Off Piste Essentials - Skills & Techniques for Back Country Skiing and Ski Touring

A DVD that may educate and inspire those wanting to learn the essential skills and techniques for back country skiing, ski touring and ski mountaineering. Filmed in the Silvretta Alps of Austria, it follows a team of four skiers on a varied and exhilarating week of piste, ski touring and ski mountaineering in glaciated terrain.

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In addition to the film, technical chapters include: equipment - what to pack and what to wear; get your kit on - when and how to wear it and carry it - for maximum efficiency; and planning - from general advice to the night before, to changing plans on the slope. It includes guide books, internet, forecasts, ski maps, sketch plans, and more. It features skinning uphill fitting, caring and using skins - kick turns, picking a line, and more. It covers defensive skiing - get home without getting hurt - using side slip, traverse, kick turn and stem. It helps you in understanding snow Aspect and altitude - finding safe snow and good skiing on the move. It also covers safe travel Avalanche terrain - route choice, assessing gradient, group spacing and communication. Using a rope Abseiling, crevasse rescue, self rescue, and ski belays, it also includes skiing roped on glaciers - not falling in! It also looks at avalanche rescue transceiver, probe and shovel use from simple exercises to dealing with a 'real incident'. This DVD will educate and inspire all those wanting to learn the essential skills and techniques for back country skiing, ski touring and ski mountaineering.
Filmed in the Silvretta Alps of Austria, the fifty minute documentary follows a team of four skiers on a varied and exhilarating week of piste, ski touring and ski mountaineering in glaciated terrain. Starting off piste in Ischgl, see how they get a feel for the snow conditions, find fresh tracks, and safely get away from the crowds on a big powder day. Setting off on a simple day tour, see how they make use of skins to reach a ski summit, before enjoying a superb descent to the valley. Finally, they set off on a hut to hut tour - through glacial terrain - taking in alpine summits on the way. See how they make safe decisions about the terrain and snow conditions on the move. Watch how they take sensible precautions to minimise the risks, yet enjoy some superb skiing in the mountains. The skills covered illustrate a progression through off piste skiing to multi day ski tours and ski mountaineering in glaciated terrain, and are appropriate to skiers and boarders of all standards.