Ski Travel: The History of Ski Touring, Ski Expeditions and Winter Journeys

31 August 2026

For most people, skis are associated with downhill skiing.

A ski resort, a chairlift, a prepared slope, a fast descent - and then another ride back to the top.

But the history of skis is much broader than that.

Long before ski resorts existed, skis were a way of getting somewhere. People used them to travel across snow-covered landscapes, hunt, transport supplies and move through places where walking would have been extremely difficult.

Over time, this practical use of skis evolved into an entire culture of winter travel.

Ski touring, multi-day ski trips, ski expeditions, Greenland crossings and polar journeys all grew from the same simple idea:

put on skis and keep moving.

From Transportation to Travel

The earliest skis were not designed for sport.

They were practical tools for winter mobility.

Across the northern regions of Europe and Asia, skis were used for hunting, transportation, communication and military movement.

Scandinavia developed particularly strong traditions of traveling on skis, and many of those traditions remain part of northern European culture today.

This is an important part of the story.

Skis were originally a way to travel through winter. Only later did they become primarily associated with sport and recreation.

That is why the history of ski travel is much older than the modern term "ski touring."

Nansen and the First Crossing of Greenland

One of the most important moments in the history of ski expeditions came with Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen.

In 1888, Nansen and five companions became the first people to cross the interior of Greenland.

They landed on the eastern coast and traveled across the Greenland Ice Sheet on skis for around six weeks.

Their journey was not simply a long ski tour.

They had to deal with extreme cold, difficult weather, an almost completely unfamiliar environment and the logistics of transporting everything they needed.

Nansen had deliberately chosen to begin on Greenland's eastern coast. Once the expedition landed, turning back was essentially not an option. The group had to cross the ice sheet and reach the western side.

The expedition demonstrated something that would become extremely important for the future of exploration:

skis could turn enormous snow and ice-covered landscapes into traversable terrain.

From Greenland to the Poles

After the pioneering polar expeditions of the nineteenth century, skis became an essential part of many journeys into the Arctic and Antarctic.

Their advantage was simple.

On deep snow, skis distribute a person's weight over a much larger surface than ordinary boots.

That makes movement more efficient and reduces the risk of sinking deeply into the snow.

But skis were only part of the system.

Expeditions also needed sledges for transporting:

tents;
food;
fuel;
clothing;
navigation equipment;
communication equipment;
other expedition supplies.

This created a distinctive form of travel in which skis were not recreational equipment.

They were the main transportation system.

Ski Expeditions to the North Pole

Some of the most ambitious journeys eventually took skiers far beyond ordinary mountain travel.

The Soviet expedition led by Dmitry Shparo reached the North Pole on skis in 1979.

Seven members of the expedition traveled approximately 1,500 kilometers over 77 days. The expedition is recognized by Guinness World Records as the first successful ski journey to the North Pole.

At this scale, skiing becomes something very different from sport.

The expedition has to function as a mobile settlement.

Food, shelter, navigation, communication and equipment all have to work together while the team moves across an environment with almost no conventional infrastructure.

This is one of the clearest examples of how far the idea of "ski travel" can be taken.

Crossing Greenland Today

The Greenland Ice Sheet remains one of the world's classic destinations for ski expeditions.

A modern Greenland crossing generally involves traveling on skis while pulling sledges containing food, camping equipment and other supplies.

The distances are enormous, the environment is remote and the weather can change dramatically.

A Greenland crossing therefore requires much more than skiing ability.

It requires:

endurance;
navigation;
expedition planning;
teamwork;
cold-weather skills;
careful management of food and equipment;
the ability to maintain a steady rhythm for many days.

That is what separates a ski expedition from an ordinary ski trip.

The objective is not simply to ski well.

The objective is to travel across an environment.

Scandinavia: Where Ski Travel Became a Culture

When talking about modern winter travel, Scandinavia deserves special attention.

Norway in particular has an exceptionally deep relationship with skiing.

Skiing has been part of life in the region for centuries, and today cross-country skiing and other forms of outdoor winter activity remain an important part of Norwegian culture.

There is also a broader Norwegian concept known as friluftsliv - literally, "life in the open air."

The idea is about spending time outdoors regardless of the season.

It does not necessarily require competition, performance or a specific sporting goal.

You can simply go outside.

You can walk, camp, ski or travel through nature because being outdoors is itself considered valuable.

This cultural background helps explain why skiing in Scandinavia is often understood differently from skiing at a traditional Alpine resort.

The goal does not always have to be the descent.

Sometimes the goal is simply the journey.

What Is Ski Touring?

The modern term ski touring describes traveling on skis outside prepared ski areas, usually without relying on ski lifts.

Instead of taking a lift uphill, the skier climbs under their own power.

Special climbing skins are attached to the bases of the skis. They allow the skis to glide forward while preventing them from sliding easily backward.

Touring bindings allow the heel to move freely during the ascent and become fixed for the descent.

This creates a remarkably simple system:

walk uphill → switch the equipment → ski downhill.

But ski touring is not necessarily an expedition.

It can mean a few hours in the mountains, a full-day trip, a multi-day journey or something much longer.

A Ski Tour Does Not Have to Be About the Descent

This is one of the biggest differences between traditional resort skiing and ski touring.

At a resort, the infrastructure determines the route.

On a ski tour, the route itself becomes part of the experience.

You decide where to go.

You climb rather than taking a lift.

You cross terrain rather than following a prepared slope.

And sometimes the most memorable part of the day is not the descent at all.

It is the journey that came before it.

That is why ski touring attracts people who are interested in mountains, nature and exploration as much as skiing itself.

Backcountry nordic skiers on Les Routes Blanches

Multi-Day Ski Trips

The same principle can be taken much further.

A multi-day ski journey turns skis into a genuine means of transportation.

A group can travel for several days, carrying everything needed for the route and spending nights in shelters, huts or tents.

The trip may involve:

long forest sections;
mountain passes;
frozen plateaus;
changing weather;
navigation;
winter camping;
transporting food and equipment.

At this point, the question is no longer:

"Where is the best place to ski?"

It becomes:

"Where do we go next?"

That is the essence of ski travel.

Soviet-Era Ski Tourism

There was another major tradition of multi-day ski travel in the twentieth century - the Soviet school of sport tourism.

Sport tourism became an officially recognized sporting activity in the Soviet Union, with different categories of route difficulty.

Ski trips could last many days and involve significant levels of autonomy, difficult terrain, winter camping and demanding navigation.

The classification system required groups to have appropriate experience before attempting more difficult routes.

Some of these journeys were essentially expeditions in everything but name.

Participants carried their own equipment, organized camps, navigated remote areas and traveled for weeks far from conventional infrastructure.

Routes were classified according to their difficulty, and some northern regions offered ski routes reaching the highest categories of complexity.

This created a distinct culture in which a ski trip was not simply recreational skiing.

It was a sporting expedition.

Beskid: Ukrainian Skis and the Culture of Ski Touring

There is also a distinctly Ukrainian chapter in this story.

The city of Mukachevo in western Ukraine was home to a major ski factory that produced skis under the Beskid name.

Beskid skis became widely known across the Soviet Union, alongside other models produced by the factory.

Historical sources about the Mukachevo ski factory describe its products being used far beyond Zakarpattia, including by skiers and expeditions in the Caucasus and Pamirs. The factory's skis were also used by Soviet and Ukrainian national teams.

Tourist-oriented models were particularly important for multi-day ski travel.

For a generation of travelers, "Beskid" was therefore not simply a brand of skis.

It was part of the equipment used to go on winter journeys.

These skis accompanied travelers through forests, mountains and remote winter routes, often carrying everything required for a multi-day trip.

The story of Beskid is a small but fascinating reminder that the culture of ski travel also had its own strong Ukrainian history.

From a Ski Trip to a Ski Expedition

There is no sharp line separating a short ski tour from a major expedition.

Instead, there is a spectrum.

A simple progression might look like this:

day ski tour → multi-day ski trip → winter traverse → ski expedition → polar ski expedition

The equipment changes.

The logistics change.

The distance changes.

The level of autonomy changes.

But the basic principle remains the same:

the skis are a means of traveling through the winter landscape.

Technology Changed Ski Travel

Modern ski travelers have access to equipment that would have seemed extraordinary to earlier explorers.

Today's equipment can include:

lightweight touring skis;
modern touring bindings;
efficient climbing skins;
lightweight boots;
GPS navigation;
satellite communication;
modern insulating and waterproof clothing;
lightweight tents;
compact cooking systems;
avalanche safety equipment;
specialized sledges and backpacks.

Modern equipment makes long journeys more efficient and, in many situations, safer.

But it has not fundamentally changed the nature of the journey.

A person still has to:

move → navigate → carry equipment → deal with weather → find shelter → continue.

Technology makes the process easier.

It does not remove the adventure.

The Culture of Ski Touring

Ski touring has developed into a culture of its own.

There is a particular aesthetic to it:

early starts, untouched snow, skis on a backpack, climbing skins, winter mountains, long climbs and the first turns of the descent.

But the appeal is not only visual.

Ski touring represents a certain kind of freedom.

There is no lift taking you where you need to go.

There is no prepared route telling you where to turn.

You choose the direction.

You move under your own power.

And sometimes the most valuable part of the journey is simply knowing that you reached the place yourself.

Skiing as a Symbol of Travel

Skis can mean very different things to different people.

For one person, they may represent sport.

For another, winter holidays.

For someone else, a multi-day trip through the Carpathians.

And for another traveler, they may represent Greenland, the Arctic or a major expedition.

But all of these experiences share one idea:

movement through winter.

That is the idea behind the Travel Jewelry Skis pendant - a small symbol of a much larger passion.

For someone who associates skis not only with downhill runs but with mountains, journeys, exploration and winter adventures, a ski pendant can carry a personal meaning far beyond its size.