Japan · Kazakhstan · Austria · USA · France · Canada · Italy · freeride skiing
Freeride skiing means letting the lifts, a snowcat or your skins take you up, and keeping your energy for the powder on the way down: we take you to Hokkaido, the Altai in Kazakhstan, the Tyrol, Jackson Hole, Val d’Isère, Whistler, the Dolomites and around Mont Blanc, in small groups, with avalanche airbag pack, transceiver, shovel and probe provided.
Freeride skiing with PowderWeGo
Kazakhstan: early to mid-December · Japan: January – February · Jackson Hole: December – April · Whistler: from 15 December · Tyrol: November to May · Val d’Isère: late November to early May · Dolomites and Mont Blanc: dates on request
You’ll enjoy
Each trip has its own snow. In Hokkaido, from mid-January to early February, it falls light and plentiful, and you ski in Niseko facing Mount Yotei, then around Otaru and Furano. In the Altai, in Kazakhstan, a snowcat carries you up each morning above the birch and larch forests. In Jackson Hole, your guide takes you onto the resort’s steep slopes and out into the backcountry below the Tetons; in Whistler, beyond the pistes into Garibaldi Provincial Park. In the Alps, freeride skiing takes you across the Val d’Isère and Tignes ski area, around the Marmolada and the Sella in the Dolomites, into the Silvretta in the Tyrol, and on a seven-day safari around Mont Blanc, through France, Italy and Switzerland.
Japan · Hokkaido
€3,950per person, 8 days in Niseko, excluding flights
Kazakhstan · Altai
€5,950per person, based on 6 skiers, excluding flights
Austria · Tyrol
€4,500per person, excluding flights
USA · Wyoming
€7,550per person, excluding flights
France · Val d’Isère
€2,380per person, a week in a guesthouse, outside the school holidays
Canada · Whistler Blackcomb
€5,550per person, excluding flights
Italy · Dolomites
€3,950per person, excluding flights
France · Switzerland · Italy
€5,950per person, group of 6 at most
Each of these trips can also be arranged for a private group, on other dates or made to measure. Depending on your off-piste level and what you hope for, we will put together a quote for your trip.
A question about our freeride skiing trips? We’ll reply within 24 hours.
In Val d’Isère, your guide leads you away from the marked pistes across the Val d’Isère and Tignes ski area, lift passes included, and in the evening dinner awaits at your guesthouse or hotel; our page on Val d’Isère ski holidays sets out the weekend and the week. In the Dolomites, from a hotel in Arabba at the foot of the Pordoi Pass, the routes take you onto the Marmolada, around the Sella, up to the Lagazuoi and over to Cortina, all described on our page on Dolomites ski touring. On our ski safari around Mont Blanc, a private taxi takes you from La Thuile to the Great St Bernard Pass, then on to Chamonix, and a good dinner is waiting each evening.
In the Altai, the snowcat is your lift: around 800 m each climb, run after run until mid-afternoon, on our trip for cat skiing in Kazakhstan, and our cat skiing page explains how it works. In Wyoming and British Columbia, the lifts open the way and your skins take you further, with climbs of up to 800 m, in the Jackson Hole backcountry and on our week of Whistler backcountry skiing. In Hokkaido, our Japan ski trip follows the snow across the island, and the day ends in the hot water of an onsen.
Your group heads out with a PowderWeGo professional: a qualified ski instructor (French state diploma, BEES), off-piste specialist, or an IFMGA/UIAGM mountain guide; around Mont Blanc, an IFMGA/UIAGM mountain guide and a PowderWeGo professional ski with your group. The guide reads the snowpack, chooses the line and sets the pace; the programme follows the snow, the weather and your wishes, and the guide has the final word, for everyone’s safety and enjoyment.
Every skier wears an avalanche airbag pack and carries a transceiver, shovel and probe, all provided by us. Away from the marked pistes, the terrain is neither secured nor patrolled: it gives freeride skiing its sense of freedom, and it is why each slope is chosen with care, for the snow of the day.
Your level
For freeride skiing, what matters most is being at ease off-piste and in deep snow. Val d’Isère welcomes skiers at level 2/5 for technique and fitness, who have already skied off-piste and used skins. Hokkaido, the Altai, Jackson Hole, Whistler and the Dolomites call for technical level 3/5 and fitness level 2/5: the lifts or the snowcat do most of the climbing, and you save your energy for the descent. The Tyrol and the Mont Blanc safari call for 3/5 on both counts, with climbs of up to 1,200 m in the Silvretta.
To check where you stand: your off-piste skiing level and your ski touring fitness level. If you are torn between two trips, tell us about your last few winters off-piste and we will suggest the one that suits you. For a week with more time on skins, our ski touring trips take you further; for a helicopter drop at the top of the slope, see our heli skiing trips.
Let the lifts, a snowcat or your skins take you up, and keep your energy for the powder on the way down: a powder day in Niseko facing Mount Yotei, the larches of the Altai, the steep slopes of Jackson Hole below the Tetons, or France, Italy and Switzerland in one week around Mont Blanc. Come if you ski for the descent, in a small group.
Boris Malesset, founder of PowderWeGo, holder of the French BEES ski instructor diploma, the Swiss level 3 ski instructor patent and the Austrian Schiführer diploma
« On a découvert le Japon, la Japow ❄️ et surtout une expérience incroyable où chaque jour est différent. … Comme un onsen traditionnel entre deux runs de poudreuse bien fraîche. Juste magique. »
Translated from French: We discovered Japan, the Japow ❄️ and above all an incredible experience where every day is different. … Like a traditional onsen between two runs of really fresh powder. Just magical.
“He is a top notch guide that blends safety with excellent skiing. … He adjusted his "game plan" daily to meet our group's energy and what we wanted to ski.”
« Une expérience mémorable de snowboard safari sur Hokkaido. … de belles lignes, de belles personnes, de l’énergie et de bonnes ondes nippones »
Translated from French: A memorable snowboard safari in Hokkaido. … beautiful lines, beautiful people, energy and good Japanese vibes
Freeride skiing means skiing away from the marked pistes, in natural, ungroomed snow, and choosing your own line down the mountain. On our trips, the lifts, a snowcat or a climb on skins take you to the top, and your guide picks the slope for the snow of the day.
The way up. In freeride skiing, the lifts or a snowcat do most of the climbing and the day is built around the descent; in ski touring, you climb on skins, for one to five hours depending on the day. Many of our trips combine the two, such as Val d’Isère, Whistler and the Silvretta. Our ski touring page gathers the trips with the most time on skins.
Technical level 3/5 on most of our trips, which means being at ease off-piste and in deep snow; in Val d’Isère, 2/5 is enough. For fitness, allow 2/5 in Hokkaido, the Altai, Jackson Hole, Whistler, the Dolomites and Val d’Isère, and 3/5 in the Tyrol and around Mont Blanc. To check where you stand: your off-piste skiing level and your ski touring fitness level.
From late November to May, depending on the destination. The Altai from early to mid-December, Hokkaido from mid-January to early February, Jackson Hole from December to April and Whistler from 15 December; in the Alps, the Tyrol from November to May and Val d’Isère from late November to early May. For the Dolomites and Mont Blanc, we set the dates with you.
It depends on the trip, excluding flights: €3,950 per person for 8 days in Niseko or for the week in the Dolomites, €4,500 in the Tyrol, €5,550 in Whistler, €5,950 for the Mont Blanc safari and for the Altai (based on six skiers), and €7,550 in Jackson Hole; in Val d’Isère, a week in a guesthouse costs €2,380 outside the school holidays. Tell us when you are coming and how many of you there are, and we’ll reply within 24 hours.
Freeride skiing takes place in unpatrolled mountain terrain, with an avalanche risk, and the whole day is organised to reduce it. Every skier wears an avalanche airbag pack and carries a transceiver, shovel and probe, all provided by us. The guide reads the snowpack, chooses the slope and the pace, and the programme adapts each day to the snow and the weather, with the guide having the final word.
Yes, in the Altai, in Kazakhstan, from early to mid-December: a snowcat carries you up around 800 m each climb, for six days of skiing from Ridder. Everything is on our cat skiing page.
PowderWeGo designs the trips and guides them on the ground; bookings go through our partner agency, Aereau Voyages, based in Samoëns, which organises and sells them. We are based in Val d’Isère, and our founder, Boris Malesset, has been an off-piste ski professional since 2001. A deposit confirms your booking, and the amount is given for each trip.
Useful before you go: Météo-France mountain weather and avalanche bulletins (in French) · Avalanche.report, the avalanche bulletin for Tyrol, South Tyrol and Trentino · Avalanche Canada, avalanche forecasts · Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center, avalanche forecasts for the Tetons.
Tell us when you’re coming and how many of you there are, and we’ll reply within 24 hours.
Or email us at infoskitravels@powderwego.com
You can also write to us from our Contact page.
