gradually to avoid overloading yourself.
- Combine indoor and outdoor: supplement your studio training with hikes or short ski tours to get used to the strain.
- Pay attention to regeneration: give your body enough breaks - this also strengthens the muscles.
Your reward: fit as a fiddle on the summits
The combination of targeted strength and endurance training makes you fit for the challenges of ski touring. With every training day in the gym, you get closer to your goal: the enjoyment of untouched powder snow, breathtaking summit views and the unforgettable descent into the valley.
Pack your sports gear and get going - the mountains are waiting for you!
Tour tip:
White lines, wide slopes - ski tours in the Windau Valley
The Windau Valley is one of those valleys that doesn't vie loudly for attention. It lies to the west of Westendorf, stretches deep and quietly into the Kitzbühel Alps and in winter seems like its own little cosmos of snow, shade and sun. It is precisely this mixture that makes it one of the most exciting ski touring areas in the Northern Alps - not overcrowded, not over-staged, but full of tours that get your pulse racing and slow you down at the same time.
Tours that give the Windau Valley its character
The valley offers a wide range of peaks - from gentle to ambitious. There's no need to list everything, but a few mountains are simply part of the Windau Valley's character:
Lodron (1,925 m)
The classic. A steady, rhythmic ascent over flat ridges and wide alpine pastures. The descent: playful, open, ideal for enjoyable turns. Perfect in fresh snow - and a favourite destination for many locals.
Steinbergstein (2,215 m)
Much more alpine. The ascent is long, the last few metres to the summit seem like a short ridge walk to freedom. The descent lives up to the promise of the ascent: powerful, long slopes with the potential for great powder magic.
Gerstinger Joch / Gerstinger Hörndl (just under 2,000 m)
More of a broad ridge than a pointed summit - but ideal for days when you just want to get into the flow. Great beginners' and after-work tour, often a stable option in terms of safety.
Kröndlhorn (2,444 m)
For ambitious days. Longer, lonelier, wilder. The ascent covers several terrain forms, and the summit is rewarded with a panorama that extends far into the Hohe Tauern. The descent is varied - wide slopes, crests, hollows, small gullies.
These tours have something in common that makes the Windau Valley so special: the routes often run across extensive alpine pastures, which are perfect playgrounds for downhill runs - sometimes fluffy powder, sometimes butter-soft spring firn. At the same time, they are embedded in a terrain that never seems threatening, but inviting. The Windau Valley is not a high-alpine region, but an ideal ski touring area for people who take nature and exercise seriously - without having to push themselves to the limit.
Perfect exposures, ideal lines - pure ski touring terrain
In winter, the valley swallows up sounds. Only the wind, the poles in the snow, the soft clacking of bindings. The northern and eastern slopes hold powder snow for a long time, while the southern flanks turn into perfect firn surfaces in spring at the latest. It is precisely this mix of exposures that ensures good conditions for almost the entire season.
You immediately realise that the Windau Valley is not a valley for show. It is a valley for people who really want to ski.
Refreshment tip: Gasthaus Steinberg - where the day ends as it should
Right next to the ski tour car park is the culinary focal point of the valley: Gasthaus Steinberg. Host and head chef Michael Grafl, trained by Alfons Schubeck among others, serves up cuisine that perfectly suits the valley: regional, precise, no frills.
The game comes directly from the Windau valley, vegetables and meat from the surrounding area. As chairman of the "KochArt" initiative, Grafl sends out a clear signal in favour of origin, quality and sustainability. Anyone who stops off here after a tour will quickly understand why the Steinberg is part of this valley's DNA.