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Skiing, Snowboarding, Telemark and Mountain Guides can be located for Europe’s premier skiing resorts such as: – Alpe d’huez, Avoriaz, Chamonix, Courchevel, La Plagne, Les Arcs, Les Deux Alpes, Meribel, Morzine, Tignes, Val d’Isere, Val Thorens, Verbier and Zermatt.
Use the site to find your ideal snowsports professional for all snowsports from Downhill Skiing, Snowboarding, Telemarking to Ski Touring.
1) Chamonix: The Vallee Blanche
The world famous Vallee Blanche starts at the top of the Aiguille Du Midi with a roped descent on foot to the glacier below. Magnificent scenery is not the only distraction, as the huge glacier must be tackled with care due to crevasses. This is a day trip to remember and there are several variations to suit intermediate level skiers upwards. Always go with a fully qualified mountain guide.
2) Courchevel: The 3 Valleys: Combe Saulire
This famous red run in Courchevel gains its reputation from always being immaculately groomed with fantastic snow conditions. Long and wide it provides skiers of all abilities the chance to cruise down with effortless joy. Get there first thing in the morning for the best conditions.
3) Morzine / Avoriaz: The World Cup downhill course
High above the town of Avoriaz at the top of the ‘Hauts Forts’, the world cup downhill run starts its long journey down towards Les Prodains in the valley below. The piste is marked black all the way and is used on the women’s Alpine world cup downhill calendar. Although challenging it is possible for experienced recreational skiers to tackle in good snow conditions. As you arrive at the end of the run you will feel a sense of achievement and a well-deserved rest in the excellent restaurant, before jumping on the cable car back up to Avoriaz.
4) Zermatt: Klein Matterhorn
The Klein Matterhorn lift is the highest cable car in Europe at 3820 meters. You walk through a tunnel carved through the rock and appear on the glacier with fantastic views of the Matterhorn right in front of you. From here you can ski all the way down into the town of Zermatt itself. In total you will descend 2200 vertical meters and ski for 13 kilometres taking in some of the world’s most stunning scenery. Best in good weather conditions and normally fully open between late November and April.
5) Verbier: Vallon d’Arby
Verbier is renowned for its off piste skiing but Vallon d’Arby is a must do route for any powder snow fanatic. It is marked as an itinerary route on the piste map and when closed must always be skied with a fully qualified guide. The access to Vallon d’Arby is via a road carved out of the mountainside by a machine. After a heavy snowfall this route can be tricky, but once the main skiing bowls are reached there is a huge descent through open fields and into trees finally ending up in the village of La Tzoumaz.
6) Val d’Isère: Col Pers off piste ski run
Val d’Isère has an incredible array of ski runs, one of the all time classic off piste routes is the Col Pers, this can be accessed from Val d’Isere’s Pissaillas glacier. This run can be tricky if one descends in the wrong direction therefore it is always advised to take a professional ski instructor or mountain guide to show you the way and how to ski the mixture of powder snow and steep slopes! The ski run route ends up in Le Fornet.
7) Tignes: Vallon de la Sache
Although Tignes has an abundance of fantastic piste skiing it does also have some classic off piste routes. The Vallon de la Sache is located beside the famous Aiguille Percee or eye of the needle, a formation in the rock that has been there for millions of years. The first part of the descent is steep but afterwards the skiing becomes gentler. You can ski all the way down to Tignes le Brevieres way down in the valley which is the lowest point in the resort. This makes the Vallon de la Sache one of the longest off piste itineraries in the Alps.
Take a professional.
8) Les Deux Alpes: Vallons de la Meije and La Grave
Les Deux Alpes is a huge resort and for most skiers or snowboarders you will find enough to keep you occupied for weeks. If your sense of adventure gets the better of you then hire a qualified mountain guide and ask them to take you to La Grave. From the top of the glacier you can hitch a ride on a piste machine that will take you across the high altitude terrain to La Grave. This is not just one ski run but a resort of almost exclusively off piste skiing. Even the marked runs are itinerary routes and are great fun themselves. Deviating from them requires the services of a guide and most of the skiing is on glaciated terrain.
9) Alpe d’huez: La Sarenne
Officially the longest black run in the word the Sarenne is a classic route that will take you from the highest point in the skiing area all the way down to the bottom of the Chalvet ski lift over 1000 vertical meters below. Although not technically challenging as a whole, the run is not usually groomed at all and as it is so long, provides a challenge for all levels of skier and snowboarder. Best to start first thing in the morning when the legs feel fresh and finish with a nice lunch in one of the many mountain restaurants.
10) La Plagne: The Paradiski region: Montchavin powder skiing
The Paradiski region is the combined area of skiing for Les Arcs and La Plagne. The area is fantastic for all levels of skier and in the right snow conditions (light, fresh powder snow) the slopes between the Dos Rond and Mont St Jacques in the Monchavin/Les Coches sector are great for perfecting those powder turn techniques. These big open bowls are easily accessible and not too steep. Closer to the villages lies some excellent tree skiing which on a bad weather day provides excellent shelter from poor visibility. Remember not to go off piste without a qualified mountain guide or instructor.
But, the reality of the current economic climate and exchange rate between the Pound and the Euro has put extra pressure on UK holiday maker.
The good news is that there are plenty of options available out there as the competition between airlines, tour operators and travel agencies heats up.
The budget airlines are as ever fighting it out. Travellers need to take advantage of this as airlines like Easy Jet and Ryanair travel to great locations and are offering great deals.
Grenoble is a fantastic airport for resorts such as Les Deux Alpes and Alpe d’Huez and both Ryanair and Easy Jet fly from multiple UK departure points.
Geneva serves the major French resorts like Morzine, Avoriaz and Chamonix in Haute Savoie as well as those in the Savoie region such as Val d’Isere, Tignes, Meribel and Courchevel. Verbier and Zermatt in Switzerland is also best accessed by Geneva. Geneva airport is used by Easy Jet and British Airways who have some great deals.
It’s worth thinking about getting a larger group of friends together for a skiing trip. With a larger group you have the economy of scale to save money on your accommodation, a major outlay on any holiday. Usually you will be offered a free place in a stunning chalet with flights and transport if you can assemble a large group, do enquire. Once your flights have been booked then check out the options from the airport to the resort. If there is a large group of you then renting a car can be a good option, beware, ski resorts nowadays are cracking down on cars, encouraging you to park up upon your arrival fast, this can be expensive to park your car, this is all part of the current green picture. Otherwise the options for coach and mini bus transfers are plentiful. Finding your ski instructor, snowboard instructor or mountain guide these days is also a simple process. With the abundance of options available in all the major resorts, from the larger ski schools to independent instructors, the choice has never been better. Make sure you get your lessons booked up before you leave, this is easy to do for the premier resorts that we go to, check out: – theskischools.com if you have not already. Book your skiing lessons via the site. Interactive resorts are a specialised chalet operator, they have great deals right now and they come highly recommended by us, visit them today to book one of the best deals about.The great thing about the internet is the ability for all of us to become our own travel agents. Booking your accommodation through an independent chalet operator or an in-resort accommodation agency can save large amounts of money.
Even in these tough times, look around, there are many opportunities to enjoy a great winter sports holiday without breaking the budget.
See interactiveresorts here.
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Another weekend, another adventure. We finally broke out of the corn cycle in the PNW last week, but not by much. A mid-week storm left 6-10” of new snow across the Cascades, mostly at the upper elevations. Without the dedication to drive a couple hours south to Rainier or north to Baker, we set out to find what we could locally. Saturday backcountry from the resort gave us some beta on aspects and elevations, and on Sunday we headed off to a new zone looking for the goods.
The trailhead started us low, and we knew we’d be in for hiking for a while. The snowshoe trail took us back up a river valley, making good time in spite of slippery hiking and multiple stream crossings. Doubts grew, as we knew that eventually we’d have to bushwhack off the trail up to the ridge above us, an uninviting prospect with firm snow and thick trees. After gaining some ground up a few switchbacks, we finally found a stand of old growth that might allow access to the ridge.
(No new snow down here, Lulu Bael and Chris Barchet start to go up. Photos by Graham Gephart.)
One foot after the other, we set our bootpack. Firm snow slowly softened to a thinner crust with a dusting on top, and the steps became easier. The forest thinned and eventually the sky became visible ahead, as we burst out of the trees just below the ridge. After a long morning and a stop for lunch, we were finally able to put our skis on for skinning.
(Breaking out of the trees, looking back at last week’s ski on Granite Peak.)
Wind had hammered up high the night before, leaving a variable pack from a few inches of hard slab to mid-shin drifts. We covered ground up the ridge quickly on skins, getting a read for the new terrain, and trying to evaluate the snow around us. East-facing chutes looked enticing above the bowl, but an initial pit changed our plans to ascending a west-facing line of trees instead. Getting near the top, thick fog beset our skin track, and our minds could only imagine much of our new surroundings.
(Tempting-looking chutes on the east-facing ridge, but too much wind.)
(Lulu and Chris skinning up in the fog and rime.)
The topo placed us on a high shoulder two-hundred feet from the true summit, but with nothing visible directly in front of us, it was clear that our climbing had come to an end. We’d scouted some routes down while climbing, and we’d positioned ourselves well over a diagonal chute that held good snow.
(There’s a summit out there somewhere.)
After nearly 6 weeks since the last powder in the Cascades, the first turns felt great. The heavy, wind-blown snow held the perfect consistency down the double-fall line of the diagonal, with thin breaks of trees holding deep drifts.
(Lulu looking down the diagonal.)
Before bottoming out the basin, we traversed back out to the ridge. We hit our ascent track nearly perfectly, and looked back on our line with some pride and amazement. We’d found our way up to someplace new, changed our plans after evaluating the stability, navigated the zone cleanly in tough visibility, and found some great turns along the way.
(Finally, Lulu gets some fresh powder turns.)
There was still more descent to come, a fast dust-on-crust ski through the old growth that returned us to the hiking trail. We tried skiing out the luge run, but too many stream crossings and teeth chattered loose from the tree-littered, frozen hardpack kept us from getting all the way out on skis as we had the week before. Skis back on our packs, we walked the final stretch back to the cars with tired legs and big smiles.
(Fast tracks out the luge run.)
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