Ski-Touring is more than a sport. It is exploration. It is wandering. It is the freedom to leave your own track in the snow. 

Giorgio Daidola, the first person to telemark from an 8,000-metre summit, has devoted his life to exploring the world on skis. Guided by his relentless spirit of adventure, he reflects on what ski touring truly means.

Giorgio Daidola made skiing history as the first person to complete a Telemark descent from a summit above 8,000 metres. A longtime professor at the University of Trento and the author of numerous books, he has transformed a lifetime of exploration and extraordinary adventures into stories that have inspired generations of skiers.

Over the course of his career, he has taken Telemark skiing far beyond the boundaries of traditional ski slopes, skiing across seven continents. From the Karakoram to the glaciers of Patagonia, from the mountains of Lebanon to New Zealand’s Southern Alps and Antarctica, skiing has always been, above all, a way for him to explore the world.

His relentless pursuit of discovery has also led him beyond snow-covered landscapes. He has crossed the Atlantic Ocean under sail and skied the slopes of Stromboli, the active volcano rising from the Tyrrhenian Sea. Earth, snow, sea and fire have all fuelled his enduring sense of adventure.

For Daidola, the elements have never been mere backdrops, but a constant call to venture beyond the horizon and beyond the paths already traced.

Skiing is more than a sport. 

It is a way of seeing the world, something that reaches beyond physical performance and touches the spirit itself. Today, much of skiing seems to have lost that deeper dimension, along with part of its history and its true essence.

I have always been inspired by great wanderers. Skiing became my way of exploring mountains, people and landscapes, embracing the philosophy of the true wanderer: setting out without knowing exactly where the journey will lead, without fixed plans, without a return ticket. One of my greatest influences was Michel Paul Mathieu, to whom I dedicated a chapter in my book Mountain Skiers. Michel embodied the idea of the free skier. He travelled with little more than simple road maps, spotting distant mountain ranges and imagining ways to connect them, opening remarkable routes that many would later follow. He represented the purest expression of the wandering spirit in skiing.

Volcanoes have always fascinated me as well. Whether covered in snow or lava, I am drawn to their constant slopes, perfectly suited to skiing. That fascination led me to ski on Stromboli. I left Liguria by boat carrying skis and boots, and spent an unforgettable night on the summit, face to face with one of nature's most powerful forces, waiting for sunrise. It was a simple adventure, approached with the enthusiasm and recklessness of someone who thinks about the risks only afterwards.

I have always attached great importance to a ski track. It is a skier's signature on the mountain. Every line tells a story, reflects a choice and reveals a personal vision. That is why I dislike seeing others follow directly over my track.

For me, the essence of ski touring lies in creating your own path, both uphill and downhill. It means seeking out lesser-known terrain, discovering overlooked corners of the mountains and finding lines that no one else has imagined. That search is what gives skiing its deepest satisfaction.

A ski track is also a celebration of the ephemeral. Like a drawing made on snow, it is destined to disappear. The sun, the wind and time will eventually erase it. Yet this impermanence is precisely what gives it meaning. It exists for a brief moment and can never be repeated in exactly the same way.

Today, seeing glaciers retreat and snow become increasingly scarce fills me with sadness. But that reality should also encourage us to seek more, to explore further and to value what remains. 

Because rarity creates value. And the search for snow, for untouched terrain and for one's own track makes every journey into the mountains even more meaningful.