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BookReview | Ski Tour Plus. Little ascent ... lots of descent!

[Schitour Plus. Wenig Aufstieg … viel Abfahrt!] A classic from the guide literature

by Helmut Gassler • 01/21/2023
Julier Pass

Julier Pass

Gerrit Loibl

Julier Pass

Gerrit Loibl
The book presented here dates back to 2001 (!), written by three veterans of ski guide literature, the Innsbruck couple Rudolf and Siegrun Weiss and the Viennese mountain author and publishing director Kurt Schall. The fact that such an old book with a title that seems to have fallen out of time is being reviewed here either speaks in favour of the book or against the reviewer.

Rudolf und Siegrun Weiss, Kurt Schall (2001): Schitour Plus. Wenig Aufstieg … viel Abfahrt. Ausgesuchte Schitouren mit Aufstiegshilfen und langen Geländeabfahrten in Österreich, der östl. Schweiz und Südtirol. Schall Verlag, Wien.

The aim of this book is to provide an overview of the most important, most beautiful and most rewarding long off-piste descents in the Eastern Alps, whereby the starting points of these descents can be reached with (or at least with the support of) technical ascent aids. Today we would probably call them freeride tours or freeride descents. The book is therefore aimed at downhill-oriented skiers who want to reach the longest and most rewarding descent with as little (ascent) effort as possible.

First of all: this objective is achieved in full. We have consulted this book again and again since the noughties to our great satisfaction, whether for the rough planning of a ski trip and the associated potential downhill destinations, for travelling a very specific route described in the book or simply as a source of inspiration for mountain groups or locations that were often completely unfamiliar to us or whose existence we only became aware of through this book.

The structure of the book corresponds to the usual standard of such guide literature, but everything is still in an analogue, 0.0 version, so to speak. References to GPS coordinates or even links to GPS tracks for downloading are therefore completely absent. However, they are not missing at all. The descriptions of the tour areas, the individual routes/descents and their cartographic visualisation using map sections are based on the best available map material for the region (Austria: Official Topographical Map, Switzerland: Swiss Topo: South Tyrol: Tabacco) and are - despite being in black and white - extremely easy to read. The tours can therefore all be easily transferred to modern aids (digital navigation apps). This illustration is rounded off by a large number of (colour) photos, which, due to their age, really do appear somewhat "historical". Be it because the glaciated area documents a long-gone glacier state or because the ski fashion and the ski material used at the time are already ripe for the (ski) museum.

The difficulty rating is based on the familiar I to V scale (not difficult to extremely difficult), whereby difficulty level V is not represented in the book. Where necessary, information is also provided on alpinistic (climbing) difficulty. In addition, the susceptibility to avalanche danger is indicated in three categories (hardly, occasionally and frequently). If necessary, additional remarks regarding the steepness (in degrees) or the topographical characteristics (e.g. narrow gully, etc.) can be found in the respective description text. Atypical today is the suitability of the tour depending on the time of year (high winter / spring), but this also gives a good indication of whether the tour is a good destination for powder or firn conditions.

Ski Tour Plus - Cover

Schitour Plus - Cover

Helmut Gassler

Schitour Plus - Cover

Helmut Gassler

De facto all the routes described have technical ascent aids as support, i.e. the ascent often starts at the mountain stations of cable cars or lifts (in some cases at high mountain passes). Some of the descents described have no (or only very little) ascent on foot as a prerequisite. Nevertheless, all routes lead into terrain beyond the boundaries of ski areas, i.e. they go beyond pure "variation terrain" (e.g. in the immediate vicinity of ski slopes or between ski slopes). Many of these descents have a "back-country character" and lead to other end points, sometimes even to completely different valleys, which makes logistical coordination necessary (e.g. second car, return by car stop, etc.). However, these tours in particular are among the most rewarding and often longest routes in this book. A good example of this is the descent from the Radeckscharte on the small Ankogel (accessible from the Ankogel cable car in Mallnitz) into the Anlauftal valley to Gastein. This marvellous descent even takes you over the main Alpine ridge! (And in this case, the return is even logistically easy via the Tauerntunnel Böckstein-Mallnitz car transport).

As so many different touring areas across almost the entire Eastern Alps are included, there is an enormous range of tours in terms of character, length, difficulty, altitude, alpinistic demands, etc. There are "real" high-alpine ski tours over large and crevasse-prone glaciers (e.g. Wildspitze, Weisskugel, Zuckerhütl, Cevedale, Piz Palü), steep gullies in the Dolomites (e.g. Cristalloscharte), wide, treeless large descents in unglaciated high mountains (e.g. various tours in the Davos landscape, near Klosters or around the Julier Pass), as well as a wide range of ski tours, as well as lovely forest and meadow ski tours in forest and alpine terrain (e.g. in Styria or in the Kitzbühel Alps). In addition to famous, well-known routes (such as Edelgries on the Dachstein, Val Mezdi in the Dolomites or the Bündner Vorab in the Glarus Alps), there are also hidden gems that - outside the direct catchment area - can still be considered "insider tips" (e.g. Fideriser Heuberge).

Due to the age of the publication, a few of the routes are no longer possible or their character has changed. On the one hand because, for example, the cable car facilities concerned have been shut down (e.g. Reisseck in Carinthia) or, on the other hand, the ski area has expanded further (e.g. Piz Val Gronda in Ischgl/Silvretta).

Julier Pass

Julier Pass

Gerrit Loibl

Julier Pass

Gerrit Loibl

In total, there are over 125 different routes (plus numerous additional variations), covering a very wide range of skiing options. Geographically, tour areas from the outermost edge of the Alps (Vienna Hausberge, Fischbacher Alps) to (eastern) central Switzerland around the Oberalp Pass as well as all significant parts of South Tyrol (Dolomites, Central Alps, Ortler) are covered. This means that more or less all relevant mountain groups in the Eastern Alps are represented in the book.

For each tour area, there is a very concise overview and information on additional "classic" tour options. The descriptions of the individual routes (as well as their numerous variations) are very well structured. For each route there is an information box that briefly summarises important aspects such as ascent and descent altitude, time required, difficulty, exposure and susceptibility to avalanche danger. The character of the route is briefly described in the form of a "teaser", followed by detailed information on the starting point, description of the ascent and descent route, information on special features (e.g. danger spots) etc.

Based on the routes that I personally know or have climbed and travelled on, I can say that the difficulty levels have been chosen quite appropriately. The "easy" tours (difficulty levels I to II) are definitely also recommended for beginners etc. or for freeriders who want to get a taste of touring and, for example, don't yet want to tackle 1000-metre tours, but are still looking for "big", long descents. The vast majority of tours are in the III (or II-III) level of difficulty and can be enjoyed by the majority of "normal" freeriders if the conditions are right. Tours in difficulty level IV are less numerous and tend to be found at the lower end of this difficulty category (e.g. Lahning Ries on the Schneeberg in Vienna's local mountains).

All in all, a highly recommended book that should not be missing from any collection of downhill-orientated ski tourers simply because of its broad coverage of the Eastern Alps.

Despite its age, the book is still readily available and can be ordered directly from the publisher (Schall Verlag - Schitour Plus (schall-verlag.at)) or via Freytag & Berndt (Schitour Plus - Skitourenführer Österreich | freytag & berndt (freytagberndt.com). It is also available directly from the bookshop (Wallnerstraße 3, 1010 Vienna).

Route example

Example route

Helmut Gassler

Example route

Helmut Gassler

Photo gallery

This article has been automatically translated by DeepL with subsequent editing. If you notice any spelling or grammatical errors or if the translation has lost its meaning, please write an e-mail to the editors.

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