Alaska·United States
Photo: Azer Koçulu azer · Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
The coastal Chugach catch enormous snowfalls from the Gulf of Alaska, and the maritime snow sticks to slopes so steep they would be bare rock anywhere else. The fluted spines above Valdez became famous through freeride films, and long spring days leave plenty of light for lines of over a thousand metres.
In season: Mar–Apr · Peak: Apr
Guided heli-skiing on steep glaciated terrain, with down days when weather grounds the helicopters. Roadside touring at Thompson Pass and Turnagain Pass offers earned turns without aircraft.
Earned turns near Anchorage, no aircraft needed
Roadside big-mountain lines above Valdez
The terrain that defined modern freeride filming
Base in Valdez in March or April and book a heli-ski operator for a week, allowing for weather days. Tour Thompson Pass between flying days, or start with Turnagain Pass near Anchorage, and carry full avalanche gear throughout.
Wildlife watching3 routesUnited States
Brown bears snatching leaping salmon at Brooks Falls, one of the great wildlife spectacles on earth.
Mountaineering3 routesUnited States
Three weeks on the glaciers of the highest mountain in North America, 6,190 m above the Alaska Range.
Trekking3 routesUnited States
The least-visited national park in the United States, a trackless Brooks Range wilderness reached only by bush plane.
SkiingFrance
The Vallée Blanche: a twenty-kilometre off-piste glacier descent from the Aiguille du Midi.
SkiingFrance
One lift, no pistes, no patrol — 2,150 metres of unmarked vertical off La Meije.
SkiingItaly
The only lift-linked circumnavigation of its kind, and the anchor of the Dolomiti Superski network.
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