Hello everyone,
I'm a serving officer in the Britisih Army; unfortunately I was recently aeromedically evacuated from Afghanistan with a prolapsed and a ruptured disc in my back - wearing 40kg+ of kit on the daily basis obviously wasn't helping. So no skiing for me this season.
To "cheer me up" I have been asked to look into how my Corps delivers skiing training under the banner of military adventure training. The focus of this is very much ski touring; but clearly you need to teach new comers to the sport to ski first!
My Corps runs an annual trip which until recently has focused more of racing and less on touring: the powers that be want to change this in favour of touring. Our aim, briefly if to:
1. Introduce soldiers to alpine skiing within the framework of the military adventure training model.
2. Allow for recognised progression through the skiing award scheme.
3. Progress soldiers and officers from basic on piste skiing to off piste touring (initially day tours, building to non-glacial hut-to-hut tours, and finally serious glacial high altitude tours more in the realms of ski mountaineering than ski touring - I will explain why later).
4. Encourage soldiers and officers to pursue the military ski instructor, and ultimately ski tour leader qualifications.
The key part of this is identifying the right area/resort to use. We need to be resort based for the novices; ideally there would be non-glacial touring options immedately outside the resort for the introductory touring. In an ideal world we'd be able to access more challenging touring from the resort base, but for that level road travel isn't a problem.
The non-glacial touring is key - by this I mean touring which does not cross a glacier - as the majority of military tour leaders aren't allowed to lead tours over glaciers. There are very few military instructors with the right qualification to lead over glaciers (deemed ski mountaineering, and not touring). For more experienced tourers, and to develop our instructors we'll obviously want challenging ski mountaineering, rather than basic tours, which is more than likely to involve hiring guides; but basing the entire programme on he use of guides would be prohibitively expensive.
My initial thoughts were the Astoria valley: it gives access to some very challenging touring but also some good resort based skiing (I think - not having skied Italy).
Cost is also a factor; whilst cheap(ish) accommodation can always be obtained in resorts, the cost of eating out and drinks is also a consideration. Although psychically and mentally demanding, we want this to be fun for our soldiers - and for a young soldier paying £5 a pint isn't an option. Which clearly rules most of France out!
Any suggestions gratefully recieved; either resort or tour suggestions. We'd also be interested in hearing from guides who might be able to help with our more experienced skiers.
Please get in touch via email: James.morgan1546@me.com
Many thanks.
James