Off Piste Training Course 2017

The ÖAV Alpenverein-Akademie organises a series of regular alpine training courses for English speaking participants. Below are a couple of personal reflections from two members who took part in the Off Piste Training Course in Axamer Lizum in January 2017.

Lunch at the top
Photos by Tobius Herwig

Juliet Strang

The signs 'Danger - hors de piste' have always filled me with trepidation. I look at them and move quickly away. One January I was enjoying a week of skiing in Bonneval in the Vanoise with fantastic conditions, plenty of snow and sunshine all day. Eating my lunch at the top of the Glacier lift, I saw one pair of skiers after another heading off over the mountain. When I looked at those people venturing into the perilous off-piste territory, I started to see the appeal of getting into the mountains properly, free from the crowds and lifts.

But it wasn't until I was on the Thames Valley Glühwein walk 10 months later and got talking to Jacky Brown that I felt off-piste skiing and ski touring might be a realistic possibility. She encouraged me and suggested doing the Alpenverein-Akademie Basic Off-Piste Skiing course which takes place in January. I signed up and arrived at Axamer Lizum on January 21.

It was a brilliant course! Our teacher, Hervig, was one of the best ski instructors I have experienced. The first few days were a mixture of improving our technique on-piste, learning how to use our avalanche safety equipment, assessing the snow conditions and risk of avalanche so we could decide whether to 'Stay or Go'. One of the great things we did was to look at a map of the area and see where we might find good snow. This was a revelation for someone who has previously been bound by the piste map. This was like planning a walking trip: there are routes you can follow. Indeed, on day 3 of the course we went on an expedition. Having driven to a beautiful village about 40 minutes from our hotel, we put on our skins, walked up the mountain, gaining 800m in height, and then skied down. The bird song, views, camaraderie, lunch by a mountain hut (shut for the winter) and no other skiers, made for a wonderful, exciting and slightly nerve-wracking day.

We were lucky with the weather: the sun shone all week. The ski-in, ski-out, hotel, which we shared with a group of trainee ski instructors was clean, spacious, well designed, with the essentials of plenty of gorgeous food, great bar, hot sauna and steam room and good ski lockers. If, like me, you've wondered about off-piste skiing, but never dared, this is the course to do.

Following tracks zig-zagging up the slope

Charles Clay

Like many others, I originally joined the AAC(UK) to take advantage of its insurance for summer climbing in the Alps. I soon found out that the Club has much more on offer, and became intrigued by the idea of a course to help get me into ski touring, the first stage being able to ski safely off piste.

A late comer to skiing and someone who is not afraid of slogging up through the snow, the idea of ski touring has immediate appeal. The lovely pistes groomed by exotic machines make an exciting playground but they are so civilised and tamed, giving only odd glimpses of the true mountain experience.

Those thin cross country skis can certainly get you out into nice places, but they are not easy on anything like a steep slope. Snow shoes are OK but rather unexciting . So the idea of using standard modern skis with skins to enable you to climb really appeals. It was my first time on touring skis and with touring boots that can be unlocked to allow movement forward and back: the freedom it gives was great. I even started to appreciate why some hardy folk walk up the side of the piste on their skis, instead of just getting on the chair lift.

In the past I have been out in winter trudging up through thigh deep snow and thinking there must be an easier way and here it is. The ability to slide up slopes that I would have previously sunk into was an eye opener. Like the first time I used crampons and found I could walk and climb up what would otherwise be impossible.

Going off piste is however moving into potentially tricky territory and the course was superb in making us aware of this and how to make sensible choices of when and where to go, taking into account those involved. It is a big subject and what we did was a lot more than I had anticipated. But, when you are faced with the fact that 90% of avalanche incidents are caused by the participants themselves, you have to be serious from the outset.

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