Yak Wool: A Top Performer on Ski Tours

Ski touring and alpine skiing are among the most popular winter sports. It’s easy to see why: majestic, snow-capped peaks, breathtaking views of snow-covered landscapes, exhilarating descents, and the perfect blend of nature, adventure, physical activity, and social interaction when you tour with friends, family, and fellow skiers.

But every skiing pro knows: Few sports demand as much from your body as ski touring and freeriding. Ascents through deep snow are a marathon for your body. They drain your strength and energy. Your heart beats faster to supply your body with enough oxygen, and heavy sweating helps cool you down.

During these phases, you need peak performance: clothing that’s extremely breathable and temperature-adaptive, wicking moisture quickly away from your body and keeping you from overheating.

Once you reach the summit, you’re rewarded with absolute tranquility and a majestic view—but even though you were just feeling too warm a moment ago, your perception of temperature flips within minutes: Your wet clothing is now cooling you down, just when you actually need warmth. During these phases, you need warm clothing that insulates your body heat and prevents you from getting chilled. This is especially true in the high mountains during winter—where the air is particularly dry, causing you to lose heat very quickly due to evaporative cooling and putting you at risk of life-threatening hypothermia.

Few sports therefore depend as heavily on the right clothing as skiing and ski touring. What you wear under your outer layer is especially important. While you need a weatherproof hardshell jacket in the mountains during winter to reliably protect you from the elements, that very hardshell is also the biggest weak point in your outfit: It does a poor job of regulating moisture and temperature, so that during physical activity, moisture and heat build up inside the jacket, while the thin hardshell doesn’t keep you warm enough at the summit.

That’s exactly why you still wear a base layer and a mid layer under your hardshell jacket—and that’s where our performance clothing from Odin’s Wolves comes in.

1. THE RIGHT UNDERGARMENTS

Wearing the right clothing on ski tours starts with the right underwear. It effectively wicks moisture and excess heat away from the body, prevents chafing and pressure points on your feet and between your legs, and protects you from unpleasant odors. Our Men’s Boxer Shorts, Women’s Boyshorts, and Bras are ideal for this. Made from 100% yak wool, they’re super soft, wick moisture away quickly, and prevent friction against the skin.

Our 100% Yak Wool Socks come in a midweight version that keeps your feet dry and reduces blister risk. They’re ideal for fast-paced ski tourers. For alpine skiers, we recommend our Super-Warm, Heavyweight Socks made of pure yak wool, which keep your feet comfortably warm inside your ski boots even on the coldest days.

2. BASE LAYER

The base layer is the foundation of a successful ski outfit. You can’t do without it. It should effectively regulate your body temperature, provide basic protection against the cold, wick away moisture and excess heat, reduce friction against the skin, and protect you from UV radiation and unpleasant odors.

When it comes to winter sports, it’s especially important to choose a thicker material for your base layer. Many merino wool base layers are too thin and completely unsuitable for winter. The thin fabric causes you to sweat through it too quickly during strenuous ascents—once you reach the summit, the base layer can no longer keep you warm enough, and you start to feel chilly. In the worst case, you risk hypothermia.

To prevent this, we recommend our 100% yak wool base layers, such as our T-Shirt and Long-Sleeve Top. These are made with a thicker, heavier knit, ensuring there’s enough fabric against your skin to prevent it from getting soaked too quickly and to keep you sufficiently warm even when wet. What’s more, thanks to their hollow structure, the fine yak fibers are particularly effective at retaining heat—so you’re guaranteed never to get too cold.

What makes yak wool special: Despite its high thermal performance, it wicks heat and moisture away from the body. This means you won’t overheat even during the most strenuous ascents—even when you’re battling your way through deep snow on skis. Thanks to their rapid moisture-wicking properties, our base layers also keep you dry for a long time.

Designed for ski touring and alpine skiing, our Long-Sleeve Yak Wool Shirt with a Half-Zip offers extra warmth, plus hand loops and a stand-up collar to protect you on the coldest winter days and during fast-paced descents, without overheating during exertion.

Especially for ski touring and alpine skiing, you should also pair your base layer with long pants for insulation on your legs—such as our Long Johns made from 100% yak wool. These are perfect to wear under unlined hardshell ski pants.

3. MID LAYER

The mid layer is the second layer in the layering system. It serves as the insulating layer between the functional base layer and a weatherproof outer layer, and is worn over the base layer.

The mid layer provides protection against the cold and insulation. A good mid layer keeps you warm and retains your body heat without causing you to overheat. It must also be able to wick moisture absorbed by the base layer away to the outside.

Choosing the right base layer depends on the temperature and the intended use. If you’re planning particularly strenuous ski tours, we recommend choosing a lightweight mid layer that’s no heavier than your base layer.

Our Long-Sleeve Top made from 100% yak wool is ideal for this. It delivers maximum performance on strenuous high-mountain ski tours without overheating.

For ski tours in deep winter conditions and on the coldest winter days, we recommend our Midweight Cardigan made from 100% yak wool. Here, too, the hollow yak fibers take performance to a new level: Our yak wool cardigan keeps you cool and dry during strenuous ascents and prevents you from overheating. At the same time, it reliably keeps you warm under a hardshell jacket at temperatures well below freezing.

If you prefer a sweater, our Midweight Half-Zip made from 100% yak wool is ideal.

Finally, for the most extreme sub-zero temperatures, our Heavyweight Cardigan made of 100% yak wool is the right choice. It reliably keeps you warm as a mid layer under an outer jacket (possibly with additional insulation) at temperatures well below freezing. However, in milder temperatures or during strenuous activity, this cardigan is often too warm—it’s especially well-suited for alpine skiing on very cold winter days, as a super-warm insulating layer, or as a replacement for a down jacket during longer breaks on ski tours or while staying in ski huts.

Thanks to the yak fibers we use, all our mid layers are extremely breathable and regulate temperature. Unlike down jackets, they don’t trap heat, so you stay warm without overheating during strenuous activity. This ensures optimal performance in every situation—whether you’re ascending, resting at the summit, or on fast-paced descents.

4. THE OUTER LAYER

The outermost layer in a layering system provides weather protection, shielding you from the elements. It reliably keeps wind and precipitation at bay. Especially for alpine skiing and ski touring in the high mountains, a waterproof and windproof hardshell jacket is an indispensable companion on every mountain tour.

Yak wool isn’t just ideal as an insulating layer against the cold—it also makes an excellent windbreaker. To improve moisture and temperature management, we recommend packing your hardshell in your backpack during the ascent on nice days and instead using your yak wool mid layer as an outer jacket—for example, our Midweight Cardigan or Knit Sweater made from 100% yak wool.

Because our wool is more breathable than most hard- and softshell jackets and regulates your body temperature more effectively, you’ll enjoy enhanced performance and comfort while also helping to protect the environment. Most hardshells are made mainly from synthetic materials and treated with harmful, persistent chemicals to achieve water repellency.

So it’s better to use our mid layers as your outer layer and leave the hardshell in your backpack unless you absolutely need it.

5. Hats, Scarves & Accessories

You don’t just lose heat through your upper body. On the contrary: heat loss is particularly significant around the head and neck. These areas are also especially exposed, and in the neck area in particular, hypothermia can quickly lead to a cold, since mucous membranes with poor blood circulation are less effective at fighting off bacteria and pathogens.

Hats and scarves fall into two categories: a heavyweight version for particularly cold winter days and deep-winter conditions, and a lightweight version ideal for strenuous ascents and ski tours in bright sunshine.

Our collection covers both of these uses. We recommend wearing our Lightweight Beanies and Tube Scarves during the ascent on ski tours. They keep you from getting chilled by sweat while ensuring maximum breathability and UV protection on the mountain—because even in winter, UV exposure is particularly high when the sun is shining.

Our Heavyweight Beanies and Tube Scarves, made from 100% yak wool, are the perfect companions for the coldest winter days, when it’s really cold, snowing, and the wind is icy.

Our balaclavas are ideal for fast descents and reliably protect you not only from the cold but also from snow blowing in your face. Here, too, you can choose between a Lightweight Balaclava made of 100% yak wool and a Heavyweight Balaclava—depending on the temperature and weather conditions.

6. In your backpack: Always carry an extra, warm insulated jacket + a rescue blanket/survival blanket for emergencies

Even in winter, when you’re already bundled up from the start, we can’t stress this enough: Always carry a jacket in your backpack that’s even warmer than the one you’re already wearing. Even on a beautiful winter day with plenty of sunshine, the weather—especially in the high mountains—can change quickly. A cloudless sky can sometimes turn into a snowstorm in no time, forcing you to spend the night on the mountain.

Even if the extra weight is a hassle, we therefore recommend that you always carry an extra insulated jacket. Our Heavyweight Cardigan made of 100% yak wool is ideal for this—it’s designed for the coldest temperatures. In the depths of winter or at particularly high altitudes, a warm down jacket is also a good choice—it’s often even warmer than our yak wool and can be compressed to take up very little space.

Mount Everest – 29,031.7 Feet above sea level

Here’s another recommendation from us that could mean the difference between life and death in an emergency: Always carry a rescue blanket or survival blanket in your backpack. A simple rescue blanket often costs just a few euros, but in an emergency it reflects up to 99% of your body heat, helping to minimize heat loss.

A rescue blanket is particularly effective when it has an insulating layer of air pockets—a function our Yakcardigans fulfill exceptionally well thanks to their fine wool fibers, which form millions of tiny air pockets.

In high mountains, we strongly recommend going one step further and carrying a Blizzard Survival Blanket from Blizzard Protection Systems—such as the Blizzard Reflexcell Survival Blanket—instead of a conventional emergency blanket.

Designed specifically for the military and special forces, this survival blanket features a reflective metal layer and air insulation that reliably protects you from hypothermia in an emergency—even in the most extreme temperatures—making it a life-saving companion.

7. Drink Plenty of Fluids

One final tip is particularly important: In winter, the air is very dry—cold air holds less moisture. With every breath you take, your body loses a significant amount of moisture. If you’re also sweating due to physical exertion, your body loses even more fluid.

To compensate for this fluid loss, you must drink enough. Inexperienced ski tourers, in particular, often underestimate just how high fluid loss—and thus fluid requirements—really is.

So be sure to pack enough water for your tours—allow at least 4–6 liters for each day of touring, though our recommendation leans more toward 6 than 4 liters. Fill your water bottles with mineral water, tea, or isotonic electrolyte drinks, since fluid loss also depletes electrolytes you need to replace. Tap water often doesn’t contain enough electrolytes to restore electrolyte balance. A ratio of 4 liters of mineral water to 2 liters of isotonic drinks is ideal. You especially need to replenish sodium—isotonic drinks therefore contain a small amount of table salt, which helps maintain sodium balance as an essential electrolyte. Alternatively, you can simply carry a small packet of table salt with you and add it to your mineral water before drinking.

This will keep you hydrated and performing at your best, so no summit will be out of reach.