 Poster: A snowHead
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I have a very good policy with my bank but it doesn't cover me for off piste unless I am with a guide. It specifically says this in the policy.
The SCGB policy is reasonably priced and covers off piste without a guide. It also covers back country but doesn't say whether this must be with a guide or not.
Has anyone else found the wording of the off piste and back country definitions problematic?
For those that haven't seen it, the off piste is described as "Skiing within ski area boundaries, off marked and groomed pistes and in between groomed trails and runs, where ski lifts and emergency services are easily accessible and ending back at a ski area lift. Not including back country or areas marked or prohibited from entry."
Back country is described as "Skiing in terrain which is in remote areas away from groomed pistes, not within ski boundaries and outside of patrolled resort boundaries, this includes terrain that has been accessed by a ski lift but then requiring a hike, ski, climb or skidoo to reach areas of side country or back country."
I'm going to be skiing and snowboarding in Espace Killy, doing lift served off piste, ending at a piste or a road. My concerns are:
a) I'm finding it hard to reconcile the split between off piste and back country. Eg, Valee Perdu - off piste or back country? The areas around Signal and Manchet?
b) Off piste is described as with or without a guide, back country is not. Does that mean I need a guide every time I go there?
I found the wording of this policy better than a lot of others.
Advice welcomed.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Personally I found it met my needs for almost everything I'd plan to do in an area like Tignes, where a lot of the off piste is between pistes and frankly if I was heading further afield I'd want a guide (indeed for a lot of the "off piste" they describe I'd want a guide anyway.
Worth giving them a call, they are a pretty helpful bunch and should be able to confirm the exact meaning and if you need guide for backcountry. If they distinguish between the two I'd assume that backcountry is with a guide, whereas their offpiste doesn't require it, unless one is covered by one level and the other isn't, and you have selected a level that covers both?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Those terms are really more suited to America where much of an area is classed as in bounds and there are often notices telling you you are going into back country
In Switzerland pistes are often marked with poles on each side of the piste, going beyond these poles is off piste, however the rescue services there are unlikely to make a distinction if you are just a short distance off the piste, if on the other hand they have to call out helicopters and search teams .....
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Re Vallee Perdu my interpretation would be if there is at least one piste the other side of you point of access it is between groomed runs and hence off piste. If it is off the side of the whole ski area it becomes backcountry. It's a fairly pointless distincation and you'd think SCGB if they were worth their salt would cover both the same, maybe making a distinction for mountaineering expeditions and activity not in ranges where ski resorts exist.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Digger the dinosaur wrote: |
Personally I found it met my needs for almost everything I'd plan to do in an area like Tignes, where a lot of the off piste is between pistes and frankly if I was heading further afield I'd want a guide (indeed for a lot of the "off piste" they describe I'd want a guide anyway.
Worth giving them a call, they are a pretty helpful bunch and should be able to confirm the exact meaning and if you need guide for backcountry. If they distinguish between the two I'd assume that backcountry is with a guide, whereas their offpiste doesn't require it, unless one is covered by one level and the other isn't, and you have selected a level that covers both? |
Both terrains are covered by Pack 1, as is Heli skiing!
The relevant activities covered are:
Big Foot Skiing, 
Cross Country/Nordic Skiing/Boarding,
Ski Boarding,
Ski Dooing,
Ski/Board Randonee,
Ski/Snow Biking,
Ski/Snow Blading,
Skiing/Snowboarding,
Skiing/Boarding Off Piste With or Without a Guide,
Skiing/Boarding Backcountry,
Skiing/Boarding Heliskiing,
Skiing/Boarding Touring,
Skiing/Boarding Mono,
The policy looks ideal and I haven't rung as I feel my query is perhaps too location specific for a help desk lady in Croydon to answer. I doubt I would frequently go anywhere away from the edge of the resort and hope my intentions would always be classed as off piste. Looking at the piste map and looking at the actual map may throw some of this into back country though. The definition that access requires a hike, ski climb or skidoo and being outside patrolled resort boundaries are what concern me. I agree that these are typical US terms but wonder how they would be applied to the EK area. The Signal area is great off piste and is a great example of perhaps not being between pistes, but also not being what I would call back country.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Just a thought but do check out snowcard.co.uk and mpibrokers.com. I found both of these to be well suited to heli and offpiste (the latter with and without a guide) and have them in my to do list for this coming season.
Be interested to hear what you think as I am just abut to come off my company insurance (which was as good as you can get ie no exclusions re offpiste etc) so need a personal policy.
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It doesn't say Backcountry with a Guide so I would assume I am covered and rely on a lawyer being able to argue that they should have qualified Backcountry if they intended it to be conditional.
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@bar shaker, I've taken SCGB insurance for the last 5 years, as I wanted multi-trip world wide cover, with cat skiing, heli-skiing, and all sorts of off-piste, and touring with and without guide. SCGB was easily the cheapest, often by hundreds. This years renewal quote is £160.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Thanks for the help.
I'm working on the basis that SCGB would have thrashed this out and it's a good policy, without a load of 'gotchas'.
Let's hope I never need to find out.
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