La Vallée Blanche Guided Ski Tour from Courmayeur

Join one of the IFMGA/UIAGM-certified local guides in the Peakshunter team on this Vallée Blanche 22 km long freeride skiing descent in the heart of the Mont Blanc massif, one of the most beautiful panoramas of the Alps.

Private

Alps

1+ Days

Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May

Fit

Intermediate

Description

La Vallée Blanche, the can't miss ski descent of your life, offers a great freeride skiing / off-piste skiing experience in the breathtaking panorama of the Mont Blanc massif.

La Vallée Blanche is one of my favorite ski descents, mainly because of its length and the beauty of the views surrounding it. We have the chance to admire Monte Rosa, Matterhorn, les Drus, les Grandes Jorasses, along with several other of the most iconic mountains of the Alps.

We begin our adventure from Courmayeur, where we take the Skyway cable car to reach Helbronner peak. Following the classic route, we’ll enjoy an unforgettable ski day, reaching Chamonix after 4/6 hours: in fact, Vallée Blanche descent is one of the longest in the world. From Chamonix, after a well-deserved celebrative beer, we will return to Courmayeur by bus or private transfer.

Arrival at Chamonix is scheduled for around 2.30-3.00 pm. Arrival at Courmayeur is scheduled around 3.30-4.30 pm.

The best time to ski la Vallée Blanche is from January till March. The best time to do it will of course depend on the snow and weather conditions

If you are around the Mont Blanc range during the coming winter and if you wish to live something very different, please send me a request and let's plan this fantastic ski day together.

Price includes

- Guiding fee

- Lift tickets

- Harness

- Avalanche equipment

Price details

The rate includes:

- The assistance of a UIAGM/IFMGA-certified Mountain Guide

- Liability insurance

- Skyway cable car ticket

- Booking assistance service

- Customer care support for logistics and planning

- Dedicated chat with the guide and customer care to define the last details before the trip

- Shared photos and video of the trip

The rate does not include:

- Transfer to Courmayeur and return trip from Chamonix with public bus (16€ per person) or private transfer (around 25€ per person)

- Montenvers train – worth considering if the snow conditions prevent us from skiing to Chamonix

- Normal ski equipment with fat skis if possible, and normal ski clothes

- Beverages and meals

- Anything that is not mentioned under "Price includes"

FAQs

What experience and how fit do I need to be to climb this mountain?

Vallée Blanche freeride skiing doesn’t require any previous particular experience: of course, you must know how to ski and have previous off-piste experience.

Will I need to bring any technical equipment of my own? Is it possible to rent equipment, and if so, what would be the approximate cost of that?

The only technical equipment included in this trip is the harness and the transceiver, we will provide them to you during the initial briefing. In addition, the guide will bring the common safety material, such as rope and carabiners.

You need to bring all other equipment, starting with skis and appropriate clothing. After your booking confirmation, we will provide you with a list of recommended clothing and, if you need anything, we will refer you to some rentals where you can hire the necessary.

What happens in the event of bad weather?

Please consider that weather and conditions can change unexpectedly and, especially in recent years due to climate change, there are not always the best conditions for a safe ascent. In such cases, because your and our safety is our priority, we will propose an alternative trip to nearby mountains with better conditions. Note that you are booking our availability for the duration of the tour, this means that it will not be possible to cancel due to poor conditions. We will be careful to arrange an experience that lives up to your expectations. We understand that this may be a frustrating outcome, however, safety is a top priority, and every mountain has a lesson to teach.

What is the guide-to-client ratio to climb this mountain?

The maximum number of clients per single Guide is 7, thus giving a ratio of 1:7. This is the maximum number in order to ensure your safety and that of the Guide. If you are a group of more than 7 people, we have more Guides available to undertake the adventure.

What is the best time of the year to climb this mountain?

The best time to realize this adventure is between end of January and end of March.

How can I reach the meeting point?

The meeting point is the Skyway cable car station, in Courmayeur. If you are not familiar with this area let us give you some more information: we are in Aosta Valley, the smallest but highest Italian region. This is the realm of the Alps, here arise the most famous peaks of Europe: the Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, the Monte Rosa summits, the Gran Paradiso and many other lesser-known.

Courmayeur is the closest town to the Italian side of Mont Blanc, In Aosta Valley.

To get around Aosta Valley, if you don't have a car and don't want to use private transfers, you can rely on the regional bus service, with daily runs to all municipalities of Aosta Valley.

Depending on your country of origin, you can decide to reach Aosta Valley arriving from:

- Italy: the nearest airports are Caselle in Turin, Malpensa in Milan and Orio al Serio in Bergamo. Once you land you can reach Courmayeur by train (Trenitalia national services to Aosta town, bus to Courmayeur), directly with bus (Flixbus and Arriva companies operate coach runs every day), private transfer, or by renting a car.

- France: by car, by bus or by private transfer from Chamonix, passing through the Mont Blanc tunnel.

- Switzerland: by car or by private transfer, passing through the Great St. Bernard Tunnel.

How do the transfers work?

After the meeting with the Guide in Courmayeur we will take Skyway cable car in order to reach Helbronner summit. Please note that the ticket is included in the price and we will take care of the tickets purchase.

After the long ski descent, it sometimes happens that snow conditions are not good enough to reach Chamonix on skis, so the last part will be done with the Montenvers train. Tickets are excluded from the tariff and will be purchased on the spot, as it cannot be predicted whether there will be less need for them.

The return to Courmayeur from Chamonix is also excluded, this is because it is your choice whether to take the bus or a private transfer. In any case, it will be our responsibility to arrange the return trip.

About the guide

-PeaksHunter

4.67

(18)

Mountain Guide

Giving and receiving smiles, seeing the satisfaction on the faces of our customers, seeking opportunities for growth, stimulating authenticity in personal and group relationships, in sharing mountaineering disciplines, fears, efforts, and moments of difficulty, which are part of the integrated with experiences, essential ingredients of every summit climb: these are our focus, our beliefs, and our most important results, as outdoor Professionals and as people who love the mountains and their work as Alpine Guides!

Founded in 2013 by Elis and Silvia, PEAKSHUNTER Mountain Guides is a team of IFMGA-certified Mountain Professionals and outdoor activities experts, based in the town of Aosta, not far from Courmayeur-Chamonix, on the Italian side of the Mont Blanc massif.

We live and work in the beautiful Aosta Valley region, very close to French and Swiss borders near to Geneva, Milan, and Turin international airports.

Mont Blanc, Matterhorn, Dufourspitze, Pyramide Vincent and Regina Margherita Hut, Gran Paradiso, Breithorn, Lyskamm, Castor and Pollux are only a few of several 4000 Alps summits you can climb with us: most of our team of Guides were born and grew up close to these mountains and they have explored the ascent routes several times during different seasons, with skis or crampons!

- We love our work: we plan all our trips with great commitment and deep respect for the Alpine environment, for its inhabitants, and its territories. Including local traditions in different valleys and Alpine areas.

- We love Mountain, Nature, and Outdoor activities, that we like to share with people from all around the world. We are enthusiastic to meet like-minded adventurers and share new experiences and memorable emotions with the support of our Mountain Guides.

- Safety and Risk Management are essential for us, as elements of fundamental importance during every single trip we plan and carry out with our customers: for this reason, we offer introductory courses to the different alpine disciplines (Mountaineering, Rock climbing, Ice climbing, Ski mountaineering, Freeride, Rescue Crevasse, and Avalanche) to convey awareness and responsibility to our customers.

- We offer solid Experience, with several years organizing outdoor disciplines around mountain and wild areas, in many different countries of Italy and Europe, for individuals or groups, including 7-day customer support for booking, logistics, and personal assistance for planning and reservations.

- As certified Mountain Guides, we offer training courses, to improve technical skills and to learn basic knowledge about mountaineering in the Alps, which is essential to explore and climb the Mountains safely in any situation or conditions.

- We are happy to provide customized programs for every customer's demand: our Experience is synonymous with Professionalism and Customer Care to guarantee unforgettable emotions and beautiful smiles!

Fulfill your dreams, discover breathtaking views or simply enjoy an extraordinary day: you just need to use your imagination and we will carry out your trip as you desire to live it!

Let’s plan your next mountain project together!

Certificates

IFMGA

Request more information

What people are saying about this trip

Glenn

5.00

Our guide Paulo (PeaksHunter Guides) was absolutely brilliant. Highly professional throughout the day (especially when he rescued one of our party's snow boards out of a crevasse) and very knowledgeable about the area, but just as importantly a really pleasant and positive person. We had a thoroughly enjoyable trip. Thank you!

Kirsten

5.00

This was, hands down, one of the coolest and most difficult outdoor experiences I have ever had. It was visually stunning. The ancient mountains that surround you on the Vallee Blanche are absolutely breathtaking, but there is good reason to be cautious. Do not ride the Vallee Blanche without a dedicated and experienced guide. You must be in very good physical condition to take this trip on a snowboard- skiing is a bit easier because you can traverse flat land better. You must be able to handle rugged terrain, and have pinpoint accuracy to cross ice bridges between crevices. Altitude, deep snow, unexpected weather and massive crevices are just a few serious hazards that require true alpine expertise. Our guide, Paulo, and his team were incredible. They were knowledgeable, friendly, and their communication skills were impeccable. The day that we were suppose to ride the valley turned out to be dangerously cold and windy but our guide was on top of the weather the entire time. We changed our original go-date to another one with safer conditions. As someone with a little bit of climbing experience, I truly appreciated our guides priority on safety & weather conditions; trust me, you wouldn’t want to be on Europe’s highest summit in the middle of a storm. We wound up going the next day after the storm. The powder was so deep that it was impassable on a snowboard at some points. The ski poles that we rented to traverse flat land, sunk all the way down into the powder, and there was no resistance to push yourself forward. On several occasions, our guide had to attach a rope to my harness and pull me out of a powder-jam. Paulo guided us safely down the mountain, taking breaks to rest and for water and food. At the bottom, we grabbed a few beers and nothing ever tasted so good. Hire these guys, you will be thankful that you did!!!

Daniel

5.00

Excellent job making your platform available to all mountain lovers. Our guide Gabrielle was an excellent companion

Noémie

5.00

Superbe échappée aux pieds du Mont Blanc. Nous sommes partis du côté italien, ce qui évite la traversée d'une arête un peu périlleuse. Il fait du moins s'organiser pour le trajet jusqu'au départ de la cabine (sensationnelle) et le retour depuis Chamonix. Elis nous a guidé avec beaucoup de prudence et d'attention sur cette jolie balade. Nous avons été gâté par la météo qui nous a offert de faire une visite guidée avec Elis sur l'histoire de l'alpinisme de la région et découvrir la topographie des lieux. Magique !

Charles

4.00

We spent a half day with Elis on the Vallée Blanche (from Courmayeur to Chamonix) where he guided us for a wonderful tour. I recommend Elis who was very keen on making us discover the breathtaking environment of La Vallée du Mont Blanc. Nice plus: Elis is taking pictures and send them to you afterwards.