Dominique Perret

Dominique Perret (born 20 November 1962 in La Chaux-de-Fonds) is a Swiss freeride skier, filmmaker and ski safety pioneer. He gained notoriety for skiing mountains that had been deemed "un-skiable" and was named the "best freeride skier of the century" at the 2000 Paris Board Awards. In 2014 he founded the International Snow Training Academy, an organization dedicated to avalanche safety and awareness.

Background Perret was born into a family of skiers, growing up less than 500m from ski lift. Perret began skiing at age 2, spending the next fifteen years developing a technical skillset on skis following the Swiss development system. His father Louis-Charles Perret was a Swiss Olympic skier and contemporary of Jean Vuarnet, the Olympic gold medalist ski racer. In 1991, he reached 131 miles per hour/ 211.825 km/h on skis at a ski racing track in Portillo, Chile. It was the world's seventh fastest time on skis at the time.

Through his films, Perret became a prominent face of European skiing, appearing as a ski model, appearing in multiple television specials and earning an estimated million dollars a year at the height of his career. In 2004, US magazine « Skiing » names him one of the 12 « stars » to change the sport. Perret would film ski films for 28 years, making his last film at age 50. Perret has warned that "around 200 individuals lose their lives every year in avalanches, which are triggered in 90% of cases by the victim or a member of their group."

In 2014, after 75 skiers were killed in avalanches, Perret developed and launched the International Snow Training Academy (ISTA), a ski education platform to improve snow safety. The organization promotes respect of nature and safety on the mountain to prevent avalanche casualties, and involves a certification program, inspired by PADI's dive certification. The system standardizes awareness and aims to ensure backcountry enthusiasts focus on prevention of avalanches, alongside recovery. The ISTA system for avalanche awareness is now implemented at resorts in Europe and North America.

Films Home Swiss Home, 2010 (Switzerland) White Noise, 2008 (Alaska) 16 Hours in Alyeska, 2007 (Alaska) Versus, 2006 (Turkey) Kaçkar Sugar, 2005 (Turkey) Red Alert 2004 (Swiss Alps) Namasté 2003 (Himachal, India) Origin 2002 (Yukon & Canada) Timeless 2001 (Norway) Y2sKi 2000 (Switzerland) Soul Pilot 1999 (Alaska) Just in Powder 1998 (Canada) Speed is my Friend 1997 (compilation) Natural Born Skier 1996 (France) Alp Fiction 1995 (Suisse) Edelweiss Powder 1994 (Suisse) Rocky's Rock 1993 (Canada) Go East 1992 (USSR) Perret-stroika 1991 (Uzbekistan, the first foreign-produced ski film shot in the former USSR) C'est Tout Bon 1990 (Canada)

Publications

1995, The Extreme Skier, 2003, Dominique Perret - Lignes de pente (Adventure Skier)