Ski Evasion Aravis – Feb 2021

Our Ski Evasion Aravis week is one of our favourite courses to run and a mid-winter touring and off piste treat to look forward to whilst the early season snow is falling and building up the powder…

Ski Evasion Aravis – Course Aims

• Sample a combination of off piste skiing and touring in some of the Ski Evasion Area resorts like Combloux, Les Contamines, St. Gervais and Megeve.
• Complete some great back country journeys using a combination of lift, skinning & booting access making the most of prevailing conditions to enjoy the best snow.
• Ski plenty of fresh tracks!
• Explore a new area and complete some fine short powder tours at low and medium altitudes around the Aravis Massif
• Spend an enjoyable and sociable week in the mountains with a team of like minded skiers

This is a great opportunity to sample this inspiring area at a time of year which usually offers fresh tracks in abundance.  We aim to spend a highly enjoyable week making the most of the prevailing conditions by combining lift accessed off piste with more remote touring options.  Thus whatever the weather and snow conditions throw at us, we will be ready to make the most of it!

For example, whilst you need touring gear for this course – if it’s dumping snow with great powder, we will mainly be skiing fresh tracks off the lifts!  If it’s not snowed for a while and the side country is tracked out, we will be skinning to find some fresh tracks and memorable turns.

Ski Evasion Aravis – Off Piste Skiing, Touring & Fitness Pre-requirements

Ski touring & off piste skiing are like many other activities in that, the more you do, the more efficient you become, and the less energy you use. Therefore whilst we will be aiming to complete short & medium tours (maximum of around 3-4 hours uphill, at an ascent rate of around 250-300m/hour) skiers should be prepared for a physical week with 5 days of skinning, off piste skiing, being in the winter mountains with a bit of falling over, getting up and dusting the snow off!

This is a course for folk who can already ski off piste with linked short radius turns on pisted black runs and who have some experience descending off-piste terrain in a well controlled manner. Skiers need to be confident that they can safely negotiate the off piste equivalent of black runs in all snow conditions. This does not need to be fast or stylish but it does need to be effective and safe!  Guests for this Ski Evasion Aravis programme should also have some ski touring experience, a minimum of 2 days touring.  Folk looking for a complete intro to ski touring please check out our Chamonix based intro ski touring course.