UKC

I have a pretty good amount of experience at this but in planning some activities this winter I realised that most of my estimate are based around moderate uphill slopes (approx. 400m vertical an hour depending on various factors).

Can anyone point me to some estimates for flatter slopes (flat or almost flat, on touring equipment, not cross country)? I've looked around the web but don't seem to have much luck.

Thanks.

In reply to ClimberEd:

I've no hard evidence, but from experience I would estimate similar to walking in firm snow conditions (say 4-5 km/hr), much slower in deep powder!

You mean +400 meters vertical per hour of normal hiking in the summer?
or
+400 m/hr uphill wearing the same skis + boots + climbing skins on your feet as you'll be wearing on snow in winter?

In reply to ClimberEd:
I'd say it's still around vertical 400m per hr. You're just travelling faster horizontally. Or are you talking about terrain that is so flat you're not actually gaining height? In which case, dunno

In reply to ClimberEd: I think standard rule of thumb is 3km/hr plus one minute for every 10m vertical as I remember. I recall checking this on a number of tours and it was very accurate (if I am remembering correctly!)

In reply to ClimberEd:

Although 'rules' such as 3or 4 km per hour are often reasonable, speeds on the flat can vary enormously with snow conditions. My slowest was something like 3 hours for one kilometre approaching a hut in Norway in deep, soft but heavy snow, but sometimes with good névé on the flat its possible to skate at maybe 10 kph - a French friend of mine used to overtake XC skiers even though he was on AT gear when we used the XC pistes to approach the mountains in the Queyras & elsewhere

In reply to ClimberEd:

Thanks everyone.

Kenr - I meant 400m of vertical, skinning in winter

In reply to ClimberEd:
On the weekend I did a trip with a bunch of newbies. Our pace was reasonably solid. From my strava log:

Distance: 11.3km
Elevation: 1,284m
Elapsed Time: 5hrs
Moving Time: 2:14:05

I'm not sure about the accuracy of moving time as it seems very short, but we stopped for snacks and photos, etc.

Note it includes the descent

In reply to ClimberEd:

Get a Strava account then search activities logged as 'Backcountry Skiing', there are quite a few.