We will start the training in the afternoon with theory and recall what we learned in Part 1. Once again, the three pillars "Perceive, Assess and Decide" will be our guiding principles. We will also go through our equipment together. Shovel, probe, beeps, first aid kit, bivouac sack, cable ties, knife ... Being well prepared always means carrying a bit more luggage. Some of us are surprised at what the mountain guide unpacks, but the usefulness of this will be proven over the next few days.
Day 2:
And then the first day on the mountain begins. After a good breakfast and a look at the weather and avalanche report, we set off. The lift ticket is still included at level 2. From level 3, participants are denied this luxury. Today we take the gondola up and hope to get an overview of the terrain. Unfortunately, the visibility is poor and we can't see much. After two runs to warm up, we leave the piste. It's a good thing we practiced strapping the skis and boards to the backpacks the evening before. The moves need to be practised straight away, so we start our first off-piste route on foot with our skis on our backs.
The strong contrast between the piste and "bootpacking" makes us feel the excitement. We make our way through the pine forests towards the Wildseeloderhaus. We learn our first lessons along the way: How do you move safely with skis on your back in rough terrain? When does it make sense to put your skis on or take them off? A first beautiful descent to the Wildsee rewards us all. On the frozen and snow-covered lake, we continue with the first beacon training: large and small group check, scenario exercise and correct probing.
When we set off again, the first members of the group, together with Bernhard, take over responsibility for guiding. Over the next few days, we will take it in turns to lead the ascent and descent, while Bernhard will be on hand to give us advice whenever we need it. He is our "joker", so to speak.
The following descents are challenging due to the poor visibility and the rather poor snow conditions. Nevertheless, we find our way down. When the sun breaks through briefly in the afternoon, we go on our first short ski tour. The focus is on technique. Most of us already have touring experience, but with the "learning by doing" method, small mistakes keep creeping in, which we are now allowed to correct. Every skill level can learn something for themselves.
At the end of the day, we all arrive at our accommodation shivering and exhausted, but satisfied. The day was long and there was a lot of input, so we take it easy in the evening. Nevertheless, we still put in a little learning session: We use some plasticine to illustrate contour lines and use the maps to think about where we would like to go the next day.
