This text is aimed at all those who like to take part in freeride camps, test days organized by magazines and ski brands, freeride days organized by safety equipment manufacturers and state or private educational institutions or even ride-with-me offers advertised by professional freeskiers themselves. Who are you actually following into what can be high alpine terrain with all its alpine beauty and dangers? And what happens if something happens? Stephan Skrobar tries to raise awareness of potential problems.
Freeriding has also arrived as a service concept in the middle of the winter sports industry. This means that not only sports retailers, ski resorts and the ÖAMTC with its helicopter armada benefit from off-piste skiing, but also those who introduce and teach freeriding to those interested. But who is actually allowed to act as a professional freeride guide in Austria? As in every area, there is a wealth of legal regulations that we don't want to bore you with. To put it very briefly: anyone who has acquired a state authorization for this based on appropriate training. These are mountain and ski guides, and ski guides with a ski school license or as employees of a ski school.
Normally, freeriders are not interested in the legal aspects. He or she doesn't want to deal with the legal aspects of a freeride day, but rather shred those fat powder faces that the pro has scouted out beforehand and then throws themselves into, cheering loudly. And the fact that the guide is a pro is sufficiently documented on various social media channels anyway. Warning: there are traces of sarcasm in the previous sentence.
In fact, participants in freeride camps and the like trust that the guide will get them home safely. Very often, the main reason why freeriders turn to a freeride center in the first place is their own unfamiliarity with the terrain and the resulting uncertainty regarding line choice and conditions. Now this text becomes unusually sober, because: An accident can never be ruled out. Avalanche accidents, falls and similar tragedies also happen to mountain guides, unfortunately also when they are out and about with guests. Such incidents happen time and again, and the consequences for those responsible (i.e. the providers) can even include criminal convictions.
A question of liability
What does the injured customer get out of it? Or - even worse - the surviving dependents? The provider could possibly be held liable under civil law so that at least some financial compensation is paid out in the end. This compensation is normally covered by liability insurance, which every freeride center takes out voluntarily - according to some state regulations, liability insurance is even a prerequisite for the right to practice the profession.
But what if the - attention, quotation marks - "guide" has no training and no liability insurance? Then, apart from the accident, the motivated freerider only has to look through his fingers. The claims for damages quickly exceed the financial possibilities of the "guide". Everyone should think about this before taking part in freeride events of any kind. Of course, this only applies to those events that actually take place outside in the backcountry. Such framework conditions do not apply, for example, to an avalanche search exercise next to the lift station, where the risk is also much lower.
The majority of camp providers are of course still reputable and mountain guides are often hired alongside the pros, for example at "Ski with the Pros" events where the pros are pros but not guides. You should be particularly careful with organized group trips from more or less dubious travel agencies, where the description suggests "guiding", but this is not sufficiently legally secured due to the tour guide's lack of qualifications.
We don't want to overlay the joy of freeriding with horror scenarios. However, you should make your decision about who to follow into the backcountry based on the most comprehensive information possible about the possible consequences. Perhaps we were able to give you a little food for thought with this article.
Warning note:
This is a thought-provoking article, not a legal guide. Austria and Austrian legislation serve as an example; legal regulations and interpretations may differ in other countries. If you want to be on the safe side internationally, stick to mountain guides with UIAGM qualifications (national mountain guide training is not enough to obtain this qualification everywhere.)
Thanks to Lukas Marzi for the critical review from a legal perspective, and professional freeskier and ski guide Lorraine Huber for the idea for the text.
