What is your technichal level ?

To help you to determine your level, please read down bellow.

For the ascent :  the mountaineering scale of difficulty is used, adapted for ski touring.

• F  : Facile. Gentle wide slopes, sometimes snowy roads. Few or no kick turns.
• PD  : Peu Difficile. Slightly steeper slopes with possibly some narrow sections. Mainly easy kick turns.
• AD  : Assez Difficile. Slopes of 20° - 30° which can be sustained or narrow. Some of the kick turns could be awkward for a less experienced ski tourer.
• D : Difficile. Serious slopes of 30° - 40°, sustained. Kick turns are technical requiring a certain sang froid. Some delicate sections can require skis to be taken off.
• TD. : Très Difficile. Slopes of 40° - 45°, climbed with skis on the sack.

A"+" is added for ascents which fall between two categories. .

For the descent  : the Blachère scale is used with some modified terms.

• SM : Skieur Moyen, who has mastered the stem turn, the down hill kick turn and side-slipping on slopes of 25° - 30°.
• BS : Bon Skieur, capable ok linking short controlled turns down the fall-line of a black piste, and able to turn in control in all snow. Slopes can be steeper than 30° - 35° with narrow delicate sections.
• TBS : Très Bon Skieur, who has mastered jump turns on slope up to 40°. These descents can involve narrow couloirs where falling is not an option.
• EBS : Extrêmement Bon Skieur, capable of skiing major descent with slopes of 45° and more. The level of committement is considerable. This is the world of extreme skiing.

The letter "A" (BSA, TBSA...) indicates a need for some knowledge of alpinism : glacier travel, use of the rope, crampons... Some form of training is needed to acquire these skills (clubs, and Guide's offices organise Introductory Skills courses).

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