Ortisei off-piste & powder guide
South Tyrol, Italy · 1236m to 2518m
No documented zones for Ortisei yet
We publish off-piste routes only where we have them from a named, published resort guide. We do not have one for Ortisei, and inventing lift names, walk-in times or exit routes for avalanche terrain is not something we are willing to do.
The avalanche guidance below applies everywhere. For terrain specific to Ortisei, speak to the local ski school, the piste patrol or a mountain guide bureau in resort.
The avalanche danger scale
Every European bulletin uses this five-level scale. The column that matters most is the last one: around half of all avalanche deaths happen at level 3, not at the extremes, because that is when the snow still looks worth skiing.
1. Low
about 5% of fatalitiesGenerally stable snowpack. Triggering is only possible with high additional loads, and only in extreme terrain. Natural avalanches are small at most.
The most favourable conditions of the season. Terrain choice still matters in isolated extreme spots.
Forecast on about 20% of the season
2. Moderate
about 30% of fatalitiesThe snowpack is only moderately well bonded on some steep slopes. Triggering is mainly possible with high additional loads. Very large natural avalanches are unlikely.
Conditions look benign and catch people out. Roughly a third of fatalities happen at this level.
Forecast on about 50% of the season
3. Considerable
about 50% of fatalitiesThe snowpack is moderately to poorly bonded on many steep slopes. Triggering is possible even from a single skier. Large avalanches are possible.
The most dangerous level in practice. It carries about half of all avalanche deaths, because the skiing still looks good and the snowpack no longer needs much provocation.
Forecast on about 30% of the season
4. High
about 10% of fatalitiesThe snowpack is poorly bonded on most steep slopes. Triggering is likely even from a single skier, and numerous large natural avalanches are expected.
Off-piste travel should be limited to low-angle terrain well away from anything steep above you.
Forecast on only a few days a year
5. Very High
rare enough that no share is publishedAn extraordinarily unstable snowpack. Numerous very large and often extremely large natural avalanches are expected, even on moderately steep terrain.
Do not go off-piste. Roads and parts of the resort itself may be closed.
Forecast on very rarely forecast
Scale and statistics from European Avalanche Warning Services - Avalanche Danger Scale.
What you need to carry
Transceiver
Worn on your body, not in your pack, and switched to transmit before you leave the lift. Every member of the group needs one; a single person without makes the whole group less safe.
Probe
Pinpoints the burial once the transceiver has brought you close, so you dig in the right place first time rather than in a hole beside them.
Shovel
A real collapsible avalanche shovel. Digging is the slowest part of a rescue, and it is what actually gets your partner out.
Airbag pack (optional)
Helps keep you nearer the surface in a moving slide. It supplements the three items above and never replaces them.
How to ski it
Read the bulletin before you go, every day
The danger level, the problem type and the aspects and altitudes it applies to matter more than anything on this page. Conditions change overnight.
Practise with your kit until the search is instinctive
Owning a transceiver is not the same as being able to use one under pressure. Run search drills at the start of every season.
Never ski off-piste alone
Companion rescue is the only rescue fast enough to matter. Burial survival drops sharply after about fifteen minutes.
Ski steep slopes one at a time
Exposing one person at a time keeps the rest of the group free to dig, and reduces the load on the slope.
Hire a guide for terrain you do not know
Local guides know which aspects have loaded, which lines cliff out and where this season's weak layer sits. Every resort guide on this page says the same thing.
Plan the exit before you drop in
Several classic routes finish in a different valley or a long way from a lift. Know how you are getting home, and what time the last lift and last bus run.