Val d'Isère off-piste & powder guide

Savoie, France · 1850m to 3456m · 7 documented zones

Finding powder at Val d'Isère

Val d'Isere offers an unusual amount of lift-served off-piste for a resort of its size, from mellow powder practice beside the pistes at La Daille to committing south-facing faces on the Charvet. The south-facing terrain is the catch: it warms fast and the avalanche risk climbs through the afternoon.

Lift-accessed zones — no walking

Ride up, drop in. These 4 zones need no hiking, which also means they are the first to get tracked out after a storm.

Lavancher Couloir

Solaise sector

Backcountry - no patrolAdvanced

A steep couloir dropping off the left of the Solaise Express, running down through the trees towards town.

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
Solaise Express
Walk in
No hiking — From the top of the lift, turn left perpendicular to the chairlift.
Getting back
Continues through the trees towards Val d'Isere.
Known hazards
  • Sustained steepness

The Banana

Bellevarde sector

Backcountry - no patrolAdvanced

A big south-facing vertical drop from the top of the Olympique, taken from the start of the Face. Ski it early.

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
Olympique cable car
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed from the top of the cable car.
Getting back
Descends to the bottom of the Santons.
Aspect
South-facing· Transforms fastest in sun
Known hazards
  • Snow heats up early
  • Risk of wet snow sliding in the afternoon

The Lost Valley

La Daille sector

Backcountry - no patrolAdvanced

A canyon route that needs careful navigation, threading between rocks and branches on a narrow path.

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
Tommeuses chairlift
Walk in
No hiking — Pass above the bottom station of the Tommeuses chairlift and drop right.
Getting back
Follow the canyon down through the tricky passages to the La Daille buildings.
Known hazards
  • Narrow passages
  • Rocks and branches to pick through

Great Pissaillas

Le Fornet sector

Backcountry - no patrolIntermediate

Glacier-side powder reached from the Moraine run, and one of the more forgiving options at Le Fornet.

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
Cascade Express
Walk in
No hiking — From the top of the Cascade Express, ski down the Moraine run.
Getting back
Stay near the lift cables on the way down.
Known hazards
  • Keep close to the lift line to stay clear of danger

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.

Charvet Tour

Charvet sector

Backcountry - no patrolAdvanced

A well-known south-facing tour with terrain to suit a range of abilities, finishing through a narrow gorge section.

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
Grand Pre chairlift
Walk in
A traverse in from the top of the lift.
Getting back
Follow the valley floor back left towards the Manchet Express chairlift.
Aspect
South-facing· Transforms fastest in sun
Known hazards
  • High risk of wet snow sliding in the afternoon
  • Narrow gorge section

Face du Charvet

Charvet sector

Backcountry - no patrolExpertGuide recommended

Long, steep south-facing descents on the face itself. Serious terrain where picking the wrong line has consequences.

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
Grand Pre chairlift
Walk in
Traversing required to reach the entry.
Getting back
A wide couloir leads back down to the village.
Aspect
South-facing· Transforms fastest in sun
Known hazards
  • Avalanche risk
  • High chance of taking the wrong route
  • Cliff danger

Shoulder of Petit Signal

Le Fornet sector

Backcountry - no patrolAdvanced

Reached by going over the col and along the crest, with a cornice crossing on the way in.

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
Signal lift
Walk in
Over the col, then a traverse along the crestline.
Getting back
Ski down to the foot of the Fornet cable car.
Known hazards
  • Cornice crossing

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

Val d'Isère snow report & forecastSnow history & depthMore resorts in France