Off-Piste Ski Courses

For many, the idea of escaping the crowds and disappearing off-piste skiing a slope before anyone else – is a dream come true. See the resort from a different perspective and ski in areas that even many locals don’t know about. If you’re a confident piste skier looking to explore further off-piste and learn how to enjoy backcountry skiing, then our off-piste ski courses will be perfect for you.

Join us on an off-piste course this winter to develop your off-piste skiing and learning how to ski the whole mountain with style and ease.

Choose Your Off-Piste Ski Courses

Courses for 16 years + and all off-piste abilities

Need help with your booking?
Give us a call, we’re here for you.

UK office: +44 1462 674 000
Lines open: Monday – Friday 9:00 – 17:00 UK

What will you learn in our Off-Piste Ski Courses?

Off-Piste Ski Courses Overview

First and foremost, we want to ensure that you’re safe during your time with us. All our groups are run by experienced off-piste ski instructors. All guests must wear a transceiver and carry a shovel and probe. We’ll check that these work at the start of every lesson and take you through essential mountain safety to ensure everyone is comfortable skiing with this new equipment.

It is impossible to guarantee particular terrain, peaks or runs ahead of time as these sessions rely solely on snow conditions. Our instructors assess the conditions daily and work within the safety limitations they dictate. If you wish to join us on an off-piste course, we’ll ski on terrain that will stretch but not exceed your ability.

Off-piste skiing can be more physically demanding than skiing on-piste, both while skiing and accessing the terrain. Avoid heavy jackets and use a layering system to allow for suitable temperature and moisture management.

Our off-piste skiing courses are run by a team of specialists within the Ski School. Each of them has had additional Avalanche Safety Training and have to demonstrate their knowledge of the ski area and terrain.

Group Off-Piste Ski Courses

Off-piste skiing is an incredible experience. Escaping the crowds, seeing the resort from a different perspective and hopefully finding some incredible powder snow will create memories that last a lifetime. However, it isn’t without its risks. Having the correct safety equipment and knowing how to use it is essential. Never ski off-piste alone.

Our Off-Piste Group Lessons are perfect if you’re travelling to the Alps alone or as part of a mixed-level party and don’t have anyone to ski off-piste with. You can spend a half or full day with a team of a similar level before joining back up with your group. We can provide all the safety equipment you need, and depending on your experience, we’ll show you how to use it.

We run group lessons up to our Off-Piste level 3 standard and ski some serious terrain or even introduce you to ski touring and the required techniques. These aren’t just lessons for those new to off-piste skiing. Find your off-piste level here.

We’ll look to push you towards the edge of your comfort zone and challenge your preconceptions of what’s possible. However, our group lessons aren’t Type 2 Fun slogfests. We can arrange these, but we must deliver them in a private off-piste course, not a group off-piste ski course.

Private Off-Piste Ski Lessons

Behind the fun, we know you want to build on your current ability and work towards your next off-piste goal. Our team will give you helpful hints and tips along the way but will not stop and do drills with you. It is rarely practical or safe. You’ll improve by being in the lessons and building comfort and confidence skiing in new terrain.

Private Off-Piste Lessons are a great option if you’re travelling in a larger group of similar abilities or have something specific you want to work on. We’ll tailor the off-piste course around you and your friends, helping you tick a few items off the bucket list so that you can enjoy backcountry skiing safely.

We love backcountry skiing and being in the mountains. The opportunity to inspire and support others as they work towards their own goals makes our jobs of ski instruction incredibly rewarding. Everyone’s interpretation of fun is slightly different, but for us in this context, it is all about finding the best deep snow, skiing it with a like-minded team and escaping the crowds.

Off-Piste Ski Courses FAQ’s

For our off-piste courses, it is essential you bring the following:

  • A backpack
  • A phone (fully charged with emergency numbers in contacts)
  • Helmet
  • Transceiver, shovel, probe (if you have them – if not these can be borrowed from us. Please let us know in advance)
  • Liftpass
  • Snacks
  • Water
  • Suncream
  • Cash

It’s good practice, but not essential to carry your own:

  • Basic first aid kit
  • Spare pair of gloves
  • Buff/snood
  • Spare batteries
  • Tool / Allen key for adjusting bindings or boots.

Save our office number and emergency numbers to your phone beforehand:

  • Office number: +44 1462 674 000
  • Emergency number: 112

For group off-piste lessons, children aged 16 and over can join us. Please look at our off-piste levels to ensure they’re in the right group for their ability.

For private off-piste lessons, it is up to the consent of their parents or carers. Our experienced team of instructors have the right not to take anyone off-piste if they feel the conditions or the skier’s ability make it unsafe.

Yes absolutely! If it’s a private off-piste lesson, we’re guided by you and what you want to achieve. So if you’re getting tired, say, and we can stop.

As for Group Off-Piste Lessons, we’ll stop every now and again to chat about technical skills, give feedback, and, of course, stop for breaks to rest and refuel. For all of our off-piste courses, bringing snacks and water in your backpack is a good idea.

Please ensure you have adequate Off-Piste mountain rescue insurance.

We recommend hiring an off-piste ski or an all-mountain ski. Anything that is 100mm underfoot means the ski’s width is no less than 100mm under the binding (where your foot attaches to the ski). Most rental shops will allow you to swap your skis for the times when you want to ski off-piste at no extra cost, but this could vary between resorts and countries.

Your backpack must be big enough to carry the items mentioned in our first FAQ. Roughly a 20L pack should be large enough, and it’s good to look for backpacks that have a ski-carrying feature. This is particularly useful for any sections where we must take skis off and hike up a steep pitch to access the off-piste terrain. Ellis Brigham has a good selection – look at a selection of suitable off-piste backpacks from Ellis Brigham.

Unfortunately, we’ll likely have to cancel the course if this is the case. But we’ll open the discussion with everyone booked on, as there are always mountain safety scenarios we can practice if the snow conditions aren’t always favourable.

Yes! We have four off-piste levels, so look at which level you’d be best suited to. We always match our groups based on these off-piste levels.

In our novice and beginner off-piste courses, we will introduce everyone to the equipment and teach everyone how to use it. In every level group, we will do checks to ensure you know how to use the equipment, and if there are any doubts we will go over everything once again to be safe.

140000+

pupils taught

25

years experience

11416

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