Ski Safaris

A ski safari is a journey from one ski resort to another, using any form of transport available - lifts, taxis, buses and even helicopters. The idea is to get as much skiing as possible and while most of it will be off-piste, that doesn't mean that the occasional piste is ruled out. We carry a small rucksack with overnight things and a share of essential group equipment, and the rest of our luggage is sent on to meet us at our final destination. During the week we will visit places not normally seen while on a normal ski holiday, and it really is a great adventure.

Pre-requirements. As a minimum, good on red pistes and alright on blacks (at least the easier ones); previous off-piste skiing. The harder trips have a fitness requirement.

Courchevel - Chamoniz. Starting at Courchevel and the wonderful skiing of the Trois Vallees, we go through Bourg St Maurice before dropping into Italy via La Thuile and Courmayeur, to finish with the glacier runs of all glacier runs  -  the Vallee Blanche down into Chamonix.

Davos - Andermatt. This trip covers a distance of over 140 kms with 25,000 vertical metres of skiing, most of it off-piste. We go to some out-of-the-way places not normally visited on a ski holiday, and skins are hardly used  -  just for occasional short ascents. A great trip which I have done many times -  well worth it.

Dolomites. The mountain scenery in the Dolomites is second to none and on this safari we ski through the best of it  -  from Catinaccio to San Martino di Castrozza, and on to Passo San Pelligrino,  the Civetta and Marmolada.  We ski some amazing pistes and stunning off-piste variations  -  all with wonderful Italian food and comfortable hotels.

Tarentaise. This safari features some of the best known ski resorts in the Alps: Valmorel, Val Thorens, Meribel, Couchevel, La Plagne, Les Arcs, Villaroger, Tignes and Val dIsere. We link pistes with off-piste variations to make a fabulous journey.

Verbier - Zermatt. This is not the Haute Route, but a softer low-level option using lifts and hotels. Passing trhough Nax, Grimentz, St Jean and Unterbach there are numerous choices of whether to ski pistes or off-piste, depending on the conditions and the wishes of the party.

Villars - Kandersteg. This is a ski safari through the northern slopes of the Wildhorn and the Wildstrubel, using mechanical transport and skins to give access to some great off-piste, much of it on north facing slopes - the descent on Day 7 would be in my list of Top Ten Ski Descents in the Alps (now there’s a topic for discussion point over a bottle of wine). There is great flexibility on this trip, i.e. on most days we can chose whether to use the lifts only or whether to use the skins as well. Accommodation is in comfortable hotels.