Adventures in Verbier

At the end of a long ski season, after many weeks of ski boot fitting at the Profeet Lab, the staff are rewarded for their dedication with a team trip to the snow.

This year the destination was Verbier. Read Profeet Team member Polly’s account of the trip.

Day 1:

After a long day travelling the day before, it’s safe to say the excitement of being able to ski with rumours of Verbier having the ‘best conditions all season’ had the technicians buckled up in Profeet’s signature Custom fitted Ski Boots and grasping their Head skis whilst lining up eagerly for the first lift!

And the rumours did not disappoint; Blue Bird skies with freshly groomed and empty slopes, its safe to say the skiers-high was in full swing.

A few runs in before meeting up with our good friends from the Warren Smith Ski Academy where Rob took the ski technicians off for a short lesson. While we pride ourselves in being experts in the equipment-side of skiing, some of us hadn’t been able to get out since Covid-19. So, breaking down the basics was a vital and informative way to remind us how our boot-fitting skills can affect someone’s skiing technique, and vice-versa.

Lessons included forcing us to go slow, exaggerate our turns as Rob broke down the segments of a turn, ski on just the outside ski, just the inside ski and at one point with the boots completely un-done (yes, completely!).

While us ski technicians at Profeet are all avid skiers and have been for the majority of our lives, completing the steepest of blacks and straight lining it down a run with ease, it is important to remember if you don’t spend time to break down a turn into sections, identifying lower and upper body requirement and positioning, it will be hard to advance your skiing. Whether that may be giving off-piste a go, wanting to learn a new trick, or just simply a regular holiday goer who only goes a week a year, such lessons will teach you more than you think.

A quick visit to the top of Mont Fort, spotting Mont Blanc to our right and the Matterhorn to our left with a small trail of ants making their way along The Haute Route, we continued on with the day. Our technical knowledge advancing with each run before we gradually made our way back to Verbier town.

While it may be the end of the season and the empty slopes feel like you’re the only one there, all good things go out with a bang, right? Right! We were greeted with half of Verbier walking round in dress-up with some incredible face painting as the ski shops had their end-of-season parties. Converting the boot rooms in to bars and workshops into a private club…votes on putting a disco ball in the Profeet workshop put your hands up!

Day 2:

Another beautiful Blue Bird morning and the first lift was another obvious choice. Today was a relaxed day with the Ski technicians whizzing around the resort again and the Run Technicians taking the opportunity to explore the resort on foot in some of our new Trail Shoes.

After skiing every run in the resort twice, we ended with some skiers, a snowboarder, a (just alive) beginner and some impressive goggle tan lines, and made our way into the pub, for a very happy happy-hour.

Day 3:

We caught up with Warren again on day 3, but this time having a go at off-piste. A few of the technicians rose to the challenge with the rest deciding to stick to the resort pistes and giving a couple of the Run technicians some guidance by sharing a few of Rob’s pointers.

A few warm-up runs in and it was time to break the fundamentals down again.

Off Piste
On-piste and off-piste skiing aren’t as different as people may think, as long as you, the skier, has control and understands the needs and demands of each part of the turn. However, where off-piste does differ is the exposure to more external and uncontrollable factors. The route can differ each day depending on the snow conditions and the time of day with sun exposure. If you are looking to explore off-piste beyond nipping the other-side of the piste poles, we highly recommend hiring a guide who knows their skill but more importantly who knows the resort.

Jump Turn
We started learning about zero-speed turns, about how to submit to gravity and placing nearly 80-85% of your body weight through your pole to ‘fall’ into the next turn, leading from the upper body and the hips. Once acquired, these turns advanced into jump turns whilst also learning about touring equipment and their vital role.

Technical Advancement
Once confidence was gained in those skills we headed off down an itinerary route to Tortin where we were exposed to conditions closer to an off-piste experience without full commitment. A great way to start if you are looking to expand into off-piste. One-by-one we went down, listening to Warren as he explained to us his thought process of the route chosen whist also identifying individual factors that may be limiting us from efficient technical advancement, though it took us each a few falls, luckily in soft snow, for us to know the error of our ways.

Safety awareness
Before long, we were traversing along from Col des Gentianes into the Highway. We were all aware of the unfortunate events that occurred a few weeks before our visit to Verbier, where lives were lost to a beastly avalanche, highlighting the importance of adequate off-piste equipment along with awareness and knowledge of off-piste skiing. Fortunately for us the conditions were reassuringly adequate if the correct approach is taken.

We started making our way down a steep Couloir that was the width of two ski lengths, putting the jump turns into good practice before descending all the way down to Tortin.

Practice makes perfect
Back up we went to hit the highway again, taking a different route and traversing further round into the cirque. Slowly but surely, the technical movements became more fluid as we felt more confident in the softer snow, using our hips to initiate the turns as we placed our body weight through the pole allowing the uphill foot to glide round through the turn.

A quick lunch stop to ease the leg cramps before we were back up and eager. Going all the way up to Mont Fort, veering off the right and going off-piste under the cable car, we followed tracks to descend down past Col des Gentianes and continued back to Tortin. At this point the quads were cramping like never before and the heart was pounding in the spring sun…but maybe another run and then we’ll call it.

Safe to say those few beers on the balcony as we watched the mountains turn from snow white to glistening golden to luminous pink as the sun set, went down a treat!

Day 4:

Our last full day and the last thing we expected this late in the season, SNOW! The clouds had rolled in and the peaks where covered. But in the town big, fluffy snowflakes came down. We waited a little while for a good layering on the pistes before scurrying to the lift.
At every opportunity we cut the corners and dipped round the piste-poles to feel the light, fluffy, untouched powder. Safe to say Warrens tips and tricks from the day before came in very handy!

A couple fun runs in before we met up with some Verbier locals. The clouds came in strong as we headed down an itinerary route to Tortin, focusing on where we planted our poles to feel the ground beneath us and sticking together as the visibility dropped. Before long, we had made it down to the tree line where we navigated our way though the trees off-piste for a private run as the snow softly floated its way down. Quite possibly one of the most peaceful and beautiful moments you could experience whilst skiing.

One by one, people started to call it as although the snow still felt untouched, the wind also picked up, humbling us that to ski safe you must also remember your ability and comfort levels. For those who decided to ski down with caution, we took our final few attempts at nipping off the beaten track, feeling very appreciative and lucky.

Day 5:

Originally not planned as a ski day, the snow from the day before combined with the fresh, blue sky of this morning, an extra days lift past was quickly nabbed up!

Aware we only had half a day, we whizzed round the resort in the glorious fresh powder. The itinerary route to Tortin, seemingly a challenging but a favourite run of the week, was now an even more enjoyable experience as opposed to tackling icy mounds as the moguls where given a soft, cushioned layer.

The hours ticked down as we squeezed in as much as we could (think kids in a candy store!), before we had to make our way down the final run to start the journey back to London.

Thank you Verbier!

Appreciation:

This week was a memorable experience for all of us and we would like to say thank you to everyone who made this trip possible.

Toren & Shula – the wonderful managers who closed up the Sports Lab and organised everything for seamless week

Warren Smith – and his Warren Smith Ski Academy warriors to allow us the opportunity to be taught by them, we look forward to more opportunities together in the future

Mountain Beds – for accommodating our stay in one of their gorgeous Chalets

Head Skis – for sending us some of their skis that we could use during the week

La Boit’Askis – for storing our skis and Profeet custom ski boots with such easy access in the centre if Verbier and renting top of the range touring equipment.

And to all the warm and welcoming hospitality of Verbier to make our experience even that more memorable.