Ski areas off-piste

A snowpack consists of many layers, created anew with every snowfall, every windy spell and every temperature change. Some layers are firm, others loose and weak. When a firm, cohesive slab of snow sits on a weak layer, it can break away and slide as a slab avalanche. Wind moves snow and deposits it as wind slab in hollows and behind ridges – often exactly where the powder looks most tempting.

Such an avalanche is often triggered by the extra weight of a person, and often by the victim or their own group. Avalanches typically release on steep slopes, and there are many of them beside the runs. Being close to the lifts creates a false sense of safety; terrain near the runs follows the same laws as a ski tour in the high mountains.

Runs, by contrast, are groomed, checked and, if necessary, secured by avalanche blasting. That is why closures must be taken seriously: they have reasons such as planned blasting, grooming machines with winch cables that are barely visible in the snow, or acute avalanche danger.

We strongly recommend: before your first day off-piste, take an avalanche course with an alpine club, a mountain school or mountain guides, and practise companion rescue every season. Ride your first days in open terrain with a certified mountain guide or a qualified local guide, and learn to assess terrain along the way. No text can replace this experience.

Read the official avalanche bulletin before every day. The European Avalanche Warning Services use a five-level danger scale. The bulletin also names the typical avalanche problems, such as wind slab or persistent weak layers, and the particularly dangerous aspects and elevations. Adapt your plan accordingly – and hold back when the bulletin and your gut feeling do not match.

Other riders' tracks are not a sign of safety. A slope can carry many tracks and still break under the next rider. What decides is what the bulletin says and what trained eyes recognise in the terrain.

The basic kit is an avalanche transceiver, an avalanche shovel and a probe – carried by every person in the group. The transceiver sends a signal that partners use to locate a buried person; the probe shows the exact position and depth, and the shovel is for digging out. Without all three items and without practised partners, the equipment is useless.

Before setting off, the group checks that all transceivers are switched on and transmitting. The phone is charged and the ski patrol's emergency number is saved. Also check beforehand whether your insurance covers off-piste rescues.

If someone is buried, every minute counts. Survival chances fall quickly, and professional rescue often takes too long. That is why companion rescue by your own group is so important – and why it must be practised. At the same time, alert the local emergency number (112 in the EU) or the ski patrol.

On steep slopes ride one at a time and regroup in spots outside possible avalanche paths, for example on ridges or far enough away from the slope's runout. Keep visual contact. That way the whole group is never buried in an emergency, and there is always someone who can search.

In deep snow, hollows can form around trees, known as tree wells. Anyone who falls in head first cannot free themselves and can suffocate. Keep away from trees and stay within sight of your partner. Never ride closed runs or areas.

Off-piste is for experienced, trained skiers and snowboarders who ride confidently in all snow types. Children and beginners do not belong in uncontrolled terrain, and a spontaneous detour without equipment is never a good idea – not even „just for a moment“.

Guided freeride days are a good way to get to know the terrain. Anyone who later wants to go ski touring outside ski areas additionally needs route planning, navigation and uphill technique. This text gives no avalanche assessment and replaces neither a course nor guiding – it explains why both are indispensable.