Adrian Sauter is the winner of the three training levels that Risk'n'Fun and PowderGuide have jointly awarded. The 20-year-old freeskier will take part in the Risk'n'Fun camps "Training Session", "Next Level" and "Chill Out" and report on his impressions and learning progress on PowderGuide. Time flies by in slow motion until it's finally Wednesday and the Risk'n'Fun training session in Sölden begins. Then it's time to saddle up the car and head south at full speed! For me, south means about four hours of relaxed road cruising to Sölden in Ötztal, accompanied by contemporary music. The anticipation is immense and I'm excited to see what awaits me.
When we meet in relaxed surroundings at the Hotel Neue Post in Zwieselstein, I immediately notice that everyone else is also really looking forward to the training session. Everyone is full of expectations! Our trainers and mountain guides briefly introduce themselves and then it's all about us. The participants exchange ideas in a short round of introductions. It quickly becomes clear that I'm surrounded by warm, open people: everyone is very friendly and relaxed and has an insatiable passion for powder skiing. Afterwards, it's time to hand out the equipment, which turns into a cozy get-together and chat.
The next day, we head up the mountain early in the morning. Together, we go through the avalanche report, which "unfortunately" only warns of "low avalanche danger" (level 1) today. Then we carry out the obligatory check of the avalanche transceivers and get some practice in. Despite the rather poor snow conditions, our mountain guides manage to find some promising spots where we practise the first basics: Perception is the motto of the day. We all look at what is happening around us and how the wind and weather have left their mark on the snow cover. In the evening, we then look at other danger signs using pictures. At dinner, everyone agrees that today was not only a great day, but also a particularly instructive one.
On the second day, we ski an extremely steep gully and some of us have to push ourselves to the limit. I was also hesitant at first. After I get stuck on a stone, I fall awkwardly and slide down the gully past the others. Fortunately, we have consistently kept a safe distance and apart from my damaged ski trousers, no one is injured. This moment of shock is followed by the appropriate task: we have to assess our personal willingness to take risks. And we learn that sometimes it's better to do without instead of following someone under pressure.
More photos from the 2014 training session in Sölden
We then practise using the avalanche transceiver. I find this difficult at first, but with a little practice it gets better and better and I soon manage to locate the signal of the buried avalanche transceiver quite well.
In the evening, we develop our own freeride strategy in small groups: the procedure developed in our team is a kind of step-by-step guide to what a perfect freeride day should look like. Our strategy is designed to ensure that no important points are forgotten during preparation. It is becoming increasingly clear to us how many things there are to consider: Starting with the avalanche situation report through to choosing your "powder buddies".
We are excited to see how our strategy will prove itself the next day... We now have to decide for ourselves whether a slope can be skied with little risk or not and how to choose our line. Despite the low avalanche risk, there are many points to discuss in the group: Choosing a good line in the terrain is important in order to find the best snow with the lowest possible risk. We choose a clear ridge as a meeting point to reduce the risk of avalanche burial.
On Saturday, we are spoiled with bright blue skies and a few centimetres of fresh snow. As a group, we plan our ascent to a promising slope. At the summit, two group members take the lead: we discuss meeting points and distances and off we go. The descent is superb and rewards us for the hike. During the debriefing of the day, we ask numerous questions, which are answered in detail by our mountain guides, and the Risk'n'Fun trainers (editor's note: at Risk'n'Fun, the groups are accompanied by mountain guides and pedagogically trained trainers at the same time) also give us valuable tips.
I've always particularly enjoyed the evenings: being able to talk about what we've experienced and learned in a relaxed atmosphere.
The session is over far too quickly...
Unfortunately, Sunday comes far too quickly and the training session is drawing to a close. Before that, however, there are some very informative workshops: here, for example, we practise probing and avalanche transceiver search in more depth. I found it particularly difficult to work quickly with the avalanche transceiver at first. But after a few repetitions, I got better and better. I also found it difficult at first to distinguish between stone, earth and a buried victim when probing, but soon I was able to do that reliably too.
We also get a very interesting insight into the topic of snow cover and snow cover structure. With this very complex topic, I realize how little I knew so far and realize that this first insight is only a tiny part of something much more complex.
After a few leisurely descents, we sit together on the sun terrace, enjoy the mountain and reflect on what we have experienced. In conversation with the others, I realize that the camp has not only made me think: About my own actions and what is happening around me. After saying goodbye and on the drive home, I keep thinking about what I've learned and what fun it was to be able to experience Session 1 so intensively.
Text: Adrian Sauter
