Off Piste Ski Equipment
What do you need in the way of equipment to ski off piste?
Really the question should also be asked "What equipment do I need to ski safely off piste?"
Here on this page you will find every thing you need to ski safely, catering for the ever growing number of skiers who now seek the thrill of skiing away from the crowds.
The right kit is critical, whether it's simply free riding or hiking out in the back country or doing one of the classic hut to hut off piste routes.
However just because you have the right safety equipment it does in no way mean you are safe. You should not venture off piste without a qualified guide or be sure that you have the necessary experience to assess conditions when venturing out of bounds.
Having the right equipment might help you ski powder but will not make the conditions any safer, you ski off piste at your own risk.
Most safety equipment such as probes, transceivers, shovels and air bags will hopefully for most never be used in anger - however what is the point of having the equipment if you do not know how to use it?
It is essential that having purchased all the above kit that you know how to use it!
For instance if you purchase an Avalanche Air Bag (ABS) then you will have to release the bag to ensure that your warranty is valid.
Too many people buy Avalanche transceivers only to be unaware as to how to use them.
Off Piste Ski Equipment
Backcountry skiing as it is often referred to especially in North America, is skiing well away from people and all the infrastructure that is found in a ski resort, as well as skiing in unmarked or unpatrolled areas within the boundaries of a ski resort or in amongst trees always in pursuit of fresh fallen snow and the elusive champagne powder.
Unlike more normal pistes found in ski resorts, the terrain and the snow pack are not monitored, patrolled, or maintained. Fixed mechanical ways of getting up the mountain such as chair lifts, pomas and cable cars are not normally present, though they could well be used to climb and get to a point to then access the mountain to drop down into hidden valleys and bowls.
Ski touring or ski mountaineering is even more specialist. Most people start their skiing off piste by skiing the untracked snow between the piste, then going further afield dropping off into hidden bowls and the like but always eventually ending up back down in the resort.
You can do this using the same skis and boots that you would normally use on the piste. Though to ski powder well larger, fatter skis are often used. A modern racing slalom ski would be off little use in a metre of fresh!
When ski touring or ski mountaineering, you will usually be climbing up the mountain. For this you need to ski with special touring bindings that allow the heel to lift when walking up the slope. To stop the ski sliding back down the slope you use artificial skins that are glued on to the base of the ski.
Quite often climbs can be in the region of four to five hours, often more. A hard climb is often 1,200m or more vertical.
Skiers often are introduced to ski touring having skied regularly off piste in some of the classic areas such as Chamonix and La Grave. But quite often the lure of skiing untracked powder means you have to go to even more remote areas.
Usually you might start of with a half day tour leading on to a longer day tour. By this stage you might well consider buying your own equipment. Ski touring boots are different to downhill / alpine boots in that they can be more flexible by means of changing their mode from skiing to walking mode which makes it much more comfortable for skinning up a mountain over a long period of time.
After your first couple of day tours you might then go on to multi-day hut to hut tours staying in mountain huts / refuges.
And yet more equipment will then be needed, a good backpack, one that is able to carry skis and above all else is light and comfortable.
This is really only a test page for a shop website.
If you want to go to a real Off Piste Ski Equipment shop then go here
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ABS backpacks
are specialized high-quality products: professionally designed, with high-quality materials and manufacturing that conforms to TÜV standards. All ABS backpacks have a uniform carrying system designed for the high demands of an avalanche. The average tear resistance is four times greater than those of traditional backpacks. The models are optimized for different applications through different pack volumes....more -
Avalanche transceivers
are a class of radio transceivers specialized to the purpose of finding people or equipment buried under snow. They are variously called Trackers, Pieps, or Arva's in a reference to some of the popular brands, "avalanche beacons" or "avalanche transceivers" - with many regional slang terms in effect. When transmitting, the device emits a pulsed signal which another transceiver can receive. Due to the nature of the radio pulse, a person holding the receiving beacon can orient it, and home in on the location of the transmitting beacon using techniques similar....more
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Off Piste Equipment
Every one skiing of piste should have these essential pieces of off piste ski equipment, these are all avalanches saftey items, to not only protect you, but to help you help the people you might be skiing with. A transceiver, shovel and probes are in some countries now a legal requirement when skiing off piste....more
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Ski Off Piste Equipment
- ABS Bags
- Transceivers
- Shovels
- Probes
- Safety