Off-Piste Coaching Advanced Meribel

Our Off-Piste Coahcing courses are intensive instructional ski courses. Run by our top team of BASI level 4 instructors and IFMGA guides with extensive instructional experience, each course blends off-piste instruction with sessions on mountain safety and awareness and excellent skiing that guarantees they are informative, educational and a lot of fun.

Our courses don’t just run for 6 hours during the day. We do our best to ensure that your group will really gel over the week. We use chalet style accommodation with comfy areas to relax and all meals are taken as a group (including one evening meal out during the week). So even if you come on your own, you are sure to meet loads of like minded skiers and have a great time. You’ll leave the course not only with new skills but with new friends and some wonderful memories!

The course will be led by our team of inspirational Off-Piste Instructors which includes Dave Meyer, Will Evans and Greg Jones.

The course is primarily lift-accessed with some limited hiking to access the best runs. Instruction is offered on a low instructor:skier ratio of 1:4.

In addition to running the course in Méribel we also offer this course in Zinal, Gressoney and Ste. Foy

The price includes 7 nights chalet board accommodation (twin-share) with breakfasts, afternoon teas with homemade cakes and delicious evening meal (on 6 evenings). 5 days off-piste instruction with inspirational BASI 4 (or international equivalent) Ski Instructors, group transfers between Geneva airport and the chalet, in-resort transfers.
Additional local expenses include lift pass, lunches, drinks, 1 evening meal, equipment hire
Single room are subject to availability and a supplement.

Here at the Mountain Tracks, we give you our word that we will fully refund every part of your package holiday if it is not able to run due to COVID-19.

Our Mountain Tracks and holiday teams are monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak guidance and advice while communicating closely with our suppliers to make sure everything is in place to keep you safe.
Read more: Frequently Asked Questions.

We are proud to offer all of our returning customers a £50 discount.

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£2.50 per person of the cost of any air package is paid to the Civil Aviation Authority to provide ATOL Protection to you. This means the money paid for these arrangements is fully protected. Our ATOL number is ATOL 2911. For more information see our booking terms and conditions.
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Ski Club Winter Arrangements limited (trading as Mountain Tracks)
Registered in England No. 2099115. VAT No. GB 461 5692 34

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This is an extensive list of the recommended clothing and equipment you will need if you are coming on one of our Off-Piste Coaching courses.  On these courses you’ll be staying in a comfortable catered chalet or hotels. When skiing you need to carry just a small day pack, which contains your safety equipment and any personal items you may need.

• Off-Piste Coaching - Clothing
  This season, we’ve partnered with Ortovox to provide us with the very best safety kit and clothing. Our guides will all be decked out in the latest Ortovox jackets and trousers and will keep warm, dry and comfortable thanks to their technical wool base- and mid-layers. Our guides couldn’t recommend their kit more highly.

   

  • A good quality pair of ski trousers. They must be made from a waterproof and breathable fabric like Gore-Tex or similar. It’s useful to have some venting zips on the legs either inside or outside thigh or full-length side-zips. Integral snow gaiters and some pockets for handy items are good features.
  • An outer shell jacket made of waterproof and breathable material like Gore-Tex or similar with a built-in hood. We advocate the ‘layering principle’ and so a shell is recommended rather than an insulated jacket.
  • Comfortable underwear with good wicking properties. Very popular at the moment are the wool based layers from companies such as Ortovox. They are comfy, breathable, warm when needed and can be worn for days without your friends catching a whiff!
  • Several thin (rather than fewer thick) layers between your skin and the outer shell - an approach that gives better heat retention and good flexibility. These tops are known as ‘mid layers’.
  • Insulation layer like a down or primaloft jacket is a good item to have ready to wear in the event of cold weather, it can live in your rucksack as a spare layer and can come in very handy for sudden changes in the weather.
  • Roll neck rather than a scarf. We use and recommend the ‘Buff¹ ¬ a light, stretchable tube. Excellent despite the name! They do both a fleece/cotton version for warmth or just a cotton one (to keep the sun off).
  • Headwear to include warm hat and sun-cap or wide-brim hat for extra protection from the sun. Mountain Tracks fully supports the wearing of helmets for skiing, although not mandatory for any of our trips we do recommend them.
  • Good quality, ski gloves or mitts if you suffer from cold hands and 1 thinner pair of gloves made from a softshell or fleece material if the weather is warm. These are particularly useful if you do any ski touring or hiking on the trip as thick gloves quickly become too hot.
    Silk inner gloves can be useful if the weather is cold and you suffer from cold hands.
  • Technical Socks - Investing in good quality ski socks will improve fit, warmth and feel when skiing for long periods. Bring along a few pairs.
• Off-Piste Coaching - Ski Equipment

  We continue to see big changes in ski, boot and binding design and technology, which make off-piste skiing and ski touring much more accessible.

  For our Off-Piste Coaching courses, good downhill ski and boot are required.

  Skis
  This winter our lead guides are using Salomon Explore MTN and Salomon QST touring skis. The MTN 95 is an award-winning ski with great stability at high speeds whilst the MTN 88 is a best-selling lightweight touring ski. The QST’s are slightly heavier and therefore suited to charging; perfect for day-touring.
  Lockwoods Ski and Outdoor are supporting our guides and we suggest that if you’re interested in any of the MTN or QST skis, you should make Lockwoods your first point of call. 

  There are many ‘all-mountain’ skis to choose from and we highly recommend skis from Salomon, Dynastar, Movement, Black Crows, Trab Skis, Scott and Volkl. Look for a ski that is the right size for your height, typically the tip of the ski should be somewhere around your nose height. As for the width of the ski or “side cut” a mid-fat ski – 90-100mm under the foot - is perfect for getting to grips skiing off-piste and these skis give you floatation in powder snow but are still easy to handle and carve on the piste.

  Dynastar Skis: www.dynastar.com  
  Movement Skis: www.movementskis.com  
  Black Crows Skis: www.blackcrows-skis.com/  
  Trab Skis: www.skitrab.com/en-us/  
  Scott Skis: http://www.scott-sports.com
  Volkl Skis: http://www.voelkl.com

  There are plenty of other great skis to choose from so if you’re planning on buying skis for ski touring or general skiing and have any questions do not hesitate to call us, or Lockwoods, to discuss the options available.

  
  Boots
  For off-piste performance courses, standard downhill ski boots are ideal, they offer rigidity, responsiveness and flex depending on the snow conditions. If you have ski touring boots or a pair of the hybrid freeride/touring boots with a walk mode, then these are fine too, bring them with you. We do not recommend you come on a trip with brand new boots.
  
  Boot Liners
  These days many manufacturers offer ‘thermo-fit’ liners as standard equipment. You may also want to consider a custom liner. Heated and moulded to your foot and boot for a perfect fit, they can make all the difference especially if you have trouble finding really comfortable ‘off-the-shelf¹ boots. Zipfit liners are a great option for anyone seeking total customisation in fit and comfort. They will replace the original liner.
  
  Custom Footbeds
  Essential kit – to provide additional comfort and ski control. If you want to get footbeds made or a pair of new boots fitted then we suggest you visit somewhere like Profeet for a professional fitting. 
  
  Bindings
  Standard downhill bindings.

• Off-Piste Coaching - Safety Equipment

  The “Safety Trilogy” - applicable for all our off-piste courses
  Avalanche Transceiver/Beacon 
  Snow shovel
  Avalanche probe

  We recommend Simple and intuitive ORTOVOX AVALANCHE RESCUE KIT 3+

  
  Avalanche airbags/rucksacks – if you wish to ski with one of these on our courses you are welcome to do so, they are not mandatory but we always support the use of available safety items.

  You can hire avalanche rucksacks in a lot of resorts, makes are usually Snowpulse/Mammut, ABS or Ortovox Avabag. Prices vary from shop to shop and resort to resort but a guide line price would be from €30 / CHF 35 per day 

  Remember it is not enough just to carry this equipment; you have to know how to use it.
  How about joining one of our specialist avalanche courses – check out http://mountaintracks.co.uk/discipline/winter-mountaincraft

• Off-Piste Coaching - Accessories
  • Good pair of ski goggles with a lens for low light is essential in the event of snow and poor visibility.
  • Good quality sunglasses with 100% UV protection
  • 25 – 30 litre rucksack with straps for carrying skis. If you wish to use an avalanche airbag/rucksack you are welcome to, you can now hire these in most resorts.
  • 1 – 1.5 litre water bottle – we don’t recommend hydration systems (e.g. camelbak) in winter as they can freeze.
  • Food – bring some of your favourite hill nibbles (chocolate, energy bars)*
  • Suncream and lip salve

• Insurance

  It is a condition of booking that you are insured for your chosen activity and the cover must include medical expenses, personal accident, personal liability, third party risks and rescue (including helicopter rescue). You are strongly advised also to take out cover against cancellation and curtailment.

  For UK residents Ski Club Travel Insurance may be a suitable option.

  For more details and to purchase a policy online visit http://www.skiclubinsurance.co.uk/
  If you need assistance arranging your personal insurance please let us know.
   

• Meribel - Geneva Airport Transfers

  We include in the price of the trip 1 shared, group airport transfer from and to Geneva airport.  This is at set times so we ask you to arrange your flights accordingly.  

  On the arrival day the transfer will depart Geneva airport at 1430, you should book a flight that arrives no later than about 1345 so you have time to collect your luggage and make your way to the meeting point.  On the departure day the transfer will pick everyone up from the chalet at approximately 0830, this means you will be dropped off at Geneva at approximately 1100; this should be suitable for flight departures from 1300hrs onwards.  So we ask you to book a flight back that leaves no earlier than 1300hrs.  

  If you have to arrive/depart outside of these times then you will need to make your own arrangements to get to and from Meribel.

• Off-Piste Coaching - Instructors
  This course will be led by our team of BASI Ski Instructors which includes Dave Meyer, Will Evans and Greg Jones. They are all extremely talented ski coaches who are passionate about off-piste skiing. Our instructors consistently prove they have the ability to teach skiers how to hone their technique and confidence in off-piste terrain.They'll ensure you have a fantastic week.

• Meribel - Accommodation

  For these courses our preferred chalet provider is GoSkiMeribel.

  They have a number of very comfortable catered chalets in Méribel where rooms are mostly ensuite, chalets have hot tub/jacuzzi, Wi-Fi, TV and plenty of space to relax and enjoy yourself after skiing. They serve daily breakfast, afternoon tea and a 3 or 4 course evening meal (on 6 nights of the week).

  Single room occupancy is subject to availability and will incur a supplement.