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Backcountry skiing and avalanche safety weekend in Val Cenis, French Alps

Join a certified mountain guide for this exciting and informative weekend of backcountry skiing and avalanche safety at the gorgeous Val Cenis ski resort of the French Alps!

Group

3 Days

Jan

Occasional

Intermediate


Description

Welcome to Val Cenis in the French Alps, if one is looking for top quality backcountry skiing then look no further. Beautiful alpine slopes with deep powder snow await, plus a comprenhensive avalanche saftey training!

Located in the Maurienne region with its good transport links, Val Cenis is most easily accessed from Turin, lying about 60km west of Turin-Caselle airport. One can also approach from Geneva, with its international airport situated 120km or 2.5 hours drive to the north.

Val Cenis ski resort is of the highest quality and presents the skier with stunning alpine terrain to explore, along with all the modern comforts.

Still relatively unheard of outside France and Italy, these wild and wonderful off-piste landscapes are more likely to be quiet than at other well-known resorts.

Due to this anonymity, the lifts rarely reach long queues. The highest lift takes the skier to an altitude of 2800m, then it’s all down hill carving from here!

You can visit the peak of Lac du Mont Cenis, where you will discover a picturesque frozen lake. Here you can take photos from the ‘Canopée des Cîmes’, a suspended platform shaped like a boat.

The main ski areas of Val Cenis are Termignon, Lanslebourg and Lanslevillard. In order to find the best backcountry skiing terrain, we will head past the slopes of Lanslevillard.

The backcountry skiing options here comprise of wide gullies, large forested areas and plenty of deep powder snow to get lost in!

We will meet on the friday night and finalise all the details for the first skiing on saturday, as well as check the weather forecast.

I do not lead a classic avalanche safety course, we will only spend a small amount of time indoors. The vast majority of the teaching will be conducted practically, whilst on the mountain skiing.

You need to be at least an intermediate skier to join this trip and have some backcountry skiing experience under your belt.

If you would like to enjoy some high level backcountry skiing and also learn some practical avalanche safety skills, then sign up now and I will be delighted to share this wonderful experience with you!

If you would enjoy a longer trip then consider this 7-days off-piste and ski touring around Maurienne in the French Alps!

Price includes

- Accommodation included

- Guiding fee

- Breakfast

- Dinner

Price details

Price per person to join a group.


Details

More info

Depending on which lifts you will use, we have discount tickets for sale, from 25€ to 30€ / day

Meeting point


About the guide

Guide profile image

Up Ski and Mountain

4.73

(15)

Mountain Guide

Founded by two IFMGA-certified mountain guides, Fred Buttard and Victor Charron, Up Ski and Mountain Guides is made up of a passionate group of guides and ski instructors.

Originally from Maurienne, in France, the team also spends several months a year skiing the mountains of Norway and Sweden, and travelling to off-the-beaten-path destinations, including Morocco, Albania and Japan.

Eric Tollund, Fabien Berrod, Jean Baptiste Buttard, Fabien Suiffet, Pauline Bermon, Oscar Wahlund, Clément Bléteau, Sylvain Rechu, Fred Buttard and Victor Charron are the members of our amazing team :) Get in touch with us and let's explore the mountains together.

Languages

Norwegian | Swedish | French | English

Certificates

IVBV | UIAGM | IFMGA

Request more information

What people are saying about Up Ski and Mountain

Valentine

5.00

Whow! Amazing trip in Finnmark, our guide Sylvain made the trip perfect, looking every day for the best snow conditions and beautiful itineraries! Arriving on ski after a crazy descent in powder to the water in lonesome fjords and getting home by boat as well as kayaking to the start of itinerary on a perfect sunny day are unbeatable! Sauna after a powder day, dog sledging and watching northern lights in the night make the trip even more unforgettable!

Arthur

5.00

Super disponibilité et flexibilité des guides sur place pour satisfaire les envies du groupe et tirer un maximum du cadre exceptionnel! Guides très relax et très sympa. Logement simple et exceptionnel à la foi: une maison typique norvégienne au bord du fjord. Nous avions donné une liste d envies par mail avant le voyage. Elles ont toutes pu être réalisées. Les guides et nous mêmes avons pu planifier les extras (sauna, kayak, chien de traîneau, pêche...) parfois avec les locaux la veille en fonction des envies et des conditions. On sent donc qu’on est pas dans un grand tour opérateur avec des activités en chaînes  réglées selon un planning stricte mais bien dans quelque chose de très humain et très personnalisé. Si possible, la seule info qui pourrait être communiquée plus tôt et plus clairement est le budget à prévoir pour ces « extras ». (Rating 4,5/5)

Danielle

5.00

I was lucky enough to spend 8 days skiing with Fred in Finnmark in May of 2017. The conditions were unusually epic that year— it snowed almost every minute I was there, or so it felt. Even so, you still need quite a bit of expertise to find the right conditions (there's no reliable freeze thaw cycle when it's constantly snowing!) and Fred did not disappoint. It was almost like he was a magician, finding us the perfect snow every single day, even on days when the conditions were tricky. Most guides are good at finding snow, but what made Fred such an outstanding guide was his passion. You could tell that not only did he love to ski, but even moreso, he loved helping other people deepen their passion for skiing. He was so incredibly encouraging, and I definitely improved my technique and confidence tremendously over the course of the week. Add that to the beauty and wonder of Finnmark, the truly magical aspect of kayaking with skis, and it really was the perfect skiing holiday. Also, the food: delicious! I hope I can be lucky enough to ski with Fred again someday.

Serge

5.00

Bonjour Pauline et Fred, Je suis très heureux de prendre un moment aujourd’hui pour vous écrire. Le séjour au Finnmark été exceptionnel. Clément est un excellent guide. Très dévoué, soucieux de rendre l’expérience agréable, Clément est vraiment très talentueux et dévoué. Sa personnalité est agréable, il est à l’écoute de nos besoins et démontre, malgré son jeune âge, un haut niveau de compétences et de savoir-faire. Son enseignement sur recherche de victimes suite à une avalanche est de loin, la meilleure formation que j’ai reçue à ce jour. Les paysages du Finnmark sont exceptionnels, nous avons été particulièrement chanceux pour les conditions météorologiques. Nous avons vraiment eu le loisir d’admirer ces magnifiques paysages de montagnes entre ciel et mer. L’expérience de groupe a aussi été excellente, la chimie entre les participants-es a été fort agréable. Nous avons vraiment passé de bons moments ensemble.  Je vais très certainement voyager avec vous dans le futur, l’expérience a été extrêmement positive. Au plaisir de nouvelles aventures !!! Serge

Colin

5.00

Thursday was a fantastic day, we were lucky with the conditions and I was lucky with the company! A big thanks to you and the team for such a great week, but particularly to Clement who made each day so different and showed me so much of Maurienne - I'm sure I'll be back!


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