Paige Thomson completed her first backcountry ski tour on New Year’s Eve day. Thomson, who grew up primarily in Bigfork, is among the rising number of participants in the rapidly growing sport.

According to a Jan. 7 New York Times story, more than 1 million people in the U.S. last year used touring equipment, which allows skiers to ascend slopes and access backcountry ski terrain. Sales of ski touring gear rose 260% between November 2019 and November 2020.

“The thing that I love about Montana is that it kind of pulls out the wild in you and it challenges you in ways that you never thought possible,” Thomson said. “I think that skinning is another level of that.”

Thomson started skiing last season, and this year, she decided to commit to going uphill as well as down. For Thomson, as well as for many new converts to ski touring, the activity provides a way to stay active and get outside in the wintertime.

“This is the year of practicing,” said Thomson, who has taken to walking her dog on her uphill ski setup. “I really did commit to this, this year.”

Her first time skiing out of bounds tested that resolve, but Thomson believes she’s ultimately going to stick with it. “Even though it was a sufferfest, I’d do it again,” she said.

LOCAL OUTFITTERS say they are seeing a lot of people like Thomson who are picking up ski touring, although in-bound skinning using snow-gripping skins on the bottom of skis to travel uphill seems to be more popular than heading into the backcountry.

“We definitely have a lot of people coming in for uphill gear,” said Mitch Young at Tamarack Ski Shop in Whitefish.

“Avalanche gear is not selling nearly as fast as straight uphill gear,” he noted.

Young credited the surging interest to a few different causes. At first, he said, ski touring took off because skiers were worried about resorts shutting down for Covid-19. Since that initial wave, he said, new ski tourers seem interested in the fitness aspect of the sport. There’s also a growing population of participants because the population itself is growing, he pointed out.

The demand has led to some shortages and price increases for ski touring equipment. Bindings, Young said, have experienced “a little bit of a price increase,” and the price of skins is up 10 to 20%.

Despite these market fluctuations, Young said there is still a lot of variety for new ski touring equipment. He advised those just getting into the sport to visit a local ski shop to learn about the gear before committing to a setup.

At Great Northern Cycle and Ski, there is demo ski touring gear available to rent for that very reason. Sean Malone said Great Northern Cycle and Ski added those rentals as an option last year after the shop saw a massive jump in demand for touring gear.

“There was a huge increase, and it’s continued,” Malone said. “I was kind of expecting it to peter off.”

CHANCE COOKE, who has been skinning since the 1990s, sees the recent surge in ski touring as the product of years of advocacy for the sport.

He credits early adopters like Ben Parsons for inspiring interest in the relatively underground activity. Cooke said Parsons, the namesake of the Benny Up route on Big Mountain, “was the shining light of ski touring in the Flathead Valley” before his death in an avalanche in 2017. “He’s inspired people who wouldn’t otherwise do ski touring,” Cooke said.

One of Parsons' major contributions to the activity was pushing for access to ski touring terrain, and securing that access will be necessary to keep the sport growing, Cooke pointed out.

“Making it accessible is key,” Cooke stressed.

Cooke is hopeful Whitefish Mountain Resort will remain an ally in facilitating uphill skiing at the resort.

The resort started selling uphill season passes for $125 last season. Uphill passes come free with a downhill season pass.

Public Relations Director Chad Sokol said the resort wants to continue to ensure safe uphill travel on Big Mountain, although he couldn’t provide exact counts of uphill skiers.

“As more people decide to skin or bootpack up the Big, it's really important they know and follow our uphill policy,” Sokol stressed in an email. “We're still seeing people skin up without passes or tickets. We've also seen folks wander off the designated uphill routes and into the middle of trails, which puts them and other guests at serious risk of colliding.”

“We worked hard to craft the uphill policy with the U.S. Forest Service,” he added. “Not all resorts allow uphill travel, and our policy sets a really good precedent for acceptance of the sport. Safety is our No. 1 priority and we ask everyone to educate themselves before giving skimo a try.”

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at 406-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.