Ski Length CalculatorBackcountry Ski Length Calculator
A touring ski is bought for two sports: the climb and the descent. This calculator starts from your resort size on the published chart and shortens it for the skin track — and it sizes telemark skis too, with the extra trim the free-heel turn asks for.
Backcountry & Touring Ski Length Calculator
Touring sizing starts from the resort figure — your height and weight on the published chart — then shortens it: the ski has to climb, kick-turn and fit through trees as well as descend. A telemark section is below the calculator; the numbers include the telemark adjustment when you select it. Resort-only skiers want the main ski length calculator.
How it's calculated
The base is the published adult chart read exactly as the homepage calculator reads it (your height in evo's grid, ability column, the ±2/±4 cm weight adjustment). Then the backcountry adjustments: touring −3 cm, telemark −5 cm. The direction is this calculator's approach — touring skis are chosen a touch shorter than the same skier's resort ski, because the descent is only half the day and the shorter ski kick-turns easier, fits tighter trees and weighs less on the shoulder — and telemark skiers go a step further still. The exact −3 and −5 cm figures are this site's quantification of that approach.
The waist band shown (88–105 mm) is this site's recommended touring band, sitting inside the 80–115 mm spread published for the category per Switchback Travel's retailer comparison (linked below): narrower than freeride because its weight climbs with you, wider than a carving ski because the snow out there is not groomed. Skiers whose tours are mostly lift-served sidecountry should take the range's top; ski mountaineers counting grams, the bottom.
Touring sizing: the descent is half the day
A touring ski is carried uphill by its owner, centimeter by centimeter. That single fact bends the sizing: where a resort skier at the top of a range takes the longer ski for stability, a tourer takes the shorter one for the kick turns at the col and the hop turns in the couloir — and misses the extra stability only on the descent — the shorter half of a touring day. The calculator's −3 cm is this site's standard figure for that trade — individual shops vary by a centimeter or two either way.
The width story rhymes: a freeride width (110 mm+) floats in deep snow but makes for heavy climbing, so touring waists settle at 88–105 mm, with — in this site's guidance — the day's snow forecast moving you inside the band more than any rule does.
Telemark sizing
Telemark sizing starts where alpine touring sizing starts — your height and weight on the chart — and trims a little further (−5 cm in the calculator). The free-heel turn loads the ski differently: the trailing ski is steered by a flexed boot rather than a locked heel, and telemark days are often spent in the terrain that rewards a shorter ski — trees, bumps, and the rolling descents of low-angle touring. This calculator's trims only run downward from alpine length, never up. If in doubt, the calculator's range contains both answers, and your terrain should pick.
Avalanche safety comes before sizing
Sizing is the enjoyable part of backcountry preparation; avalanche safety is the part that matters. Nothing on this page assesses snowpack risk. Before you tour, check the day's avalanche forecast for your range, and carry a transceiver, shovel and probe — and know how to use them. Avalanche.org lists formal avalanche courses and links the regional avalanche centers and their education resources, and a formal course is the real starting point for backcountry travel — not a gear purchase.
Worked example
A 178 cm, 80 kg advanced skier sizes at 181 cm for the resort on all-mountain skis. The backcountry tool starts from the same chart figure, then takes 3 cm off for the touring version — 178 cm — and 5 cm off for telemark — 176 cm. The breakdown printed under the result shows the full working: "Resort chart 179 cm, +2 cm for weight, then -3 cm for touring — shorter for kick turns, tight trees and the climb." The downhill performance given up is small; the kick turns, tight trees and tired-leg descents gained are not. Weight matters twice out there: a shorter ski is also a lighter ski on the climb.
One quiver or two
If one ski must do resort and backcountry both, size it by this page and mount it with a hybrid binding: the 3 cm you surrender at the resort is barely missed, and the 3 cm you save on a long climb — a 1,200-metre day, say — is not. The reverse compromise — a resort ski taken touring — is the one that teaches skiers why the dedicated answer exists.
Related calculators
- Ski Length Calculator for Older SkiersSki length calculator for older skiers: comfort sizing from the published chart — shorter lengths biased to easier turning and a softer flex.
- Ski Length ChartSki length chart by height and weight: adult, women, men, youth and beginner lengths, plus cross-country and pole sizing tables.
- How to Measure Ski LengthHow ski length is measured: developed length vs the straight chord, why your tape reads short, and what rocker does to effective edge — explained plainly.
Resort days covered too: the main ski length calculator sizes alpine skis before the touring adjustment comes off.
Frequently asked questions
How much shorter should touring skis be than resort skis?
The trim applies to every touring pick: this calculator takes 3 cm off the resort figure (5 cm for telemark), and in this site's guidance the trade is lopsided in the climb's favor — the descent gives up little, and the gains are on the skin track (kick turns, switchbacks), in tight trees, and in carried weight. For lift-served sidecountry, use the resort figure instead: the breakdown under the result — the breakdown line is printed in the worked example below — has a 'Resort chart …' line giving your resort length and your weight adjustment before the trim comes off, so you can add the two together; the main ski length calculator prints that untrimmed number directly.
How are telemark skis sized?
Telemark skiers size off the same chart, then shorten a touch more than tourers (the calculator uses −5 cm): the free-heel turn puts different loads through the ski, and telemark skiing is often in tighter terrain, where trading a little stability for maneuverability pays. Within that, your height, weight and ability work exactly as they do for alpine sizing.
What waist width for touring skis?
This site's touring band runs 88–105 mm underfoot — inside the 80–115 mm spread Switchback Travel publishes for the category: wide enough to float in the ungroomed, narrow enough to climb and to hold an edge on a firm traverse. Genuinely deep-snow touring pushes toward the top of it; spring ski mountaineering, where the day is mostly up and the snow mostly firm, toward the bottom.
Does pack weight change my touring ski size?
Length comes from your height and weight on the chart, then the touring trim. Pack weight doesn't change it: the number you enter is body weight, the figure the chart is built on, and the load you carry only decides where you land inside the recommended range — carrying a full pack on the descent, take the top end.
Sources
- evo — Ski Size Chart & Calculator — the published chart the backcountry adjustments start from
- Switchback Travel — ski waist width guide — touring category waist range (80–115 mm per its retailer comparison; the band this calculator uses, 88–105 mm, sits inside it)
- Avalanche.org — avalanche courses — formal avalanche courses and the regional avalanche centers, linked from the safety section
Last verified: 28 October 2026
Found an error? Report it