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If money was no object, where would you go for the ultimate skiing and snow sports experiences? From the Alps to the Rockies to Scandinavia… from cross-country skiing to heli-skiing to skeleton, we present the ten greatest snow adventures all skiers should tick off before they die.
Heli-skiing (Alaska, USA)
By far the largest state in the United States, Alaska has multiple options for heli-skiing. Pioneered back in the 1950s, the sport began to really flourish in the 1990s. And it’s Valdez, an old mining and fishing outpost on the shores of Prince William Sound – as well as the surrounding Chugach Mountains – that are considered by many to be the sport’s mecca.
Nowadays, several operators offer heli-skiing out of Valdez, including Pulseline Adventure, Elemental Adventure, Black Ops Valdez, Valdez Heli-Ski Guides and Alaska Backcountry Guides.
“Geologically smiled upon, the Chugach Mountains jut out of the North Pacific Ocean at improbably steep angles,” explain Valdez Heli-Ski Guides. “Between the endless array of peaks, ridges, and glaciers, lie endless couloirs, natural halfpipes and frozen waves, wide-open faces, powder-filled bowls and scenic glacier runs. Most descents are around 3,500 vertical feet, but some runs are twice that.”
Haute Route (Chamonix, France)
They call it “the Queen of the Alps”. The Haute Route, arguably the most famous ski tour on the planet, runs for around 180kms from Chamonix in France to Zermatt in Switzerland, twisting its way through the highest peaks of the Alps, starting near Mont Blanc and finishing close to the Matterhorn. It was first completed in 1911.
Open to experienced ski tourers, it requires both technical ability and extreme fitness. Crampons, ropes, ice axes and avalanche safety gear are essential. Most mortals require seven or more days to complete it, staying in mountain refuges along the way. Many drop out early.
www.chamonixmontblancguides.com/haute-route/historic-haute-route-ski-tour
The Swiss Wall (Portes du Soleil, France/Switzerland)
This ski slope, also known as Le Pas de Chavanette, is so treacherous that they had to invent a new colour for it. Steep and plagued with moguls throughout, it’s too difficult to be classed a black piste. Instead, it has been rated orange.
Reached via the French resort of Avoriaz, it starts on the Swiss-French border and plunges down the Swiss side for around 1km towards Les Crosets, with a vertical drop of over 330 metres and an inclination of up to 90 per cent at its steepest. During a busy winter, when multiple skiers descend it, the moguls at the top of the piste get carved out – some ending up the size of small cars.
“The most difficult piste in Europe,” is how the resort describes it. “A slope that makes the best of us dizzy. A place where mistakes are not allowed. Its name alone sends shivers down skiers’ spines.”
https://www.avoriaz.com/en/to-discover/blog/the-swiss-wall
Powder skiing (Niseko, Japan)
In mid-winter, very dry and very cold air moves eastwards across the steppes of Russia and China, eventually hitting the Sea of Japan. Here it sucks up moisture from the water before dumping it as fluffy snow once it makes landfall on the Japanese archipelago. The result is some of the best powder skiing on the planet.
Niseko United, one of the country’s top ski resorts, is a great place to experience this enviable white stuff for the first time. Here, you’ll find four interconnected areas – Grand Hirafu, Hanazono, Niseko Village and Annupuri – all surrounding the base of the mighty Mt. Niseko, which looms 1,308 metres above.
Cresta Run (St Moritz, Switzerland)
There are two crucial things you need to know before you attempt St Moritz’s famous natural ice track, The Cresta Run. Firstly, it’s for skeleton riders, so you have to descend headfirst on nothing much more than a beefed up tea tray. Secondly, it’s long (over 1.2kms) and very steep, so that experienced riders can reach speeds up to 80mph. When your nose is just centimetres off the ice, that can be very scary indeed.
First constructed in 1884 by officers of the British Army, this infamous track is now owned and operated by the St Moritz Tobogganing Club. Complete beginners are welcome, with a current access fee of 700 Swiss Francs for five rides.
But be warned: drop concentration for just a second and you risk flying off the track – especially on the most treacherous bend known as Shuttlecock. Many a hapless tobogganer ends up in hospital.
Big C (Big Sky, Montana, USA)
The locals call it the Big Couloir, or the Big C, for short. Dropping sharply down for 400 metres from the summit of Lone Mountain – in the Montana ski resort of Big Sky – it really is very big indeed.
Starting at 3,340 metres above sea level, and accessed by cable car, it twists down the north face of the mountain, through a tight gulley, with sharp rocks on either side. At its narrowest, it’s just four-and-a-half metres wide. At its steepest, the angle of decline reaches 50 degrees.
Graded triple black diamond, the Big C is so demanding that you need permission from ski patrol, as well as avalanche gear and a ski partner or guide in order to attempt it.
At the top, it is often very icy. Then comes a dog leg in the couloir when you must ski around a patch of rocks called the Cheese-grate.
Be warned, this is for expert skiers only. Lose your balance at any point and you will likely tumble all the way down, perhaps colliding with a few rocks on the way.
https://www.bigskyresort.com/blog/preparing-to-drop-into-the-big-couloir
Back country skiing (Kazakhstan)
If you want to ski off the beaten track, then Kazakhstan, in central Asia, will provide you with the adventure of a lifetime. Fly to the city of Almaty and then head to the Tian Shan or Altai mountain ranges where you can stay in traditional yurts and access back country wilderness in snowcats or on snowmobiles.
Several operators offers tours, including Powder Nomads, Mountain Tracks, Ryce Travel and Powder Hounds.
“In remote corners of Kazakhstan mountains, there is no infrastructure, mobile communications or marked trails,” explain Powder Nomads. “The mountains are harsh and at the same time hospitable to those who understand them. The most wonderful, unforgettable adventure of life.”
Corbet’s Couloir (Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA)
In the early 1960s, mountaineer Barry Corbet spotted a narrow gap in one of the summits of the Teton Mountains, high above the ski resort of Jackson Hole, and famously predicted that “someday someone will ski that”. He wasn’t wrong. Thousands of intrepid skiers have since negotiated this skinny couloir – some successfully, others less so.
What makes Corbet’s so tricky is that, to enter the couloir, skiers must first take a leap of faith, dropping vertically through the air – sometimes 30 feet down, depending on snow conditions – before landing on the slope. Then follows an incredibly steep descent, lined on both sides by sharp rocks. Only experts should attempt this.
Every year, in February, the resort stages an elite-level competition on the couloir called Kings & Queens of Corbet’s.
Northern Lights (Levi, Finland)
In Finland, they call the Northern Lights ‘revontulet’, meaning ‘fire fox’. The name derives from an ancient myth that Arctic foxes would race through the sky, creating sparks as their tails brushed against the mountains.
Nowadays we know that aurora borealis are caused by solar winds interacting with Earth’s magnetic field and upper atmosphere.
And what better place to view them than on the snow? From the Finnish resort of Levi, up inside the Arctic Circle, you can head out on skis, snowshoes, dogsleds, reindeer or snowmobiles to view this wonderful natural phenomenon. You can even stay the night in a glass-roofed cabin.
levi.northernlightsvillage.com
Vasaloppet (Sweden)
It’s the world’s oldest and biggest cross-country ski race. Staged every March in central Sweden, Vasaloppet stretches across a 90km course, and welcomes over 15,000 skiers in the main event, many thousands more in the subsidiary races. It was first held in 1922 and, apart from a couple of cancellations, has taken place annually ever since.
It’s all thanks to a Scandinavian nobleman called Gustav Vasa that the race exists. In the 1500s, he was fleeing from the army of King Christian II, the Danish ruler of Scandinavia, who had murdered his parents, along with much of the Swedish aristocracy. In fear of his life, Vasa cross-country skied across Sweden towards the Norwegian border. Eventually he led an uprising against the occupying Danes, and established Sweden as an independent nation.
His original escape route is now the basis for the modern-day race.
December 23, 2025
