Featured image: Wildcat Mountain Ski Area near Jackson, New Hampshire (photo by Cheryl Landes)

In skiing, what goes down must go up again. And that means hopping a chairlift for another downhill glide.

Now there’s another option for skiers seeking the ultimate aerobic workout. Instead of catching a ride to the top, they walk up the mountain in their skis. It’s a growing trend called skinning. The term originates in backcountry skiing, where skiers attach climbing skins to the bottom of alpine skis or splitboards to allow uphill travel on downhill skis. After they ascend, they remove the skins before descending.

Fifty percent of ski resorts in the US now have skinning, according to the National Ski Areas Association, and more are adding uphill skiing races this year. Policies and pricing vary by resort.

More ski resorts also offer skinning classes. Several are listed in this report about skinning in The Bulletin in Bend, Oregon, along with some US and Canadian resorts that have uphill skiing areas and special events.

View these lists of all ski areas in the US and Canada.