Ski Touring Academy
Ten to fifteen children learn to tour the mountains behind their village. No resort, no lift — one winter on skins, with Ryce guides. Chiora in Upper Racha is the first location.
Without a Lift
Winter in Upper Racha is long. The resorts are hours away, and the mountains above the village are hard to reach on foot. Skins solve that: the children walk up the slopes they can see from their own houses, and ski back down.
Ten to fifteen girls and boys who already ski, December to early April, with local and Ryce guides.
The Academy Model
Chiora is the first location, not the name of the project. The same winter programme — gear, guides, snow and avalanche training — can run in any village on the corridor where children already ski: Karakol and Jyrgalan in Kyrgyzstan, Bakuriani in Georgia, Brezovica in Kosovo.
This is stage 03 of the ladder: the rung between a ski club and professional guide training.
How we support the Journey
TOURING GEAR
15 to 20 complete touring sets per group: skis and bindings, skins, poles, splitboards. Bought once, kept in the village, repaired and handed down.
GUIDES
A local guide and a Ryce guide on every session. The local guide is the one who knows the slope, the weather and the families.
SNOW & AVALANCHE
Reading the snow, picking a line, and looking after each other. Avalanche awareness starts in the first month and is applied all season.
THE SEASON
December to early April, as snow and weather allow. One winter with the same group, so the skills build instead of restarting each year.
Fund the First Season
The first cohort is ten to fifteen children in Chiora. A season costs the gear, the guides’ time and the transport — the village supplies the mountain.
If the first winter works, we repeat it and open the next village.
Donation
A complete touring set — skis, bindings, skins, poles — is what keeps a child out of the cohort. Fifteen to twenty sets equip a whole group, and the gear stays in the village.
If you have touring gear to donate, or want to fund a set, please reach out.
Volunteer Work
For local projects, we are always looking for enthusiastic volunteers.
Especially in Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, and Albania, we have various projects where we could use your help.
We strive to work with local staff as much as possible, but some tasks are better suited for non-locals.
3 op Reis in Kyrgyzstan
CBT Arslanbob: supporting kids in Kyrgyzstan
Volleyball: The Westerners vs the Kyrgyz Kids
InterAlpin Messe, Innsbrück
ARVA project Kosovo
