If skiing off-piste, always ski with a local mountain guide who knows the area. Avalanches can never be foreseen, but local guides have experience of the area and know where avalanches normally occur. In addition, the guides also know the history of the winter in terms of how much, when and under what conditions snow has fallen. This knowledge, and the ability to use it in practice, is crucial when having to determine the risk of avalanches.

Before you begin skiing, ask people at the local ski school or at the ski patrol office about the actual danger of avalanches. Due to changing weather conditions, the risk of avalanches can vary from day to day, even from hour to hour.