Off-piste skiing in Val d'Isère, from Solaise to the Pissaillas glacier

Off-piste skiing in Val d'Isère starts high and stays close to the lifts. The village sits at 1,850 m, the lifts on the Pissaillas glacier reach 3,197 m, and between the two lie Solaise, Bellevarde and Le Fornet, each with its own aspects and its own snow. Val d'Isère shares the Espace Killy with Tignes, some 300 km of linked pistes, and the off-piste often begins a few turns from a chairlift; on touring days, the Vanoise National Park is a short climb away.

Fresh powder in a sunlit bowl, a few turns from the lifts.

Altitude, and what it does for the snow

Almost 1,350 metres of lift-served vertical separate the village from the top of the Pissaillas lifts. Up high, the snow stays cold for days after a storm; lower down, and on the slopes that face the sun, it settles and softens sooner. A good day of off-piste in Val d'Isère follows that rhythm: the shaded, north-facing slopes while the powder is cold, the sunny aspects once their surface turns to spring snow, and an early finish before it grows heavy.

The season runs from late November to early May, and the Val d'Isère tourist office publishes the exact dates each year. Cold powder days come in midwinter; in March and April the light lasts longer and the south and east faces turn to spring snow.

Three sectors above the village

Each one leads to different ground. Solaise, at 2,560 m, has the gentle open slopes where many skiers link their first turns in powder, and two of our routes start from its lifts. Bellevarde, whose Face hosted the 1992 Olympic downhill, opens onto the Tour du Charvet. Le Fornet and the Pissaillas glacier hold the highest terrain on the Val d'Isère side, and usually the coldest snow.

Our three routes from the lifts

All three are descents from the lifts, with no climbing. The stars are our own ratings for technique and fitness.

• Le Tour du Charvet · from Bellevarde · technique ★ · fitness ★ · 900 m of descent · facing south to east

• Les Pentes de l'Arcelle · from Solaise · technique ★★ · fitness ★ · 800 m of descent · facing west

• Les Marmottons · from Solaise · technique ★★★ · fitness ★ · 800 m of descent · facing west

The Charvet's gentle, rolling slopes suit a first day away from the pistes. The Marmottons, long and steep, keep a strong skier turning all the way down.

Into the Vanoise, on skins

On skins, the day turns quieter: from the top of the lifts, fifteen minutes to two hours of climbing takes you into the heart of the park, onto snow that often lies untouched. One of these climbs starts at Pont de la Neige, 2,531 m, where the park has an information post, and leads to the Col des Fours. The Vanoise National Park has mapped where winter sports take place within it: in 2018, ski touring covered 59 per cent of that ground and off-piste skiing 10 per cent.

Climbing on skins in the low winter sun.

Avalanche safety, every morning

Every morning starts with the Météo-France avalanche bulletin for the Haute-Tarentaise massif, which covers Val d'Isère, set against what we saw on the hill the day before. The sector is then chosen to match the bulletin, the snow and your level. Each of you carries an avalanche airbag pack, transceiver, shovel and probe, which we provide, and we run through them together before the first descent. Some days call for a gentler slope or a return to the pistes, and your instructor makes that call: knowing when to turn back is the skill that matters most off-piste. Our page on avalanche safety in Val d'Isère explains the 1 to 5 scale, and our safety principles set out how we work.

A day with us

You ski with a qualified ski instructor who specialises in off-piste, for a private day or a full week. We meet at the Olympique gondola, look at the bulletin together and choose the sector, at a pace that suits your group. Boris Malesset, who founded PowderWeGo, has worked in off-piste skiing since 2001 and has lived in Val d'Isère since 2005. If you are unsure of your level, this guide to off-piste skiing levels helps you see where you stand. For a whole Val d'Isère ski week, our ski stay in Val d'Isère page covers everything else.

To book a day or a week of off-piste skiing in Val d'Isère, tell us your dates and your group on our school's off-piste page, and we'll reply within 24 hours.

FAQ

Do you need to be an expert to ski off-piste in Val d'Isère?

No. If you link your turns on a red piste, in soft snow and on hard snow, you have the foundations. We start on gentle ground such as Solaise or the Tour du Charvet and build from there.

When is the snow at its best?

Cold powder comes in midwinter, after each storm. From March, the south and east faces turn to spring snow, good from mid-morning until it softens too far. The lifts run from late November to early May.

Is the Tour du Charvet a ski tour?

It is a descent: the lifts take you up and you ski 900 metres down, with no climbing. Ski touring begins when the skins go on, for instance on the climb from Pont de la Neige to the Col des Fours.

Who decides where we ski when the avalanche risk is high?

Your instructor, from the Météo-France bulletin and what the snow shows on the day. When conditions call for it, the day moves to a gentler sector or back to the pistes.