Off-Piste Performance

Essential knowledge for off-piste skiers

Off-piste-Performance-cover-Large2
(2 customer reviews)
BY: Alison Thacker
ISBN: 978-1-906095-94-9
EDITION: first
PUBLICATION DATE: 23 December 2024
FORMAT: paperback; 184 pages; 240x170; colour photos; diagrams
AVAILABILITY: in print

£19.99

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Master Off-Piste Skiing: The Ultimate Guide for All Skill Levels?

Are you looking to improve your off-piste skiing skills? Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced skier, this comprehensive guide will help you develop essential techniques, refine your performance, and take your skiing to the next level.

This book covers everything from basic skills to advanced movements, offering practical tactics for tackling all types of snow and terrain you may encounter while skiing off-piste. It includes on-piste and off-piste drills designed to help you achieve optimal performance in every condition.

Alison’s crystal-clear instructions are complemented by stunning colour photos and photo sequences, making it easy to follow and understand each concept.

Chapters include:

  • Going Off-Piste
  • Preparation and Gear Essentials
  • Key Skiing Movements
  • Turning Techniques
  • Skiing in Different Types of Snow
  • Terrain Variations and How to Tackle Them
  • Combining Snow and Terrain Variations
  • Skiing in Poor Visibility
  • Additional Skills for Advanced Skiers

Get ready to refine your skills and gain the confidence to master the slopes. Perfect for anyone serious about off-piste skiing!


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Alison Thacker started skiing aged two and trained as a child and teenager with the Gordon Skiers, representing both Scotland and Great Britain internationally. At 20 she gained the highest level of BASI ski instructor award, at the time one of the youngest people to do so. After achieving a First-Class Honours degree in Outdoor Studies at Ambleside, Alison moved to Chamonix where she lived and worked for 15 years as a ski instructor in winter and a walking leader in summer. During this period, she started running popular off-piste ski courses, later founding the specialist ski training and guiding business Off-Piste Performance, as well as a company delivering Duke of Edinburgh training and assessment expeditions for schools. Alison continues to run both businesses successfully from her home in Kingussie, in the Scottish Highlands, where she lives with her husband James, an IFMGA Mountain Guide, and their daughter Abigail.

2 reviews for Off-Piste Performance

  1. andy.fyfe1 (verified owner) –

    Meticulous detail – but very easy to follow. Very well selected photographs to allow you to see as well as read. An essential reference book for anyone with an interest in going beyond prepared pistes. I’ll come back to it time after time.

  2. sioban.healy –

    Very well written both in terms of text and illustrations/photographs. I took my copy with me to a waiting room before an appointment recently as I’m getting in the mood for the next season and, before I knew it, had read the first 50 pages because it was a just a good, well-flowing read. Having skied with Alison several times it was not all new for me, but there were several points at which I thought “Oh yes, I’d completely forgotten about that” (e.g. checking my DIN settings after not skiing for a couple of seasons due to injury and changing weight). I particularly like the different levels of comment in the margins outside the main text including quotations of eureka moments expressed by clients in their own words, many of which chimed with me. I’m now getting into the more technical off piste skiing sections (still very readable) and enjoying remembering when I previously ‘got’ a particular drill or skill, as well as realising ‘OK, so that is what I was meant to be feeling under my feet’ etc for some others which I previously struggled to get right all the time. I too will be reading and re-reading the book between now and the start of the ski season in a few weeks’ time, and during the season.

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