Courchevel off-piste & powder guide

Savoie, France · 1100m to 2738m · 5 documented zones

Finding powder at Courchevel

Courchevel hides a lot of off-piste behind its manicured reputation, from gentle powder fields above Moriond to the couloirs off the Saulire ridge. The far-flung routes towards the Vallee des Avals take you well away from the lift system.

Lift-accessed zones — no walking

Ride up, drop in. These 1 zones need no hiking, which also means they are the first to get tracked out after a storm.

Bel Air

Courchevel Moriond sector

Backcountry - no patrolIntermediate

The gentlest and most forgiving off-piste in Courchevel, on either side of the lifts above Moriond. The place to learn to ski powder.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Pyramide or Signal or Chapelets
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed.
Getting back
Rejoins the Moriond pistes.

Worth the walk — hike-to zones

Every one of these needs time on foot, which is exactly why the snow lasts longer. Walk-in times below are as published by the resort guides.

Petit Couloir

Saulire sector

Backcountry - no patrolExpertGuide recommended

A short hike from the Grand Couloir piste opens the Petit Couloir, a proper steep line off the Saulire ridge.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Saulire cable car
Walk in
A short hike from the Grand Couloir piste.
Getting back
Descends back to the Courchevel pistes.
Known hazards
  • Sustained steep couloir terrain

Croix des Verdons Couloir

Saulire sector

Backcountry - no patrolExpertGuide recommended

Climbing a little further along the ridge than the Petit Couloir reaches a second, quieter line.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Saulire cable car
Walk in
Climb a little further from the Grand Couloir piste.
Getting back
Descends back to the Courchevel pistes.
Known hazards
  • Sustained steep couloir terrain

Equinox Pitch

Chanrossa sector

Backcountry - no patrolAdvanced

A fifteen minute hike from the top of the Chanrossa chair, and one of the best things in Courchevel on a powder day.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Chanrossa chairlift
Walk in
15 min — A fifteen minute hike from the top of the chair.
Getting back
Descends back into the Chanrossa sector.

Vallee des Avals

Chanrossa sector

Backcountry - no patrolExpertGuide recommended

A long committing route that takes you a long way from any pisted terrain, together with the neighbouring Col du Fruit.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Chanrossa chairlift
Walk in
Committing route away from the lift system.
Getting back
Ends well away from the pistes; plan your return before setting off.
Known hazards
  • Takes you far from any pisted area
  • No quick way back

The avalanche danger scale

Every European bulletin uses this five-level scale. The column that matters most is the last one: around half of all avalanche deaths happen at level 3, not at the extremes, because that is when the snow still looks worth skiing.

1. Low

about 5% of fatalities

Generally stable snowpack. Triggering is only possible with high additional loads, and only in extreme terrain. Natural avalanches are small at most.

The most favourable conditions of the season. Terrain choice still matters in isolated extreme spots.

Forecast on about 20% of the season

2. Moderate

about 30% of fatalities

The snowpack is only moderately well bonded on some steep slopes. Triggering is mainly possible with high additional loads. Very large natural avalanches are unlikely.

Conditions look benign and catch people out. Roughly a third of fatalities happen at this level.

Forecast on about 50% of the season

3. Considerable

about 50% of fatalities

The snowpack is moderately to poorly bonded on many steep slopes. Triggering is possible even from a single skier. Large avalanches are possible.

The most dangerous level in practice. It carries about half of all avalanche deaths, because the skiing still looks good and the snowpack no longer needs much provocation.

Forecast on about 30% of the season

4. High

about 10% of fatalities

The snowpack is poorly bonded on most steep slopes. Triggering is likely even from a single skier, and numerous large natural avalanches are expected.

Off-piste travel should be limited to low-angle terrain well away from anything steep above you.

Forecast on only a few days a year

5. Very High

rare enough that no share is published

An extraordinarily unstable snowpack. Numerous very large and often extremely large natural avalanches are expected, even on moderately steep terrain.

Do not go off-piste. Roads and parts of the resort itself may be closed.

Forecast on very rarely forecast

Scale and statistics from European Avalanche Warning Services - Avalanche Danger Scale.

What you need to carry

Transceiver

Worn on your body, not in your pack, and switched to transmit before you leave the lift. Every member of the group needs one; a single person without makes the whole group less safe.

Probe

Pinpoints the burial once the transceiver has brought you close, so you dig in the right place first time rather than in a hole beside them.

Shovel

A real collapsible avalanche shovel. Digging is the slowest part of a rescue, and it is what actually gets your partner out.

Airbag pack (optional)

Helps keep you nearer the surface in a moving slide. It supplements the three items above and never replaces them.

How to ski it

Read the bulletin before you go, every day

The danger level, the problem type and the aspects and altitudes it applies to matter more than anything on this page. Conditions change overnight.

Practise with your kit until the search is instinctive

Owning a transceiver is not the same as being able to use one under pressure. Run search drills at the start of every season.

Never ski off-piste alone

Companion rescue is the only rescue fast enough to matter. Burial survival drops sharply after about fifteen minutes.

Ski steep slopes one at a time

Exposing one person at a time keeps the rest of the group free to dig, and reduces the load on the slope.

Hire a guide for terrain you do not know

Local guides know which aspects have loaded, which lines cliff out and where this season's weak layer sits. Every resort guide on this page says the same thing.

Plan the exit before you drop in

Several classic routes finish in a different valley or a long way from a lift. Know how you are getting home, and what time the last lift and last bus run.

Keep planning

Courchevel snow report & forecastSnow history & depthMore resorts in France