Big Mountain Skiing

This Itinerary is an overview of what will be covered. Depending on weather conditions, the venue may change to get the best snow conditions and terrain for the current stability assessment.

Day 0:

Go over the week’s goals and objectives
Equipment review
Snowpack and stability discussion
Travel to the backcountry for the day of skiing and terrain recognition discussion
Evening debrief

Day 1:

Anchor Building
Rappelling
Lowering
Safe Cornice control
Rope ascension
Belaying for steep snow travel on mountain faces or ridges
Companion rescue test
Evening debrief

Day 2:

Steep skiing tactics
Sluff control
Lowering into a slope
Evening debrief

Day 3:

Crevasse rescue (on day 2 if we fly directly to Haberl Hut)
Rope skills reinforcement
Evening debrief

Day 4:

Complex Glacier travel day
Complex ski decent
Evening debrief

Avalanche Gear

Avalanche beacon
Probe
Shovel

Hardware

Backcountry skis or split-board (skis, skins, poles)
General mountaineering axe (steel) 
Harness
30-litre backpack or large enough to carry personal and some group gear
Rope – We will provide but feel free to bring whatever rope you would be using personally, so you can practice with it.

Crevasse rescue kit

1 x 1.5m 7mm cord
2 x 5m 7mm cord
2 x double length sling
4 locking carabiners
2 non-locking carabiner
Belay device
Pulley (optional)
Ice screw (16cm min)
Ski strap
We have lots of extra gear, so don’t feel you need to bring all the crevasse gear.

Clothing

Waterproof/breathable jacket and pants
Lightweight, breathable jacket and pants (for uphill skinning/climbing)
Insulated jacket (synthetic insulated jacket is strongly recommended)
Lightweight gloves for climbing/skinning
Warm gloves
Warm hats
Balaclava or other types of neck warmer

Miscellaneous

Sunglasses
Goggles
Sunscreen
Sun hat
Ski strap
Small personal ski repair kit
Personal first aid, medication
Camera
Lunch/Water

Please arrive in the morning with food and drink for the day.

Please take a moment to read and understand our policies before booking! Booking, payment, cancellation and weather policies, as well as FAQ, may be found here.

Experienced ski tourers ready for complex, at times extreme, glaciated terrain. It requires AST 2 certification (or equivalent), 50+ days of ski touring experience, confident double black diamond skiing, and fitness for consecutive 1,500m touring days. Acceptance requires a resume submission — it’s not a first-come booking.

You need to apply. A resume submission is required for acceptance, since this is Altus’s most advanced recreational course and is modeled on professional ski guide training standards.

Big Mountain Skiing requires AST 2 (not AST 1), 50+ days of touring experience, and a resume submission — it’s a step above Steeps and Peaks in both prerequisites and terrain complexity. At 4 days versus 3, it also covers more technical rope work: anchor building, rappelling, lowering, and a tested companion rescue.

Terrain recognition and snowpack assessment, anchor building, rappelling, lowering, rope ascension, cornice control, belaying, companion rescue, steep skiing tactics, sluff control, crevasse rescue, and complex glacier travel – skills drawn directly from professional ACMG ski guide training.

Four students per ACMG-certified guide — tighter than Altus’s other multi-day courses, given the terrain complexity.

You should be able to handle consecutive days of ski touring with roughly 1,500m of vertical gain each, on top of confident double black diamond skiing ability and 50+ days of prior touring experience.