The Best Ski Touring Equipment for 2025 (including skis, boots & bindings)

We focus on ski touring in this equipment special. Iain and Al look at the best skis and ski boots for people wanting an ‘all-rounder’ set up or a dedicated lightweight touring set up, as well as discussing layers and the different bindings available.  

This Special Episode of The Ski Podcast has been made possible by Ellis Brigham. They are the winter sports specialists, with 16 shops around the UK where you can find all the kit you need for this winter. Alternatively, simply go to their website at ellis-brigham.com and you can buy online now.

SHOW NOTES

What is ski touring? (5:30)
What are ‘skins’? (6:00)
How are the bindings different? (7:30)
Iain went ski touring in Morocco (9:30)
How important is weight? (11:00)
Al’s weight comparison example (11:45)

A 95mm freeride ski will weigh upwards of 1,650g per ski in a 175cm length
An equivalent touring ski would be 200-400g lighter per ski. In this case, we’ll use 300g per ski
A regular freeride binding would be around 1,000g per binding
An equivalent Kingpin is around 300g lighter per binding
A regular Alpine boot is around 2,000g per boot (in a 26.5MP)
An equivalent freeride touring boot can be 500g lighter per boot
 
For skis, binding and boots, a ‘lightweight’ set up could be 2.8kg lighter overall: equivalent to saving 14kg off your backpack

The Best ‘All Round’ Touring Skis – Salomon QST98 - £550 (18:30)
The Best ‘Lightweight’ Touring Skis – Atomic Backland 88 - £500 (20:30)
What is a Split Board? (23:45)
Buy your snowboard kit at The Snowboard Asylum
The Best ‘All Round’ Touring Boots – K2 Mindbender BOA - £625 (26:00)
The Best ‘All Round’ Lightweight’ Touring Boots - Scarpa Gea/Maestrale RS - £670 (29:00)
How important are layers? (32:00)
Listen to our ‘Best Ski Jackets of 2025’ episode (32:30)
Montane have a range of ski touring layers (34:15)
Iain uses Montane for his trail running races (35:00)
Al uses the Rab Mythic G down jacket - £450 (36:00)
How to use poles when ski touring (37:00)
What sort of gloves should you take? (39:30)
Helmets for ski touring (40:00)
Listen to our ‘Best Ski Helmets of 2025’ episode
Iain uses the Oakley Mod BC helmet (£220) 
Eric Button is the founder of the Zoa Portable lift(41:45)
Listen to Iain’s interview with Blair Aitken from British Backcountry Skiing (49:45)
The Wild Ski Weekend is at the Glenmore Lodge in March 2025 (50:30)
Iain used the Carv in Tignes (53:30)
Al recommends Nunchucks as a good option for audio while wearing a helmet (54:30)

ELLIS BRIGHAM’S CHOICE (47:15)
Matt Brown works for Ellis Brigham in Aviemore

FEEDBACK
 
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Episode 231 with John Yates Smith produced a lot of comment: 

Paul Bond: "Of all the topics that could be on the podcast, the choice of pellets for a shot gun wasn’t one I had on my bingo card!"

David Bell: “Hi Iain, I must say I enjoyed your interview with John so much , what a great character with a great life story to tell, and a refreshingly