Two weeks ago in St Anton a 62 year old ski instructor, Peter Reigel, died in an avalanche, whilst guiding an off-piste lesson. He and his group had tracked up well away from the beaten path in search of fresh powder, a couple of days after a huge snow dump. Although he had been off-piste many times, and was carrying with him the right equipment, this was not enough to save him. Many of the group he went out with, although not inexperienced off-skiers, were, apparently, not fully aware of how to use much of the avalanche rescue gear.

In the week after this the mood around the resort, and particularly around the Arlberg ski school was fairly subdued. The ski school itself lead most of the tributes, with posters commemorating his life being placed around all their buildings in resort, and avalanche warnings quickly becoming noticeably more prominent.

This incident is not an isolated one in the Alps over the last few weeks and serves to highlight the danger that accompanies off-piste skiing. Two weeks ago saw a huge dump of snow over a very short period of time and the avalanche warning level was briefly raised to five, signalling the fact that numerous large spontaneous avalanches can be expected, even in moderately steep areas off-piste. Over the last week the warning level has slowly subsided to Level 3 in the higher parts of the resort and Level 2 in areas below 1800m. However, this does not negate the fact that there is still a very real danger of causing and being involved in avalanches when going off-piste, especially in the less tracked areas of the resort.

When going off-piste it is important to be prepared and carry with you the right equipment should an avalanche occur. Most ski shops will stock a basic avalanche rescue pack, which is likely to cost anywhere between £250 and £500. This will include the bag itself, a transceiver, a shovel and a probe. The transceiver is essential as it enables a group of skiers to undertake their own search and rescue operation in the event of an avalanche. The chances of surviving an avalanche diminish drastically after the victim has been missing for more than 15 minutes. Given that on average the emergency services take 45 minutes to respond to the scene of an avalanche the ability to mount a rescue operation immediately is vital.

St Anton is well known for both plentiful and challenging off-piste skiing, with a wide variety of both marked and unmarked off-piste in the Arlberg ski area. Over the last few weeks, I have started to explore some of these options although still sticking to the fairly tame off-piste in the resort. If the last few weeks have taught me anything it is that when going off-piste it is important to be careful and also properly prepared.