Freeskiing (Freeriding) in Italy

I was enjoyng so much the videos posted by Tyrone inthe Big mountain competition vs freeskiing movie making thread that when I "stumbled" across the following I couldn't resist but open a thread...

In a NL forun I found the link to this video, the people freeskiing/freeriding here are all mountain guides who were taking part in a workshop (WORKSHOP FREE RIDE Passo del Tonale 2-5 aprile 2009) concerning the "state of the affair" re freeskiing/freeriding.

Keep in mind that here the two terms encompasses also skiing-off piste (off groomed) at a resort, since the "inbound/outbound" concept doesn't really exist...

I didn't really paid too much attention to the discussion, the video was stoking meugh, but I grasped bits

reporting that :

-In at least one region it's been made law that anyone skiing off-piste must be equipped with the safety

gear (beacon, shovel, probe and thermal cover)

-In another region, as soon as people go off-piste police fine them...

-Some routes declared "open" (not in the region above but in the place where the workshop has been held) had policemen at the base inspecting arriving people for said equipment (not all the time)

-In the NL forum, some poster proposed that the freeskiing/riding terrain (let's call it this way) be made accessible only through gates which will open via the radio signal emitted by the beacons (letting in only people equipped with the safety gear, thus)

Discuss at will, but first, enjoy!  Video should be available in hq as well.

Pump up the volume!

Indeed it is...

BTW I skied some of those lines, many, many years ago, on 200 cm GS skis, having as guide some mountain soldier - "Alpino" - stationed there at Tonale "barracks" (in fact a converted hotel)...

I had a ton of fun, but I don't think I could ski those places now.

Also, totally irresponsible of us, we had absolutely no safety equipment with us (random maniacs without skill, as far as it concerned myself. As for the the soldiers, well for them it was just "BAU")

Hehe, Ghost, you're right. In those times the best form of prevention was to "scare" un-skilled people off...

And to team up with "locals" or knowledgeable people, or to seek a  Guide services...

Still, I attended a week long AT course in 1987 (after the events described...) and the basics are the same as today, we learned how to operate a beacon, what where to ski and where not...

Notsosmart, you made me smile, I know other 12 y.o. being kicked out of saki school for being 12 y.o., one in particular wanted so strongly to be right on the instructor's tail tat he was throwing other children out of his way when not allowed to...

Me, don't know why, but in all class pictures I still have around was either the lone kid in the class or there were two of us at the max. This meant that all adults, instructors and "students" were collaborating at keeping us (me) in line...teee hee (not that they had much work to do with me, I was a very quiet kid...)

MEfree30, I remember you writing about living in Bourg St. Maurice...

Let me see, reading you list and without much thinking, I'd say a small sized town like Aosta might do.

-For a 5 years old, school will mean to attend the "elementary" school cycle (6 to 11 y.o.)

 But instruction will be in Italian only I fear, and that to a kid could mean a lot of work.

 Now, with a French wife, your daughter is probably bilingual and speaks French and English well, right?

 Aosta is in a bilingual region, and the local language is a patois akin to the one spoken in Savoy (which were, in past times part of the same "country") and French is taught in schools. I don't know if there is an "american" school in Aosta, but that would be a private school (and thus very expensive)

 Being placed in a bilingual region, your wife will not feel "isolated" (even if "montagnards" in Italy can be pretty ermetic people, usually they stick to their own..) and I know for experience what kind of trouble could rise if your S.O feels "isolated"

-About 600 mt a.s.l.

-With, 35k inhabitants, good chances that services, like swimming pools, be available.

 Oh, golf here is considered a luxury activity, so it is very expensive.

-Basketball team, mmmh, sorry but I don't know about it, you looking for a top team or just a team?

-Ski...let me see...Pila is accessible by cable car directly from the town.

 Then at a short drive distance you've got Courmayeur / Chamonix to the north, Monterosa ski to the   south, just to name two of the better known area...

This is my first thought, give me some more time to think and to "talk" to mr Prickly about it...