Off Piste Safety Skills for Skiers & Boarders

This is essential training for anyone wanting to head off piste with or without a guide, and makes an ideal pre-season or early season kick off. The main elements are avalanche awareness and avoidance, and glacier safety. These skills can be offered as single days, or in a modular way the 4 days described can be offered as a continuous course over 4-5 days. As well as learning skills we hope we would enjoy some good descents too.

Avalanche Training Day - Introductory Level
The aim is to offer practical training to help off piste skiers and boarders gain confidence in their ability to deal with an avalanche incident as a member of a group.
We start with looking at the avalanche bulletin and information available to you before you ski. Then we check the equipment we need to carry: different avalanche beacons and how they work; shovels; probes and other avalanche safety systems.
The morning will then be spent training or brushing up on use of avalanche victim search equipment. During the afternoon we will focus on where to ski and how to ski it, and how, by making good route choices, and operating well as a group, the risk of triggering or being caught in an avalanche can be reduced.

Avalanche Training - Intermediate Level
For those who wish to take their knowledge a stage further we offer a more in depth look at avalanche avoidance using snow pack analysis and avalanche forecasting.
This involves a quick reminder of basic skills, before we spend the day digging snow profiles, conducting stability tests and comparing what we find in different locations on the mountain.

Glacier Safety and Crevasse Rescue Day- Introductory Level
The aim is to equip skiers and boarders with the basic knowledge to ski/ride glaciated terrain safely as part of a group. The key points are what to carry, where and how to ski, and what to do if something goes wrong.
At some point during the day we will set up a crevasse rescue incident and look at a basic system for getting someone out of a crevasse. Normally group members will be shown one method which they will then have a chance to try themselves.

Glacier Safety and Crevasse Rescue Day - Intermediate Level
This day is aimed at people who already have a basic understanding of crevasse rescue and glacier safety and are looking to expand that knowledge. This level is suitable for those who are looking to ski on glaciers with or without a guide.
After a quick re-cap of basic skills we will look at rescue systems in more detail and conduct a number of crevasse rescue mock incidents. The group members will often take more of a leadership role with the guide observing and giving feedback and offering alternative and improved methods.

Where and When
We can offer training days for private groups or individuals throughout the winter. if you want to join a group contact us and we can try and team you up with other people. Choice of dates avaialble for groups will depend on demand.

Cost
The price is based on the guide fee being divided by the number of people on the course. See our prices page.

Route choice through deep snow