Introductory Ski Mountaineering

Duration 8 Days » Grade Introductory

Saturday to Saturday, 6 full days skiing

Skiing off the back of Le Tour, Chamonix (www2), 39 kb

Skiing off the back of Le Tour, Chamonix Photo: © Tom Briggs

“I had a fantastic time. It was great to learn new skills. The tours were superb and more than met my expectations. Andy was an excellent Guide, who chose routes that suited the variety of mountaineering and skiing abilities in the group.”
SG, Introductory Ski Mountaineering 2011

The Introductory Ski Mountaineering Course gives the off piste skier or mountaineer the chance to sample the ski touring experience. The course will teach you how to travel safely in the mountains on skis. It is an ideal springboard to longer ski touring trips such as the legendary Haute Route or most of our intermediate ski tours. It will also give you the skills and knowledge to access more challenging off piste skiing terrain.

We offer two venues, which by the nature of the topography place emphasis in different areas. The terrain around Chamonix puts more emphasis on technical mountaineering skills, with more descents from cols than summits (as a lot of the summits are very spiky!). In Andermatt there is more rolling terrain, so we ski from more summits and there is more emphasis on the downhill, than mountaineering skills, compared to Chamonix. What this does mean, however, is that completing an Introductory Ski Mountaineering course in each venue is extremely worthwhile.

Whether you choose Chamonix or Andermatt, the first half of the week will focus on the use of skins, kick turns, avalanche awareness and transceiver work, as well as search and rescue techniques. In the second half of the week we head off on a 3-day ski tour, spending two nights in huts. During the tour we will cover crevasse rescue, defensive skiing techniques, navigation and route finding.

Overall, the course is designed to be a lot of fun and you should come away from the week feeling as though a whole world of skiing possibilities have been opened up!

Read Ski Mountaineering: An Introduction by Tom Briggs.

Course base: Hotel La Chaumiere, Chamonix and Hotel Badus, Andermatt

Outline Programme - Chamonix

Day 1:	Course participants meet at the course base at 7pm. Briefing on the week's activities in the evening. The Course Director will organise any hire equipment or boot fittings for the following morning.
Day 2-3:	Off-piste skiing techniques, use of skins, up-hill skiing, kick turns, avalanche awareness and transceiver work, search and rescue techniques. The off piste terrain off the back of Le Tour and the Grands Montets are ideal venues for this.
Day 4:	Our first taste of skiing in the high mountains with short day tour, putting into practice the lessons of the first 2 days. For example, we might choose to ski the Vallee Blanche, head into the Argentiere Basin from the top of the Grands Montets, or do a day tour in the Aiguilles Rouges from Le Brévent lift.
Day 5-7:	A 3-day tour taking in an Alpine summit. Depending on conditions, we may ski on the French side of Mont Blanc, or in Switzerland or even Italy. This will be an exciting few days, travelling amid superb mountain scenery, crossing snowy passes and spending 2 nights in mountain huts. During the tour we will cover some more important topics, such as crevasse rescue, defensive skiing, navigation, weather, route choice, maps and guide books. On completion of the tour, we return to our hotel for our final night before dispersing the following morning.
Day 8:	Dispersal. Breakfast will be provided on the last morning before leaving the course. Those joining the Ski Haute Route will have their first days skiing today.

Outline Programme - Andermatt

Day 1:	Course participants meet at the course base at 7pm. Briefing on the week's activities in the evening. The Course Director will organise any hire equipment or boot fittings for the following morning.
Day 2:	Warm up day on the 2,961m Gemstock. Fabulous long off-piste runs and the chance of a summit.
Day 3:	Stoxtigen Firsten 2,747m.
Day 4:	Täscht 2,591m.
Day 5:	Piz Borel 2,952m to Maighels Hut.
Day 6:	Piz Badus 2,928m and Piz Cavradi 2,614m.
Day 7:	Pazolastock 2,743m to Andermatt.
Day 8:	Dispersal. Breakfast will be provided on the last morning before climbers leave the course.

Pre-Course Skiing Ability

Grade: 8B [ Ski Grading ]
This course is designed for those who want an introduction to Ski Mountaineering (or 'Ski Touring'). To enjoy the course and for you to take advantage of the instruction being offered, you should have some previous off-piste skiing experience and you should be able to ski linked, short radius turns confidently. When we are not based overnight in the valley, we either do day tours from huts, or a short hut-to-hut tour at the end of the week, allowing you to ski with just a light pack. You should bring along your sense of humour and a desire to learn! For a detailed overview of our ski grading, and the level you should be skiing at to join this course... [read more]

Further Information

Find out more about our guides, transport and accommodation, equipment, insurance and course inclusions and exclusions... [read more]

Latest Reports & Photos (Jul '01)

News items:

Dates

Click to book a place online
Sat 3 Mar - Sat 10 Mar '12 Sat 17 Mar - Sat 24 Mar '12 (Andermatt) Sat 14 Apr - Sat 21 Apr '12

Prices (choose currency)

Joining in

Chamonix
£895

Andermatt
£995

Expeditions

If you have the skills & fitness required, then Jagged Globe offers a wide range of exciting expeditions [read more]

Other Courses at this Grade

These courses have a similar grade and might also suit you. They are all considered to be 'introductory courses'.

Course name	Days
Introductory Winter Mountaineering	6
Alpine Orientation Day	1
Haute Route Mont Blanc Extension	6
Rock Introduction Weekend	3

Ski Mountaineering Courses