Haute Route Ski Tour Prep ~ Ultimate Repair Kit

We run a lot of Haute Route Ski Tours and in the process have seen about every imaginable thing go wrong with ski gear on the tour.  Two years ago I had a client break the plastic heel piece on his Fritsche bindings just as we skied into the Praflueri Hut, managed to MacGyver a fix and then the next day had another client tear his Tele binding out of the his ski.  In most cases I was able to use a few tools at the hut, but in each case I also needed some basic supplies of my own to make the repair.  The following list and photos give you and idea of what I take when guiding multi-day, overnight ski tours.  I carry a much lighter kit when doing day tours or skiing on my own here in WA.  There is also an 8-minute video at the end that walks you through this kit.

Repair Kit for Haute Route Ski Tour

Here is the list of items that I carry.  The entire kit weighs about 2 lbs. While this may seem heavy I have used everything in it, and I usually have one person carry the repair kit, another carry the first-aid kit, etc. so that no one person has more than a pound or two of group gear.  

Haute Route Ski Tour Repair Kit ~ Weighs about 2 lbs.

Haute Route Ski Tour ~ Repair Kit Contents

• 2 Large Hose Clamps (for attaching binding to ski in catastrophic blowout)
• 2 Small Hose Clamps (for splinting broken poles)
• Binding Buddy with Different Screw Bits Including Posi-drive
• T-nut, Washer, and Bolt (for boot cuff rivet repair)
• Ski Boot Cuff Rivet Replacement (better than above, but hard to find)
• 2- Long Ski Straps (many uses, long ones can be obtained from Brooks Range)
• Glop Stopper (for skin icing)
• Bailing Wire (many uses)
• Skin Tip and Tail Attachments
• Allen Wrench (for cuff rivet)
• Multi-tool with Pliers (pliers are critical)
• Skin Tool (G3 makes the best one)
• Metal Scraper (for scraping skis and skins)
• Duct Tape
• Cotton Tape (for attaching iced skins to skis)
• F4 Glide Wax
• Lighter
• Extra Binding Screws
• Steel Wool
• Quick Cure Epoxy
• Ripstop Nylon Tape

Other items to consider:

• 3.5 mm x 9.5 mm Drill Bit (nice if you can find a drill and want clean holes for blown screws)
• 4.1 mm x 9.5 mm Drill Bit (ditto)
• Extra Toe and Heel Pieces for Dominant Group Binding Type

You might also be interested in this video describing the same Haute Route Ski Repair Kit.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at the Northwest Mountain School.  Our phone number is 509-548-5823.  Olivia and John Race run the Northwest Mountain School, are both IFMGA guides and are available as Haute Route Ski Guides.