Techniques are disclosed relating to backing up skip list data structures to facilitate a subsequent recovery. In various embodiments, a computing system creates a checkpoint of a skip list including a plurality of key-value records that include pointers to others of the plurality of key-value records. Creating the checkpoint includes scanning the skip list to identify ones of the plurality of key-value records that are relevant to the checkpoint and storing the identified key-value records in a storage such that the identified key-value records include pointers modified to exclude ones of the plurality of key-value records that are not relevant to the checkpoint. The computing system can then recover the skip list based on the created checkpoint.