What is my off-piste skiing level?

May 31, 2020

3 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

Our trip pages give each departure a technical level out of five, and this is the scale behind it. Read through the five steps below to place your off-piste skiing level, then see which trips suit you now and what will take you further.

Most of our trips are pitched at level 3/5, and our Val d'Isère ski holidays at level 2/5.

Level 1/5: your first turns off the groomed runs

You have never skied off-piste. Perhaps you are ten years old and already ski well on piste, or an adult intermediate skier who has kept to the groomed runs so far. The softest, freest part of skiing is still ahead of you, and you can start straight away.

Your first off-piste turns happen with an instructor, on gentle slopes close to the lifts, where deep snow quickly becomes a game. A few days of off-piste skiing in Val d'Isère make a good start.

Level 2/5: at ease on easy terrain

You have a little off-piste experience and feel comfortable on easy slopes. In good, light snow you link ten turns or more in a row; heavy snow and steeper pitches still take some concentration.

Skier in a blue jacket and red trousers turning in sparkling powder, a light spray at the skis and a shaded slope behind

This is the level of our Val d'Isère ski holidays, for skiers who have already used skins. Now the real fun begins: your first ski tours and longer days in the backcountry.

From here, a week of off-piste lessons or one of our ski touring courses in Val d'Isère is a good way to reach level 3/5.

Level 3/5: at home in powder, ready to travel

You are a good, experienced off-piste skier. Thirty turns or more in a row in powder come naturally, and you feel at ease in every kind of snow. A few ski tours are already behind you, and only very steep or narrow sections still call for extra care.

Skier in a red jacket, white trousers and white helmet turning in soft snow, with a building on the ridge behind

This is the level our trips start from: almost all our ski trips, from Hokkaido and Lofoten to Iceland, Svalbard and Greenland, are pitched at level 3/5. You are ready to join us.

Level 4/5: the whole mountain to play with

You have wide experience of every kind of off-piste terrain, and steep slopes are part of the pleasure. You ski almost anything, and enjoy every turn.

Skier in a blue jacket and white helmet leaning into a powder turn, a high plume of snow rising against a blue sky

Deep powder, ski touring, ski-mountaineering, heli-skiing and the more remote journeys are all open to you. Tell us what you would like to ski and we will suggest the trip that fits, or shape a tailor-made stay around your plans.

Level 5/5: committing terrain

At this level you ski committing terrain, steep couloirs and ski-mountaineering routes among them. Judgement matters as much as technique here, from reading the snow and the avalanche bulletin to knowing when to turn back.

Days like these are best shared with a UIAGM mountain guide and, as on every off-piste day with us, each skier carries an avalanche airbag pack, transceiver, shovel and probe. On our Arctic trips, the descents that run from summit to sea give skiers at this level a great deal to enjoy.

Fitness, the other scale on our trip pages

Alongside the technical level, our trip pages give a fitness level out of five. It is a separate scale, read on its own, and our guide to your physical level for ski touring explains it. Together, your off-piste skiing level and your fitness tell you which trips will suit you best.

PowderWeGo Val d'Isère, our ski school, takes you off-piste, ski touring or heli-skiing, by the day or by the week.

PowderWeGo also organises ski trips to Hokkaido, Lofoten, the Bodø Alps by sailing boat and further afield, as well as Val d'Isère ski holidays and tailor-made stays.