An online course in off piste safety - built it collaboration between Alpine tutorials, Avoriaz Alpine Ski School and Backcountry Access.
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Designed for skiers and snowboarders who are looking to go off piste and start exploring the backcountry, this informative online course serves as an excellent introduction, clarification and interest generator around the 10 essential concepts in off piste safety.
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Check out the introduction video below as well as a couple of sample tutorials.
AN INTRODUCTION TO OFF PISTE SAFETY & AVALANCHE AWARENESS
Participation in off piste snowsports is increasing rapidly, and so to is the quality and quantity of powder content being fed to us. Greater participation is OK - it's good to have more people enjoying natural environments, the problem is that off piste and backcountry environments are dangerous, so here's an intro into what all off piste skiers and snowboarders should study:
AVALANCHE TERRAIN ANALYSIS
Arguably the most important skillset for off-piste skiers and snowboarders - TERRAIN ANALYSIS is your most reliable and valuable tool to avoid avalanches and score good conditions. Here's 6 important features to look out for and a memory aid to help you check through them when you are choosing where to go.
HUMAN FACTORS IN OFF PISTE SAFETY
Understand some of the common decision making errors that humans make in dangerous environments. You can use the memory aid as a tool - as a checklist you can run through when you are making decisions in the backcountry. By learning and remembering some of the most common ones, I encourage you to think about your own personality and which mental shortcuts you think YOU are most prone to. I hope this summary gets you thinking, learning, and improving your off piste safety for skiing and snowboarding.