Off-piste

Can we do off-piste lessons?

Swiss law is very strict on who they allow to go off-piste. Basically, it doesn’t matter what off-piste qualifications an instructor holds, without the Swiss Patante (the very top ski instructing qualification) they can’t go off-piste. It’s that simple, and anybody who suggests otherwise isn’t being very honest with you…

Naturally it’s a slightly frustrating situation for instructors if they’ve got their off-piste qualifications in a different system, but unfortunately that’s just the way it is.

The Swiss authorities also make a very clear distinction between off-piste and on-piste: anything the other side of a piste marker is off-piste. It doesn’t matter if it’s only a meter away, if your instructor doesn’t have the Swiss top level Patante they can’t take you there. The crucial point is that once that line is crossed, the instructors ski school insurance becomes completely invalid and that mean that if anything goes wrong, they’re liable and you’re not covered.

As all of our instructors are well qualified, most of us hold off-piste badges, some even hold the very highest level in their respective system, but because none of the Performance team has finished the Swiss system all of our lessons are on the piste or in the designated Itinerary areas.

However, that’s also one of the reasons we work so closely with Powder Extreme – they are all Swiss Patantes and specialise in leading, coaching and teaching groups off-piste. So if you want to get stuck oin to the back country with some experts just give them a shout, and if you want a gentle introduction to the techniques involved we can help you at Performance in the Itinerary areas and on-piste.