HAT introduction
Do you want to go off-piste skiing but are worried that you don’t have enough information or skills to both stay safe and have fun out there.
Maybe you do go off piste with friends and you are worried that you are taking too many risks. You feel you need some more information to help you stay safe. You want to develop avalanche awareness and to understand avalanche safety.
You want to go off-piste skiing and freeriding but some things may be holding you back. Perhaps you lack ski skills and confidence, or you are not sure where to go skiing. You want to improve your off piste ski skills.
You do go with experienced off piste guides who take you off piste skiing to beautiful places. However have you ever wanted to understand more and wondered if you could get more from the experience than just following an off piste ski guide?
HAT (Henry’s Avalanche Talk) is a team of professionals, ski instructors and off piste guides who are committed to providing you with insight on skiing off piste, understanding and awareness of the avalanche danger and development of off piste skiing skills.
HAT helps individuals and groups make informed decisions about where and how to ski off piste via a wide range of services, from multi-media avalanche awareness talks to free email information, on snow mountain adventures, ski instructors, off piste guides and training & private group programmes.
A HATadventure
- Is not just about off piste skiing in a safe environment and discovering new terrain and finding the best snow.
- is not just about improving your technique so you can make those perfect turns in the powder
- is not just about enjoying the mountain.
- We promise all these things, but we also promise more. A HATadventure is about knowing how to be safe and how to appreciate the mountain. It is designed for people who want to learn and want to move on. We will help you get more from the mountain. This is about discovering the highest pleasures that skiing can offer.
Where is it safe?
When you come on a HATadventure you will start to learn whether and when you can go to places like in these photographs. You will understand the rules of safe conduct in the mountains. For example did you know, these tracks are not just designed to be neat, they also represent the safest way to tackle fresh powder. You can join us to make these tracks and understand not just how to do it but where and why it makes sense.
Where is the best snow to make the best of today's conditions? You will also learn about how you can find the best snow for that day.. We will start to reveal insights and unlock the secrets of the ski guides so you can start on your own journey of discovery.
Know what you don’t know. This may sound bizarre, but when you know what you don’t know your confidence in your own judgement increases. When you know you don’t know whether you can do a slope or whether it is safe, then you will make the right call and be cautious. But this also means you know when you do know it is all right to go there and this releases you to discover your potential and open new horizons.
You will achieve this by increasing your knowledge of snow craft, off piste technique and avalanche safety and building your confidence so you get the most from the mountain.
You can see more about the detailed programme in article 4.
Confidence building off piste skiing programmes.
Many off piste ski guides and ski instructors will take you off piste skiing to beautiful places, but have you wondered if you could get more from the experience than just following an off piste guide? Or maybe you are apprehensive and want to take your first tracks off piste?
Understanding the mountain and the off piste snow is revealing and liberating. Unlocking the techniques to not only ski the off-piste powder, but knowing you can find the best snow and understanding how to be safe and confident makes the whole experience massively more rewarding. When you do this you start on a fantastic new journey that opens up new off piste skiing horizons.
We want you to
- Build your confidence: appreciate and develop your skiing capabilities. When you know what you do know and what you don’t know, your confidence to go off piste will increase.
- Understand more: increase your enjoyment of this wonderful experience. Armed with knowledge about the snow, your capabilities and your limits, you will understand where, when and how to go off piste. This will open your eyes to the many skiing possibilities you can explore in the future. This could be with or without an off-piste guide.
- Be safe: Learn how to find the best snow and be safe. Some off piste guides present this knowledge as unsuitable for normal experienced skiers (i.e. most skiers). We have even heard it said this knowledge is dangerous unless you are an expert. We do not agree, we want to share this knowledge to help you ski the off piste.
