After a slower than usual start to the winter, the snow gods answered our prayers in January with an abundance of snow. The guys on our Off Piste Freeride course in early February enjoyed some fantastic snow conditions, with bluebird powder days and endless untracked descents throughout the week.
This course involves 5 full days of exploring the off piste terrain around the Portes du Soleil on the French / Swiss boarder. Our UIAGM Aspirant Mountain Guide, David Gladwin, led the pack with his second to none knowledge of the backcountry terrain in and around the Morzine – Avoriaz area.
The group enjoyed plenty of long off piste descents of over 1000 vertical meters, with first tracks all the way. Towards the end of the week they tackled some steeper, more challenging routes, involving hikes up to peaks unaccessible by ski lifts.
The course also included technical input into off piste snowboarding techniques, to help the group master the different types of terrain and snow conditions. You have to be able to tackle anything that the mountain throws at you!
And as ever David, who is a slight snowpack geek, enjoyed giving the group an understanding of avalanche risk and safety… and explaining how he makes calculated decisions when guiding them on their daily snowboard adventures.
Everyone finished the week absolutely exhausted and totally buzzing off snowboarding. Success!
DON’T MISS OUT on riding powder this winter… join us from 29th February to 4th March 2016 on the next Off Piste Freeride course!!!
Check out some of the photos of the freeride week below:
Thanks to the freeride group for the photos: Chris, Simon, Viet, Kev, Wael & Malcolm.
