Off Piste Performance Reviews 

Spent a fantastic week with Alison and the team on OPP's Kvaløya touring week in early May. Though a long term alpine skier, I was relatively new to backcountry tour skiing with only a handful of days in Scotland but this week pushed me on with improving my technique and learning new skills. Every day took us somewhere new, with one of the highlights being a skin up to a peak before skiing down the otherside to a waiting boat to take us back to the cabins at the end of the day. By the end of the week I was more confidently making kick turns in the steeper ascents with what I'd learnt.

The scenery in Kvaløya is stunning and combined with the lovely lodging, cuisine, everything came together to make a perfect experience.

Truly fabulous and awe inspiring week with Off Piste Performance in Kvaloya Norway. Every day felt like my best backcountry day ever, and the combination of James as mountain guide and Alison as ski guide is unique and just works so well. Can honestly say this was the best ski trip of my lifetime, so obviously will be back for more, can’t wait 😁👊

We had a spectacular week of ski touring on the Island of Arnoya with Off Piste Performance. Based at our very comfortable and welcoming accommodation at Lauksletta Overnatting we had access to the surrounding mountains of Arnoya for some fantastic off piste summit to sea skiing with views that take your breath away.

Another fantastic week with Off Piste Performance. Neil and Alison came up with a brilliant itinerary of day tours that found us the best snow and rewarding days out whatever the fickle Norwegian weather threw at us. We also benefited from some first class coaching from Alison, plus tips from Neil on skinning technique. The accommodation is gorgeous and is in surely one of the most beautiful locations on the planet; next to the fjord with dolphins, otters and eagles passing right by. Added to this was the wonderful hosting and catering by Rupert, with his delicious dinners something to look forward to at the end of each day. Thank you!

Another fantastic week with Off Piste in Norway. James and Alison (together with Andy Nelson this week) run a very tight and friendly operation managing to blend thoughtful instruction into varied tours carefully chosen to get the best of the weather.

An unforgettable and thoroughly enjoyable week exploring the ski touring terrain around Arnøya, Norway.

Everything was fantastically organised with great accommodation at Lauksletta House and truly unbelievable dinners cooked by Elin and her team and of course, the world famous waffles...that added to the overall experience.

The guiding of James and Mark struck a perfect balance, highly skilled and professional yet relaxed and engaging, leading us to a few great fresh and spring snow areas with some amazing views included as well. The wonderful sunny weather we had on most of the days just topped it all off!

All in all a wonderful ski tour trip and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Off Piste Performance if you are looking to ski tour in Norway.

Well thought out course content and itinerary with an excellent Instructor & Guide, meant that off-piste technique & confidence improved significantly over the week, combined with an introduction to ski touring techniques and some memorable experiences in the back-country. Hugely rewarding and enjoyable.

Together with five other skiers I spent a few days with Derek Tate from Off Piste Performance doing their Ski Performance for Mountaineers course. Derek is an amazing teacher, very patient, calm, knowledgeable and inspirational and an excellent skier. He taught me lots of ways to get down different types of snow and slopes off piste. Now I just need to practice. Thank you very much. I will be back for another course.

Fantastic week refining our off piste skiing techniques. Derek was an exceptional teacher, breaking down skiing tips into bite-sized pearls of wisdom. He interspersed the skiing with drills which were fun and illuminating! Really enjoyed meeting other participants in the group, age range 21-61. Loved the format of half days spread over the week.

We did the Chamonix Off-piste & Touring skills course and couldn’t recommend it more highly. The combination of off-piste & touring worked really well and Dee (the instructor) and Lou (the guide) could not have been better or more fun. They were confidence-inspiring and we learned a huge amount and visibly improved over the week. The week was very well organised, communication was spot on and, despite variable weather, Dee & Lou did a great job of finding us amazing untracked snow!

Superb instruction by James. Very evident he is a mountain professional, educator and has a passion for the mountains. Despite challenging conditions in the valley due to storm weather he chose an excellent area for the course, adapted his teaching style to meet the individual needs of group members, yet still met the course content and everyones expectations. Our confidence in ski touring technique and off piste skiing improved dramatically. Superb! Thank you for a fabulous course.

Throughout each day, Alison's instruction was highly tailored to each member of our group, stemming from her observations and analysis of each person's performance. The analysis and the resulting drills, or tips, had the maximum possible impact as she guided each of us through what we needed to do to fix the problem and improve performance. Four mornings' instruction, followed by each afternoon's free skiing (practising what we had learned) was a perfect amount of time; by the end, I had absorbed so much information and things to remember that I don't think I could have handled any more!
After Alison's course, I spent the following week ski-touring in the Zillertal Alps and was amazed at how much better I was skiing; I was more confident, committing easily to each turn and remembering so much of what I had learned that I found the continually variable snow conditions easy and sooo enjoyable to ski. I was really feeling the "flow" - at last - thanks to the four days' expert instruction from Alison!

Great instruction from Dee and great guiding and tips from Kevin, all together a fantastic week, I couldn’t have asked for more.

It was educational and fun! What could be better…..😀
A splendid mix of individualised teaching, and imaginative guiding, from James and Andy – both absolutely superb.
Avalanche risk was quite high all week, but they took us to a couple of places in Switzerland to get better snow and lower risk, and in general looked after us very well. I recommend this course very highly indeed.

Attended the All about the Down course and had excellent tuition and some helpful fine adjustments which made a noticeable difference. Looking forward to putting them to good use on future touring trips!

Alison was wonderful in so many ways. She broke things down into bite-sized bits of information, that were somehow the exact thing you needed to know, and built on it over the next 4 days. The information was individualised so that you felt you were the most important person on the course (but so did everyone else). My confidence, as well as my skiing ability, has improved enormously. I just wish I had done the course years ago!

I have just done the 4 half day SPFM course in Chamonix with Alison. I have skied for over 30 years (starting in my late 20s) and been assisted by some great instructors from time to time but Alison is simply in a league of her own. I was returning to skiing after missing 2 Winters following injury and surgery and I lacked confidence, particularly off piste in flat light and cruddy snow conditions which caused me to ski defensively and make the wrong movements. Despite having grown up on skis and been a child ski racer, one of Alison’s great skills as a teacher is empathy and somehow being able to see things from the point of view of each of her students, both mentally and physically. She is passionate about skiing, encouraging her students to improve their skiing, and kind. Whilst we started the week with everyone in the group of 6 practising the same thing (with very clear direction and only a single thing to concentrate on at any time), as the week went on Alison provided individualised tips, suggestions and feedback for each of us. It was a very supportive environment and the group gelled with everyone providing compliments and encouragement. I noticed a huge improvement in the skiing of everyone in the group, particularly on difficult terrain which we searched out in order to see how our on piste drills would translate if and when we encounter less than ideal snow. I have lousy proprioception but when skiing with friends the day after the course finished on a thin ribbon of variable snow to get back from a mountain restaurant I was able to do very short radius turns and keep complete control of my speed throughout the turn thanks to Alison’s ‘hacks’. I will definitely book another course. I would encourage others to do so as well. Or, if you can’t, buy Alison’s brilliant book (although it is not a substitute for skiing with her): Off Piste Performance Essential Knowledge for Off Piste Skiers. Available from all good book shops, the usual online booksellers etc

I’ve just had an amazing week with Alison at Off Piste Performance in Chamonix. After an ACL reconstruction I’d lost a lot of confidence on skis, and Alison helped me get it back.

Her coaching is calm, supportive and incredibly clear. She really understands both the physical and mental side of returning to skiing after injury, and everything was tailored to where I was at. I felt safe, challenged in the right way, and by the end of the week I was skiing with confidence again.

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Alison — especially if you’re coming back from injury or lacking confidence. Brilliant coaching and a great experience.

Allison is a wonderful ski instructor. She is experienced, patient, and demonstrate a passion for teaching.
She was able to identify little details or mistakes, point them out sensibly, and helped me with different options to correct them. After the end of the week I can feel a noticeable improvement in my technique and greater control skiing off piste.

Her quality as an ski instructor is of the highest level. The way she’s teaches providing concepts to think of during the week and anchoring these ideas with practice is genuinely effective. It has been a far better learning experience than other ski courses.

I would come back to her lessons in the future without thinking it twice.

Very grateful to Off Piste Performance.
Great guides and a depth of experience in Northern Norway made every day a pleasure and a challenge. Definitely planning my next trip!
All the very best,
rx