Val Thorens off-piste & powder guide

Savoie, France · 2300m to 3230m · 4 documented zones

Finding powder at Val Thorens

The highest resort in Europe, with snow-sure, high-altitude and almost entirely treeless off-piste. Several of the best-known routes leave the ski area completely and finish in neighbouring valleys, so transport home needs planning before you drop in.

Lift-accessed zones — no walking

Ride up, drop in. These 3 zones need no hiking, which also means they are the first to get tracked out after a storm.

Lac du Lou

Val Thorens sector

Backcountry - no patrolAdvancedGuide recommended

A long, classic descent into the Lou valley, one of the best-known routes out of Val Thorens.

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
Combe de Rosael black run or La Masse
Walk in
No hiking — Entered from the Combe de Rosael run or from La Masse.
Getting back
Descends the Lou valley away from the lift system.
Known hazards
  • Leaves the patrolled ski area

Pierre Lory

Col sector

Backcountry - no patrolAdvancedGuide recommended

A route from the Col chair that drops away into the Maurienne valley.

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
Col chairlift
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed from the Col chair.
Getting back
Descends into the Maurienne valley; you will need transport back.
Known hazards
  • Finishes in a different valley from the resort

Vallee des Encombres

La Masse sector

Backcountry - no patrolExpertGuide recommended

A long and committing descent off La Masse into the Encombres valley.

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
La Masse
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed from La Masse.
Getting back
Descends the Encombres valley, well away from the lifts.
Known hazards
  • Remote terrain a long way from assistance

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.

Gebroulaz Glacier

Glacier sector

Backcountry - no patrolExpertGuide recommended

A glacier tour that finishes towards Meribel or Pralognan, and the biggest undertaking on this list.

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
Val Thorens upper lifts
Walk in
60 min — Expect to walk or skin uphill for anything up to an hour.
Getting back
Descends towards Meribel or Pralognan.
Known hazards
  • Glaciated terrain
  • Long uphill approach
  • Finishes outside the resort

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 Thorens snow report & forecastSnow history & depthMore resorts in France