There are countless books written on the subject of snowcraft and off piste safety along with numerous amounts of training, all readily available. But sometimes even experts and experienced off piste skiers get caught out in off piste incidents. With so much information and training readily available how can this happen? In answer to this...Read More
Where’s Your Focus? Phil Smith, Director of Snoworks Ski Courses talks about the importance of focus. “The future is a mystery, the past is history, now is a gift, that’s why it’s called the present” A great quote and one that I constantly use when teaching all-mountain skiing. Focus, or more commonly known as concentration,...Read More
Méribel, smack bang in the middle of what could well be the biggest interconnecting ski area in the world. The off piste? Vast and incredible, from easily accessible front-side to great backcountry routes. This vast area can be split into three main valleys. To the east, Courchevel and Les Avals. Centrally, directly up from Brides-Les-Bains,...Read More
David Pellatt from J2SKI reports on his recent trip to Tignes to take part in the Snoworks Off-Piste and Off-Piste Safety Course. “If you’ve hit that intermediate plateau, want to tackle your first Black run, struggle off-piste, want to learn to ski the whole mountain or just want to ski at a level beyond your...Read More
Phil Smith, Director of Snoworks talks about the art of learning from mistakes. As young kids we just ‘had a go’. We did not pre-judge the outcome of what we were about to do. We made mistake after mistake after mistake and we learnt fast. This cycle of making so-called mistakes went on and on...Read More
Phil Smith, Director of Snoworks Ski Courses gives his top 10 reasons why the St Anton Backcountry Course remains the most popular course in the whole of the Snoworks programme. Known as ‘The Cradle of Alpine Skiing’. It’s said to be the birthplace of skiing and for those who frequent St Anton it’s high on...Read More
Phil Smith, director of Snoworks Ski Courses in a series of articles for InTheSnow talks about Freeriding. In the third article Phil talks about being safe. FREERIDING – BE SMART, BE SAFE Our third on the series of Freeriding tips and the most important safety. COMETH THE ICEMAN Top Gun film enthusiasts will remember fondly...Read More
Phil Smith, director of Snoworks Ski Courses in a series of articles for InTheSnow talks about Freeriding. In this first article ‘First Steps To Freeriding’. You’ve seen it on the films and everyone’s talking about it and wanting to do it – Freeride. What exactly is it and what do you need to be able...Read More
In the days of instant news everyone is aware of any off piste incident in the Alps within a few hours. Our thoughts always go out to the people, their families and friends that have been involved in any of these events. Any news no doubt creates some apprehension for anyone that is planning some...Read More
