Ski Program
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Back country skiing and ski mountaineering are perhaps the most exhilarating ways to enjoy mountains in winter. Our extensive ski program includes excellent off piste coaching and ski mountaineering training courses - plus a great range of dedicated ski touring and off piste weeks. Tailor Made Options If you'd like a personalised holiday based on one of our regular trips - or a one off special just for you - then we offer a full private guiding service with our senior team. So whether it's off piste guiding, safety and avalanche training or your own private ski tour - just contact us at any stage to discuss your plans and ambitions. To help you select an appropriate trip, the table below shows Ski Fitness and Ski Ability Levels needed for our various programs. We suggest you a look at what's on offer, have a careful read of what each ski ability level means - then contact us if you have furthur questions or queries about particular trips or whether you've got the neccesary experience - as a quick chat with one of our team will help confirm if it's the right holiday for you. Important: Please remember, you need both the required fitness level and ski ability level in order to enjoy a particular trip - as our guides have to judge your abilities before embarking on any serious objective or extended ski tour (current weather and mountain conditions are also taken into account). If they decide that a particular objective should not be attempted, then a good alternative will always be offered. (If your fitness or skills are in doubt however, we may have to exclude you from certain activities. It is very unusual for us to do this, but it can occur if you are not realistic about your current experience or fitness levels - or you do not prepare sufficiently for the trip.) Food and Accommodation We run all of our ski trips on a guiding & instruction only basis to allow people maximum flexibility with accomodation options. ie you must pay for these items directly with the local supplier as they are not included in the course fee. In all the areas we visit however, we have a recommended hotel where the majority of our clients choose to stay (if you'd like to share a twin room with a fellow course member, the manager will also happily pair you up as required) but you are completely free to make other arrangements if you prefer (a selection of other accommodation options is also included in each joining pack). Like wise, for ski touring weeks we book huts and accomodation in advance for the group and you just pay for them direct as we go along. Travel Full travel details are provided with your joining instructions, including flight options and resort transfer information. For our more out of the way destinations we can also assist you with booking flights and making other neccesary arrangements. Equipment We supply all group safety equipment for the trip. Clients must provide their own clothing, a rucsac and personal ski and avalanche safety equipment (local hire is available for these specialist items). To give a better picture of how well you really need to be skiing in order to enjoy each of our trips, we use 5 off piste ski levels based on what types of snow and conditions you can confidently do regular linked turns in - and just as importantly, what conditions you begin to struggle in. (By 'linked' we mean moving from one turn into the next without making traverses - however brief - in between). NB If you are a piste skier, then sadly what you are about to read doesn't correspond much to a typical catalogue 'ski buyers guide' list of ski ability levels. It's time to recalibrate the meter! Likely to say: 'Bring it on...' Above this - (level 6 - infinity), we enter the realms of off piste racing, extreme skiing and seriously big air. Here, the sky's the limit (and could be your final destination if you mess up - yee ha!). Here we've applied our 5 regular fitness levels to skiing specific situations, in order to give you a better idea how fit you need to be for each of our trips or courses. For the same levels described in more general sporting terms, plus advice on training and preparation, visit our mountain fitness page - here . NB Please remember, you need both the required fitness level and ski ability in order to enjoy any given trip - as in our experience it doesn't matter how fit you are, if you can't ski well enough you won't keep up on the descents - and vica versa on the ascents! Level 1 - You are happy piste skiing all day with just the odd break for food and drink - but would struggle to ski off piste all day without finishing up very tired for the following day. Level 2 - You are capable of off piste skiing all day with out finishing up exhausted - ie you can do this for a number of days without taking a rest day. Level 3 - On a tour you can skin at 300m/hr for 3+hrs a day (ie 7-900m of ascent each day). Level 4 - You can skin at 400m/hr and could handle 4+hrs skinning a day. Level 5 - You are happy skinning at over 400m/hr or could skin all day if neccesary. Important: You need both the required fitness level and ski ability level in order to enjoy any given holiday, as our guides will assess your fitness and ability levels before embarking on a serious objective or an extended ski tour (current weather and mountain conditions are also taken into account). If they decide that a particular objective should not be attempted, then an alternative will always be offered. If your fitness or skills are in doubt however (either before or during the course of a tour), there is a risk you could be excluded from an activity or required to leave the tour if your participation could risk the safety, success or enjoyment of the rest of the party. It is very unusual for us to have to do this, but it can occur if you are not realistic about your current ski ability or fitness levels, or you do not prepare sufficiently for the trip. If you like to go faster than this - then it's time to don your lycra catsuit and have a go at ski mountaineering racing ('ski alpinisme') where skinning at 800-1000m/hr is quite normal and flying along at 1500m/hr is world class! (see: pierra menta report+pics ) |
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Off Piste Ski Ability Levels
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