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Courchevel Advanced Skiing
© copyright Courchevel Tourist Office
The steep slopes in the centre of the resort are excellent for
strong skiers. The Grande Couloir is a wonderful pisted introduction to
couloir skiing (though by no means gentle) and many of the runs off the
shoulder of Vizelle have an excellent pitch, particularly the red of
Combe Pylones and the blacks of M and Epaule. The first 150 metres of
Suisses has some of the steepest and biggest bumps you will see
anywhere. The Chanrossa Black is similarly testing. If the snow cover
is good, however, two of the best runs are lower down from the top of
Loze down to Le Praz. Both Jockeys and Jean Blanc you wind tightly down
through the trees and can develop marvellous moguls.
Off piste at Courchevel
There
are plenty of off-piste treats as well. The Saulire couloirs and bowl
mentioned above are an absolute must and there is also good off-piste
under the Dou des Lanches chair under Col de la Loze. Hard-on extreme
skiers can also hike up to the championship area above. There are some
wide steep powder flanks either side of the Chanrossa chair but take
care here as they are slightly avalanche-prone. There is also some
excellent off-piste from the top of the Creux Noirs chair (2705m),
particularly if you're prepared to do a short walk which will get you
into a large, secluded bowl. A pair of skins gives you access to the
beautiful Vallée des Avals above 1650. You can trek all the way up past
the Chalet Biol 1823 to the top of the Petit Mont Blanc (2677m) for a
fantastic day's touring. Go to 1650 early after fresh snow and there
are lots of nice routes down through the trees under the lifts.
