Andermatt is the perfect place to make the transition from skiing on-piste to skiing off-piste and experience full-on freeride fun. With your Ski Academy Pro, you will improve your backcountry skiing technique and receive an introduction to all the essential skills for skiing all-mountain terrain.

Assessment of your off-piste level

The first day of the off piste ski course is dedicated to the assessment of the overall level and abilities of the group. There is plenty of nice and easy off-piste terrain in our SkiArena, where your instructor will ski with your group to determine everyone’s level and plan a good itinerary for the days ahead. As safety is our main priority, you will also do a basic avalanche-awareness training course on the first day.

Improving your off-piste technique

The rest of this freeride course is dedicated to improving your off-piste skiing and to pushing your limits. Group sizes are kept small so that you can benefit from personal instruction to improve your skills, technique and knowledge. Your instructor will lead you through various technical exercises to progress your skiing to the next level. Our snow pros will tailor a program adapted to the overall abilities of the group, weather, snow conditions, and local knowledge.

Skiing with confidence

Our goal is for you to leave this course with a sense of achievement as well as memories of a great freeride ski week. We aim for you to reach the point where you can ski confidently in different types of terrain in various snow conditions. Video analysis will help you identify and correct any imperfections, whilst highlighting your strengths so that you can work on improvement and then apply your new skills in the SkiArena’s off-piste ski areas. Video feedback will enable you and your ski instructor to:

• Analyse your skiing style and question how you ski versus how you think you ski

• Identify any weak spots in your technique so that you can correct them

• Identify your strengths so that you can improve and hone them in

• Set personal goals that are attainable by the end of the course

Off-Piste Safety

Above all, mountain safety is our highest priority, which is why as well as imparting skiing techniques we also teach you how to ski off-piste safely. Avalanche awareness, transceiver search, and snow transformation are essential to your skill set as a confident off-piste skier. Understanding the principles of snow stability allows us to find the best snow in a safe and informed manner, especially when skiing backcountry routes that can take you far away from the patrolled ski areas.