Val D'Isere Week 8

The BASI level 2 exam is drawing closer so this week the skiers where back with the BASS trainers and the Snowboarders with Neil Mcnair. The snow fall over the weekend and the high winds that came with it provided the perfect conditions to do some avalanche awareness training.

 

As the group waited at the top of the Solaise ski area and completed beeper checks with Jamie the pistures were dynamiting the mountain ridge. After a couple of explosions they triggers a large slide which the whole group had a chance to witness. Seeing an avalanche in real life really put things into perspective for the group and the importance of having the correct skill and knowledge to be safe in the mountains.

After some transceiver searching practice the group dug snow holes to check the stability of the snow pack. Everyone found the different layers in the snow pack from the different snow falls. After digging half a meter down or so they then discovered why this season has been so dangerous. The snow completely changed and became more like casting sugar or sand. They learnt that it was this weak layer that was making the off piste skiing so dangerous and they now know what to look out for in the future.