Uphill etiquette on a resort
The habits to know before you tour a resort’s uphill route.
Ten habits that keep the uphill route open
A resort’s uphill route is shared with skiers and riders coming down, with the groomers, the snowmakers and ski patrol. These habits keep everyone safe and the route open, at any mountain that allows uphill travel.
Read the policy, carry the uphill access
A mountain that allows uphill travel sets a policy: the route, the hours, the uphill pass or ticket it asks for, and the day’s closures. Read it before you drive, buy the pass or ticket it asks for, and wear the armband if it gives you one. Routes close for grooming, snowmaking, winch work, events and weather, and a mountain can close a route at any time.
Stay on the route
Uphill travel is only on the trails the mountain lists as its uphill route. Most routes run up a trail that skiers and riders are coming down at the same time, which is why everything else on this list matters. Every other trail is off limits to uphill travel, even when it is open for the descent, and closed terrain is closed to everyone.
Climb the edge
Single file, on the side of the trail, never up the middle. Where the trail narrows, or where the route crosses a trail, look uphill first and cross quickly.
Downhill traffic first
You are the slow, unexpected thing on the hill. Yield to everything coming down: stay predictable, stay to the side, leave as much of the trail as you can to the people skiing and riding it, and step off to let them by.
Be visible
Bright or reflective layers, and a headlamp in low light. Pick the side of the trail where a skier coming over a rise can see you, and never stop in a blind spot below a roll or a cat track.
Transition off to the side
Skins off, board together, boots switched out of the flow of traffic: off the trail at the top, never in the middle of the landing.
Give the machines room
Groomers, snowmobiles and snowmaking run on the same trails, day and night. Never travel near winch cat work: a cable under tension runs up the slope. If a groomer or a snowmobile is coming, stop and step off the trail until it has passed. Snowmaking guns throw ice and wind. Go around, not through, and follow the staff’s directions.
Dogs: only where they are allowed, and only a trained dog
Many resorts do not allow dogs on the uphill route. Some do. Check the mountain’s policy before you bring yours. Where dogs are allowed, the dog needs to be trained for it: close to you, under control, and used to skis and boards going by. Ski and snowboard edges and dog legs do not mix.
Gear that will not run away
Brakes or leashes, so a ski or a board never goes down the hill without you. Some policies add metal edges, and some say no to sleds, fat bikes and foot traffic on the uphill route. The policy says what yours allows.
Tour like a guest
Tell someone your plan and when you will be back, pack out what you bring, say good morning, and help the person behind you. Uphill access is something a mountain grants, and one bad morning can close a route for everyone.
A privilege, not a right
What the mountain gives you
Touring on a resort is a privilege, not a right, and a mountain can take it away. Especially where natural snowfall is limited at times, touring on a resort opens up more days and more access, and every one of those days uses the mountain’s facilities and the snowmaking and grooming it has invested in. Nobody is owed that.
What it asks of you
Following the policy, getting your uphill access, and setting the example for the people behind you are all key. It is on every uphiller to abide by the policies, set a good example for others, and be a good steward of the community, because the route stays open for everyone only as long as everyone earns it.
The route is open because people before you behaved. Keep it open for the people after you.
Your Responsibility Code, read uphill
The code posted at ski areas is written for everyone on the hill, and it reads differently on the way up. The lines that matter most when you are climbing:
On the climb you are the one below, and the people coming down are counting on seeing you in time. Do not make that hard: keep to the side and stay visible.
Never below a roll, a rise or a cat track, where a skier coming down cannot see you until it is too late, and never where you narrow the trail.
Crossing a trail on the uphill route is the same as merging: look up, wait for a gap, cross quickly.
A closed trail, a race course, a snowmaking closure. If the route is closed, the morning is a walk somewhere else.
Brakes or leashes on the descent, and a setup that meets the mountain’s standard on the climb.
Your skins, your bindings, your boots. Practice the transition somewhere flat before you need it on a cold summit.
The full code, Your Responsibility Code, is published by the National Ski Areas Association and posted at ski areas.
When you tour with other people
On the climb
Set the pace for the slowest person and regroup at the top of every pitch and at every trail crossing. If someone needs to stop, they step to the edge and say so, and somebody stays with them. Single file on the route, with a gap between you so a fall does not take two people.
On the descent
Pick the trail together before you drop in, regroup where you can be seen, and ride the group’s speed, not your own.
The ones people ask
Can I bring my dog?
Only where the mountain’s policy allows it. Many resorts do not, and some do. If yours does, bring a dog that is trained for the hill: close to you and under control, because ski and snowboard edges and dog legs do not mix.
Can I skin up at night, or before the lifts open?
Only where the mountain’s policy allows it, and the hours are different at every mountain: some set a window before the lifts open, some allow it through the day, some run into the evening and require a headlamp, and some do not allow it outside operating hours at all. The policy says, and in the dark a headlamp and reflective layers are part of the deal.
What if the route is closed when I get there?
Then it is closed. Mountains close the route for grooming, snowmaking, events and conditions, and many post the day’s uphill status with the snow report or trail report. Check it before you drive.
Do I have to use the whole route?
The policy says. Some set a time you have to be down by, and some say which trail you come down outside operating hours. On a short day, turn around off to the side, where you can be seen from above.
Can I skin up any trail?
No. Only the trails the mountain lists as its uphill route. Most uphill routes run up a downhill trail, with skiers and riders coming down it while you climb, which is why you climb the edge and stay visible. A trail that is not on the uphill route is closed to uphill travel even when it is open for the descent.
Your region’s uphill guide
Some regions publish their own uphill code, with the same habits and the local mountains’ policies beside them.
New England
- Uphill New England: The Good Uphilling Guide, on its uphill policies page.
- Ski Vermont: its uphill travel page and its uphill code.
- Ski NH: its uphill travel page and its uphill code.
Another region
Know a good uphill guide for where you tour? Email info@inclusiveskitouring.org and we will look at it for this page.
More on uphill skiing and splitboarding
Ski touring and splitboarding, explained
Ski touring for skiers, splitboarding for snowboarders: how each works, on a resort and in the backcountry, and what you need to start.
Read it →Uphill policies, by state
Every mountain’s own uphill policy page, every state, and the directories that keep the national picture.
Read it →Avalanche Education
How avalanche education works, where to start for free, and how to make a course affordable.
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