Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens

Today we returned to Glacier Pers for a superb ski. It did snow between 5 and 15 cms (depending on where you were) a couple of nights ago, which meant that as we were the only skiers in this area, we were greeted by a beautiful glittery blank canvas of fresh powder. Which is about as good as it gets for an off piste skier. Needles to say we did the biz and left trademark tracks on three glorious pitches. Getting out from the Grand Torsai was rough and tumble, but that's part of the adventure (I think).

Despite the terrible accident a couple of weeks ago I still maintain that off piste skiing is safer than piste skiing, especially with the pistes as they are at the moment; icy and rock hard. If you slip and fall heavily it will hurt a lot (or worse), and with so many idiots skiing/boarding way beyond their control level it's inevitable that collisions and wipe outs are frequent. Pat Zimmer, the director of Top Ski (another off piste service in Val) was concussed a few days back in a collision with another skier on the piste.

By contrast. we ski the off piste one at a one time with no interference from any other skier. Not only does this make skiing less stable slopes safer, but it adds to the aesthetic quality of powder skiing. It's you, the mountain and the snow. Your turns are ten foot long gentle bounces that send a puff of powder kicking up behind you. You hear your breath, the wind in your ears (or helmet) and the gentle swoosh of snow being displaced by your skis. If you hit a rhythm it's a moving meditation through the mountains.

Skier: Gideon Miller
Photographer: Jean Ribart