Bruson, Teaching and Mountain Safety

It’s the first week of 2017 and the Peak Leaders were back to their full time ski training with a bang! After seeing in an amazing New Year with thousands of people in Verbier and a spectacular fireworks display it was time to enjoy the powder.

New snow meant lots of smiley faces at the prospect of ripping around the mountain. The team headed over to the steep slopes of Bruson, which is just opposite Verbier, to go and explore the awesome terrain and shred! After a week of shadowing ski lessons with Les Elfes, and learning how to deal with groups, this was exactly what they needed.

Teaching is also an essential part of the course so the Peak Leaders went over to the beginners’ area – Les Esserts – to learn how to teach the basics of skiing via the Central Theme. Whilst they mastered the magic carpet, some of the team haven’t quite perfected their line up skills – yet – as you can see…

An important part of skiing is how physically fit you are so the Peak Leaders train with Jake once a week to work on this. Each hour session comprises of bodyweight, kettle bell and anaerobic exercises. And boxing! Here’s the team showing off their core strength.

On Friday the team had a Mountain Safety day led by the amazing Roy Henderson (Mountain Guide and BASI Trainer). First up they learnt how to use an avalanche transceiver, how to search for it effectively and then how to use a shovel and probe if they ever needed to rescue a buried person.

Roy explained about the different types of snow, the different types of terrain and how the weather could affect the snow pack and thus the snow stability. He kept it all moving though and the team got loads of skiing in. Everyone loved the day and the team learnt loads about using off-piste equipment and what risk factors to be aware off in off-piste areas. Nice one Roy!

On Saturday night the coaches, the Concept team (level 3 ISIA trainees) and the Peak Leaders walked up to Namaste, no not a yoga hangout, but in fact a restaurant famed for their chilli fondue and awesome views over Verbier. It was a great evening full of laughs and good food. The walk back down seemed a lot trickier after a couple of drinks but the midnight view of Verbier’s lights was worth the walk!