FREEFLOSKI and POWDER MAD are offering a unique 5 Full Days coaching and 7 nights self-catering package Introduction To Intermediate Ski Touring Skills Week based in St Foy in the Tarentaise Valley, France 16th – 23rd March 2024.
This skills week is for strong intermediate skiers with a good level of fitness and off-piste skiing skills with little or no experience in ski touring, who want to take their ski touring, mountain knowledge and adventure to the next level.
Date: March 16th -23rd March 2024
Coaching Dates: 18th-22nd March 2024
Price Full Package: €1395 (Max group size 6)
Duration: 5x Full Days Coaching and 7x nights self-catered accommodation
Location: Sainte Foy, France
Transportation: Fly & Self Drive
Package includes:
-Ski Touring Kickstarter Digital Online Course worth €485
-Free Facebook Membership in the Skiing Club
-5 Full Days of backcountry ski coaching and guiding with Floss
-Avalanche and transceiver workshop
-Self Catering Accommodation
What the course fee doesn’t include:
– Insurance
– Lift pass
– Lunch and snacks
– Equipment
– Transfers
– Flights/Car Hire
What will you learn?
– Ski touring techniques
– Snow awareness, avalanche training
– Route selection, navigation, how to plan a touring ski day
– How to make better decisions in avalanche terrain
– How to improve your off-piste skiing
– How to use your ski touring equipment and the extra kit you need
What level of fitness do you need?
Level 2 fitness is needed for this course. You need to be able to ski all day with short stops for food and drink. You are able to ski off-piste all day and back-to-back days. You can ski tour uphill for a maximum of 2-3 hours at altitude and still have the energy to put some good ski turns in for the downhill.
What level of ski ability do you need?
You must be able to ski red and black pistes run with no problem and you can cope with all conditions. You have confidence ability in skiing off-piste terrain and are able to link turns and control your speed using different radius turns up to 35 degrees. You are comfortable to ski down variable conditions narrow paths and more complex terrain with trees and gullies. You have had some experience with exposure.
What level of ski touring do you need?
Each tour will involve 2-3 hours of going uphill every day and between 400-800m of ascent with a mindset to be coached. You must be able to cover at least 400m of uphill per hour with little or no ski touring experience.
Meet the Coach: FREEFLO
Floss Cockle is a Female BASI British International Ski Teacher L4 ISTD which is the highest teaching qualification available to a British coach anywhere in the world. She has the French Carte de Professional which allows her to work in France. She also holds the Mountain Leader Qualification and Level 4 Sports Massage Diploma. With her great passion for teaching and being in the mountains, she has a wealth of experience and has coached skiing for over twenty-seven years. One of her biggest achievements is climbing and skiing the highest mountain in the Alps Mont Blanc 4810M and skiing the volcanoes of Patagonia.
Floss also has her own youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/FreeFloFloss. Due to these digital times, she is also the creator of ski touring kickstarter which is an online ski touring course that teaches skiers how to get prepare successfully to get into ski touring.
In the summer she guides people in the UK Mountains and works on the downhill hill bikes in Tignes. In between time, she is a momentum coach who helps people to reach their goals and dreams whether it is running a 10k to climbing famous peaks. If you would like to know more book a free discovery call.
In the mountains is where you will find her skiing, climbing, running, biking, leading people, hiking etc:
Visit Floss’s website: www.freefloski.com
Insurance:
Getting specialist travel insurance that covers cancellation, medical and mountain rescue is highly recommended. FREEFLO will not be liable for injuries or accidents on the mountain. Ensure that your insurance covers your skiing off-piste beyond the ski boundary with a guide or an instructor. Buying a Carte de Neige with your lift pass in the resort or online is recommended as it will cover any mountain rescue without payment.
You can purchase the carte de Neige in the resort with your lift pass for around €3 euros a day or you can purchase it online to beat the queues for a year at http://www2.ffs.fr/carteneige .
Kit List That You Need:
Skis:
Ideally an all-mountain ski with a ski touring binding that is 85-95cm underfoot. The length of the ski shouldn’t be too long (as it makes kick turns harder) and the ski tips of the skis should be between your chin and your eyes when standing.
Touring Bindings:
There are three types of bindings on the market:
1) Diamir Fritschi:
2) Marker Tour
3) Pin Bindings
Pin bindings and boots are lighter and easier to use for kick turns and going uphill but they do compromise ski performance going downhill. We do recommend that you rent or have the lightest equipment possible for the backcountry course. Diamir and Marker bindings (where you use a regular downhill ski boot with walk mode) are heavier and don’t have the ankle flex for touring uphill, however, the ski performance downhill is better.
Skins:
Ideally, skins should be a mixture of mohair and nylon and must have a nose and tail clip. The skins should cover the whole ski and be only 2mm free from the edges. Skins should be hung to dry after use but not over extreme heat after use.
Boots:
If you haven’t got your own ski touring boots you can rent them or use your downhill boots if they have a walk mode. Ski touring boots are highly recommended as they are light and have a ski touring mode.
Poles:
Telescopic ski poles with a powder basket are essential.
Clothing:
Spring Touring:
Wear thin light breathable layers with a Gore-tex shell
Ski Trousers should have a zip on the outside of the leg for ventilation
Light synthetic mid-layer for the summit or a lightweight down-layer.
A neck buff is always essential for ski touring in Spring and in Winter.
Winter Touring:
In addition to the above add warm breathable layers and a down mid-layer jacket.
Gloves:
Inner liners and light but warm and waterproof gloves.
Accessories:
Suncream 50+, buff, google with good and bad weather lenses, sunglasses, light beanie, headband (optional), cap to protect you from the sun, camera, go pro, cash, insurance cards, credit card, charged telephone, spare batteries for transceiver, battery charging pack, duck tape, penknife. The helmet is optional.
First Aid Kit:
Ensure that you have a small first aid kit which includes; paracetamol, ibuprofen, plasters, bandages, compeed etc, so you can deal with first aid if you have to. Purchasing a blizzard blanket is recommended www.blizzardblanket.com
Avalanche Equipment:
A transceiver with three antenna and multiple search victim mode is recommended, 2m probe or longer and an aluminium shovel.
Water bottle, flask and snacks, packed lunch: For day tours please make sure you have a minimum of 1 litre of water and a packed lunch. Nuts, dried fruit, energy bars and energy drinks for slow-release energy instead just chocolate (but chocolate is always nice too!) Jelly babies for the coaches.
Backpack:
35-45 litre backpack ideally a top loader which sits comfortably on your back.
Map, Compass, GPS: (optional but good to have)
A silva expedition compass and maps are optional but very good to have, especially if you want to improve on your navigation skills. (Maps: Carte de Randonnee 3633T and 3532T for Val D’Isere, Tignes and St Foy. You can purchase the maps at the Tabac in Tignes.
All skis and ski touring equipment can be rented in the station Sainte Foy Ski Resort at Ski Set
Transceiver, shovel and probe can be rented from Floss for 70€ per week.
Lift Pass:
You can buy a lift daily in the resort on the day, this will range from €38-65 per day. Or you can take full advantage of the ski a la carte option. I would recommend you to order the card to arrive at your home 3-4 weeks before your holiday.
Rough Itinerary:
An average day will be 9am – 3.30/4pm. The itinerary is likely to change due to individual, group goals and the weather.
Sunday: Free skiing in the resort of St Foy getting use to your boots and ski touring equipment.
Day 1: Monday: Introduction meeting. Introduction to the use of avalanche equipment, ski touring equipment and techniques on lower pisted slopes. Warm up to find our ski legs on the piste with a technical focus on balance and other fundamental elements. Avalanche training if needed. Option to do a ski tour to planay desous. To discuss weather information and
Day 2: Tuesday: Dependant on weather conditions 200-400m ascent ski tour. Option to ski tour route around the monal or monal to Lac Clou with a technical focus on how to improve your off-piste skiing and ski touring skills. Making better decisions in avalanche terrain module.
Day 3: Wednesday: Member of group plans and leads with assistance. Technical focus on off-piste skiing and variable conditions in a different area such as Tignes, Val or Les Arcs.
Day 4: Thursday: Member of group plans and leads with assistance. Technical focus on off-piste skiing and variable conditions in a different area such as Tignes, Val or Les Arcs.
Day 5: Friday: Depending on the weather ski touring and off-piste skiing in St Foy. Coffee and debrief.
Day 6: Saturday: Departure
Please let us know if you are interested in this course and if you know of anyone else that would by emailing Floss at [email protected]. I am happy to answer any questions that you may have.
All accommodation enquires, bookings and payments are to go through Powder Mad email: [email protected]
I will look forward to skiing and coaching you in the new world of ski touring.
Floss
FREEFLOSKI
Online Course: Save Money and Time
www.skitouringkickstarter.com
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