Ski Grades

The following describes the technical skiing difficulty of each Ski Course or Expedition, as well as fitness grades A-E. For Ski Touring courses, we also describe technical grading relating to mountaineering skills. Together they should help you choose the right level of trip to match your ability.

Fitness Required

A	Good basic level of fitness to ski for 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon.
B	More intensive skiing all day on steeper slopes. On ski tours, fitness required to do day tours from huts, or a short hut-to-hut tour at the end of the week, skiing with just a light pack.
C	Hut-to-hut ski tours. Fitness to ascend for 4 hours with a 10Kg pack.
D	Ski mountaineering requiring you to carry skis, axe and crampons. You need to be able to ascend for 5 hours with a 12Kg pack.
E	Ski expeditions where you are skiing in all snow types with a heavy pack. Fitness for consecutive days of strenuous skiing, or sled pulling.

Technical Skiing Levels 1-4: Recreational

1	You are a new skier, physically fit and determined to try the sport.
2	You can 'snowplough' and can bring yourself to a stop on the gentlest of slopes. You can make slight changes in direction, but you have not mastered this yet.
3	You can turn left and right several times using a 'snowplough'and stop on Green runs. You have started to venture out onto Blue runs.
4	You feel more confident on Blue runs, and can get down them using snowplough turns without much trouble. You find that your snowploughs are smaller, and that when you finish a turn your skies tend to come together so that they run side-by-side.

Technical Skiing Levels 5-8: Advanced

5	You are now probing the easier Red runs. You still start each turn with a small snowplough, but your skis finish parallel and you make traverses across the width of the slope ready for the next turn. Occasionally, you tend to lean back, which means your body is not in the right position to start your next turn, which you sometimes miss. You want to perfect moving from one turn to the next, and feel that some extra instruction might get you over this hurdle.
6	You are skiing confidently on Green, Blue and Red runs, except for the very steepest and except when icy or with big bumps, which still give you a shakedown. More often than not, you link turns on Red runs, but you still have mishaps where you gather too much speed, which throws you off balance. You learnt a lot from recent instruction, so it is a matter of practising your parallel technique. To add to the excitement, you venture onto Black runs and check out the un-pisted terrain at the side of the slope for more of a challenge.
7	You are now able to link confident parallel turns on all Red runs and are comfortable on most Blacks, but you prefer them newly groomed. Your skiing is still focussed on the piste, but you are getting a greater sensitivity for your what your skis are doing. You know how to edge your skis, flatten your skis and to point them where you want to go. You understand how to carve when initiating the turn, through the turn and when finishing one turn as it leads into the next.
8	You are happy cutting down all the pisted runs on the mountain, and you often wander off to the side of the pistes to sample deeper, messier snow. Yes, you get thrown off balance or miss your turns even now, but you handle it. You like the challenge of moguls! When someone says "its icy", you have the confidence to keep your edges. Now, you want to go off-piste properly and to lay your own virgin tracks in the powder, within the ski area but well off the Piste.

Technical Skiing Levels 9-12: Expert

9	You have spent some time off-piste with an instructor, and made good progress on moderate slope angles. You can ride out most snow types but you still get thrown off balance when you hit unexpected lumps, bumps and troughs; you're not fond of skiing crud (but then who is?) You know about avalanches and what causes them, but you're not confident about predicting the dangers they pose and prefer to go off-piste with an instructor or guide. You can use your avalanche transceiver, but you have not practised multiple recoveries. You want to ski steeper slopes and gullies, but you know that you need to be very careful about the off-piste environment, as the best skiing lures you further from the piste.
10	You are now a confident off-piste skier, and can cope with all angles except for the most severe. You ski with a backpack, and are not upset by this change to your centre of balance. You want to explore further afield, and know that this will take you well away from the mechanical uplift of the resorts, and you are prepared to sweat to get to the best lines. You know that the truly demanding descents may even run over glaciers, and you want to understand how to ski them. You understand avalanches, how they are formed and the risks they pose, but you need new skills and knowledge to take you deeper into the mountains. You're looking for someone to teach you about crevasses: how to avoid them, and what to do if you can't; including using a rope, and recovery should one of your party fall in. Some of the gully lines you've looked at are too steep at the top, and you want to know how to get into them and descend to a safe angle from which you can ski. The total freedom of the mountains that skiing can give to you is becoming an irresistible call.
11	When you arrive in a ski resort, you look at the mountains and wonder what lies beyond them – the anticipation of finding out is mouth-watering. You want to ski with friends you trust; with them you'll plan the details of the route, each descent you'll make, the food you'll take, what you'll do for shelter and, together, what mountain skills, experience and knowledge you will need. You study maps, weather charts and avalanche assessments before starting out. Everyone skis with a rucksack with essential gear and you expect to spend a night or two away from your starting point, perhaps in neighbouring resorts, or mountain villages that few people visit in the winter. You may no longer be skiing from European or North American resorts but in Japan, New Zealand, Chile, North Africa or even the Middle East; simply, you go where the adventure and the promise of untracked snow takes you!
12	You are a top-level skier who can ski anywhere, on any Continent, in all terrain and conditions with great style and technique. You are an All Mountain Skier capable of taking responsibility for others and of showing them the delights of piste, off-piste and ski touring. You may hold a professional instructors qualification, or be an off-piste International Mountain Guide.

Ski Touring Technical Grades

Ski touring often requires mountaineering skills and equipment for safe movement in the mountains. Many ski tours have short sections requiring movement on foot. This is often the very last part of an ascent to a summit, a pass, or whilst traversing a ridge.

Many summits have a ski depot where people changeover to climbing on foot for the last few metres to the top. This can be considered a reasonable objective for ski tourers not wishing to climb the steeper ground above.

This grade table is designed to give an idea of the technical requirements of our various programmes in common conditions. Some tours may include a harder summit as an option. These summits are graded separately.

The technical grade indicates the most technical part of any tour. Some tours may have one short technical challenge whilst others may require technical skills for multiple or long sections. The technical grade is to be used alongside the trip itinerary and ski grade to gain a complete picture of the demands of the tour.

Exposure. Many ski tours have sections on slopes or ridge lines above steeper terrain. A certain head for heights is needed on most tours. It is worth noting that a short difficult step in a gully will feel less exposed than a 100m walk along a ridge crest.

Whilst the technical requirement is to some degree linked to the exposure experienced, it is not always directly correlative.

The Technical Grades

TO	Some very short [25m] sections on rocky or snowy ridge lines and gullies. Easy [up to 45 degrees] snow and rock with foot placements no smaller than the boot sole. Use of axe and crampons will be taught if required. Putting on a harness will be taught if required.
T1	Some short sections [50m] on rocky or snowy ridge lines or in gullies. Easy [up to 50 degrees] snow and rock with foot placements no smaller than the boot sole. You should be capable of walking in crampons and holding an ice axe, though you may have only been recently introduced to them. Short Lowers [30m]. You should be able to put on a harness and use a screw-gate carabiner if required to attach to a rope.
T2	May have Longer sections [150m] on rocky or snowy ridge lines and gullies. Moderate slopes [up to 55 degrees]. Rocky steps will accommodate the forefoot of the boot. Moderate angled snow and ice may be present requiring confident use of crampon front-points and ice axe blade pushed into the surface. You should be confident in changing from skiing to walking/ climbing in boots and back, quickly putting on crampons and stowing skis. Longer lowers [50m] and moving on fixed lines and via ferrata. You should be able to put on a harness, tie into a rope and have practised crevasse rescue, being able to participate under guidance.
T3	May have Extended sections [300m] on snowy or rocky ridge lines, faces and gullies. Steeper sections [up to 60 degrees]. Foot placements may have you on the toe of your boots. Longer sections on snow and ice requiring confident front-pointing and the swinging of an ice axe to place the blade. Longer abseils or lowers [60m]. You should have experience of the placing and removal of ice screws, building a buried ski anchor and be able to secure a skier in a crevasse using a rope. You should be confident of being able to participate in a crevasse rescue.

Any Level

Trip name	Region	Grade	Altitude	Days
Off Piste Ski Weekend	European Alps	7A	n/a	3
Ski Private Guiding	European Alps		n/a	2

Advanced Level

Trip name	Region	Grade	Altitude	Days
Ski Mont Blanc Extension	European Alps	11D	n/a	4
Ski Monte Rosa and Mont Blanc	European Alps	11D	n/a	11
La Grave and Alpe dHuez Off Piste	European Alps	11B	n/a	7
Off Piste Perfection - Chamonix	European Alps	11B	n/a	6
Steep Vanoise Week	European Alps	11B	n/a	5
Ski Hokkaido	Japan	10D	n/a	7
The South Pole - The Last Degree	The Cold Regions	6E	n/a	13
Svalbard Crossing	The Cold Regions	3D	n/a	12

Intermediate Level

Trip name	Region	Grade	Altitude	Days
Ski Tour Anatolia	Europe	10D	n/a	8
Ski Swiss 4000ers	European Alps	10C	n/a	8
Ski Bernese Oberland	European Alps	10C	n/a	7
Ski Gran Paradiso	European Alps	10C	n/a	7
Ski Haute Route	European Alps	10C	n/a	8
Ski Otztal	European Alps	10C	n/a	7
Ski Stubai Alps	European Alps	10C	n/a	7
Ski the A to Z of the Haute Route Plus	European Alps	10C	n/a	7
Ski Bivio	European Alps	10B	n/a	7
Ski Tour Engadin	European Alps	10B	n/a	7
Off Piste Improvers - Chamonix	European Alps	9A	n/a	6
Off Piste Improvers - The 3 Valleys	European Alps	9A	n/a	7

Introductory Level

Trip name	Region	Grade	Altitude	Days
Ski Silvretta	European Alps	9C	n/a	7
Dolomites Off Piste and Day Tours - Marmolada	European Alps	9B	n/a	7
Ski Andermatt	European Alps	9B	n/a	7
Ski Touring Introduction	European Alps	9B	n/a	7
Ski Val Maira	European Alps	9B	n/a	8
Ski Touring Introduction - Norway	Europe	8B	n/a	7
Off Piste Introduction - Chamonix	European Alps	7A	n/a	6
South Pole Last Degree Training	The Cold Regions	2B	n/a	8
Polar Expedition Training	The Cold Regions	2A	n/a	7