MPI’s view on the ‘On/Off Piste’ question
What is a piste
A piste is commonly known as an area of snow flattened by ski or machine.
A run is a designated area marked out by the authorities, pistures, and shown on a ski map. These are usually pisted by machine before opening but not always. When not pisted this can be described as soft snow which you will also find off piste. An off piste area could become pisted in time by skiers and thus becomes a piste although it is still ‘off piste’.
The OED confuses the above by describing a piste as a ski run of compacted snow. This is not necessarily the cases.
Some runs are designated ‘off piste’ runs or itinerate.
Runs will be cleared for avalanche risk and ‘swept’ (checking everyone is off the slopes) at the end of the day.
MPI’s Insurance Policies have the follow
We have for many years been concerned about this aspect of cover in Wintersports policies generally and we are aware that there are some schemes, including those purporting to be dedicated ski insurance plans which excludes skiing off piste or restrict this to skiing with a guide.
It is our view that this is impractical as one can ski off piste unwittingly and in certain circumstances it is possible to be skiing on a ‘pisted run’ which is designated off piste.
It is due to this type of confusion that we at MPI Brokers provide our customers ski insurance with no such exclusion or limitations in the policy. There is however a general requirement common to all insurance to behave in a reasonable and sensible manner.
