This introduction trip is all about skiing lift accessed off-piste terrain to build up skills and knowledge on how to ski mixed snow safely and confidently. Skiing off-piste is an essential skill to have in order to undertake a backcountry ski touring adventure.
While we try and stick to the tried and tested itinerary below, the mountains and the weather sometimes have other ideas. We will always remain as flexible as possible, which is why we only work with experienced and knowledgeable guides, to make sure we can change any plans if required.
DAY ONE:
Arrival Day
Arrive in Chamonix. Get to know the guides and other members of the group over a delicious 3 course evening meal. Overnight in the Hotel.
DAY TWO:
First Day Skiing Off-Piste
After a couple of warm up runs on the pistes your guide will slowly introduce you to some mellow off-piste terrain. Here you will begin to experience the challenges of off-piste terrain and you will work on techniques and skills the rest of the morning. In the afternoon you will cover some basic off-piste avalanche awareness with use of transceiver, shovel and probe. We debrief over dinner at the hotel.
DAY THREE:
Improving skills and techniques
Today we take the skills we learned yesterday and head to a bigger ski area to experience more epic off-piste terrain. The focus being on making longer off-piste runs and linking some powder turns in quiet areas of the resort. We’ll once again debrief over dinner at the hotel and finalise the plan for our last day tomorrow.
DAY FOUR:
Final day skiing off-piste
It’s time to put all of your recently acquired skills and techniques to the test on some classic off-piste runs in Chamonix, for example the Vallée Blanche run from the Aiguille du Midi. Alternatively there are some amazing off-piste powder runs at Les Grands Montets. We will decide what’s best based on current snow conditions. We’ll finish the trip with a final dinner at the hotel before departure the following morning. If you did want to depart today rather than tomorrow, it would be possible to catch an evening flight so just let us know what works best for you.
DAY FIVE:
Departure
Departure after breakfast. Check out is 10:00 am.