To Ski or Not To Ski? That is the Question.

21st February 2026 | James Cove, PlanetSKI.

Last modified on February 24th, 2026

On the one hand there is the best powder, but avalanche warnings are high with large numbers of fatalities. What should one do?

100 people have died in avalanches in Europe so far this winter and we are only just over half way through the season.

The annual average of fatalities is around 100, so this winter is set to be one of the deadliest in recent years.

PlanetSKI has marked the grim total in this related news article as five people perished in Austria on Friday, Avalanche death toll in Europe passes 100

It is exceptionally dangerous out there at the moment – in fact not even ‘out there’.

Often an inviting powder slope can be seen from marked run.

Just a short traverse away.

Sometimes into an ‘avalanche trap’ of a bowl unseen from the marked run, but where there is no run-out should the weak snow pack give way with a skier passing over it.

And then there is the slope above, that you may not have seen, where someone else may set off an avalanche that ends up exactly where you are making your turns in ignorant bliss.

It has happened this winter in Val d’Isere and three people died.

Nature doesn’t respect such values of who went where and when – it is physics that decides if the slopes slides or not.

“I don’t need a transceiver, those are for people that head into the serious back county with airbags and all the rest of it,” some think.

Wrong.

Forget the airbag unless you are a pro going into seriously advanced terrain and know your stuff, but do take a transceiver whatever your level.

It may save your life if you ski off piste.

I repeat: ‘It may save your life’.

The aspect that strikes PlanetSKI the most this winter is the variety of skiers & snowboarders that have perished.

Mountain guides, instructors and experienced off piste skiers; through to parents out skiing with their kids, teenagers skiing with each other and some just caught unaware as skiers above accidently triggered a slide.

100 deaths already this winter needs to be reflected upon.

There are those who read the headlines about how deadly it is everywhere, and support calls for off piste skiing to be banned.

People should be protected from themselves runs the argument.

Perhaps the authorities should do more to make the slopes safe as they are the experts, runs another.

100 deaths is a horrifying number and the ripple effect to friends and family will cause untold sorrow to those affected and last for the rest of their lives.

Imagine going skiing with your parent,child or friends and coming back alone after they suffocate to death under metres of snow while you desperately search for them.

Imagine again.

This has been the reality this winter behind the headline numbers.

In no other sport or holiday activity do recreational participants face such real dangers.

Most are rather unaware of it.

So, what to do?

Clamp down & bans
Let everyone live for free
Education

We at PlanetSKI are firmly in the third camp, but with caveats.

Avalanches are not really about anything other than the frail nature of the snowpack away from the groomed runs.

If it is stable then with the extra weight of a skier it will stay.

If it is fragile it will slide.

It is not much to do with skier, except they have put themselves there.

They are the trigger not the underlying cause.

It is to do with nature.

I remember similar conditions a dozen years ago with sections of the press and social media advocating for off piste to be banned as the numbers dying were huge.

Others said it was impossible to avoid the lure of the powder snow.

Both positions are wrong.

I was in Val d’Isere with my then teenage son, Alex, and we were skiing with the local off piste guide, Henry Schniewind, from Henry’s Avalanche Talk (HAT).

We didn’t head for shelter, we went ski touring.

Skiing with Henry Schniewind, Val d’Isere. Image © PlanetSKI

We never went on slopes over 30 degrees (where physics dictates avalanches occur) and we never went on slopes where avalanches threatened us from above.

Henry chose his route well and educated us about the conditions while keeping a watchful eye on proceedings.

Alex, who went on to become a Canadian Level 3 instructor a decade later, learnt lessons that day that have stayed with him as Henry educated us.

He passed on his knowledge.

Off piste skiing is all about knowledge learnt over time.

Henry taught us a simple way to work out the angle of the slopes – 30 degrees and less.

Skiing with Henry Schniewind, Val d’Isere. Image © PlanetSKI

It was a learning experience, not an ego experience.

And what turns we made.

Skiing with Henry Schniewind, Val d’Isere. Image © PlanetSKI

The dangerous conditions were exactly the time to go out and learn.

Not skiing for oneself with that silly phrase ‘No friends on a powder day’ ringing in one’s ears.

Rather making turns with friends, saying ‘after you’ and keeping a close line of turns so others could enjoy the same powder later.

We experienced nature and the ever-changing snowpack with an expert, without ego attached.

True off piste skiing is not about ego, it is about nature and one’s place in it.

Much of the avalanche deaths this winter have been preceded by ‘ego’ as wrong decisions were made by individuals.

All that nonsense about ‘No friends on a powder day’.

With substantial avalanche risk in place in the Alps now is the time to learn – now there is a real time experience to learn from.

Then you can have many friends on a ‘powder day’.

Just stay well away from those 30 degree slopes and maybe go with a pro.

Update from PlanetSKI readers

We have received these reaction posts on the PlanetSKI Facebook Page:

Mille Kallstrom – People seem to think being in the mountains/skiresorts is as safe as their everyday-lives. That mindset needs to change. People scroll the pros social media feeds and think, ”wow let’s go ski powder!”

What they don’t see in social media clips are the years of experience and near misses those pros have gone through before uploading videoclips.

I think professional mountain athletes need to take lead here and teach people that the mountains are not a playground.

I’m astonished of the absences of professionals speaking out about the risks in social media.

It may seem stupid, but unfortunately this is much needed.

Enrico Schaepfer – Why even bother to question? When the risk is that high the answer is a clear no… if you take the risk let your family know that you do it and tell them not to cry because it is your life and your decision…

Julian Cousins – No bragging rights if you’re dead.

Paul Mckeen – Go if you want

Paul Biffen – 100 dead from avalanches. That says it all. If it is a 4 or 5 avalanche warning then it is irresponsible and selfish to ski off piste

Why should the local authorities who know the mountains have to be also be put at risk to dig out and save people or dead bodies?

Nick Davies – Need informed decisions and knowledge of terrain… There are still safe areas to ski off-piste even when risk is high. People won’t like that obvious fact though.

Tony Holland – Well considering how many people have died the answer is pretty obvious.

Alar Mozolev – That’s no question. Not to go.

Feel free to add your thoughts on the PlanetSKI Facebook page.

PlanetSKI: Number 1 for digital ski news

Your digital platform for ski news, resort information, travel, equipment rental, sport, money saving deals and everything connected with snowsports – web site, social media & more.