Off-piste ski school · Val d'Isère
Backcountry skiing in Val d'Isère: ski the morning's best snow with us
Guided off-piste days, ski touring, Tarentaise day trips and heliskiing from Val d'Isère: we take you wherever the snow is best that morning, with the avalanche airbag pack, transceiver, shovel and probe provided.
In brief
- The school
- our Val d'Isère ski school, for off-piste and ski touring, with guided lessons and days out
- For you if
- you are a strong piste skier curious about powder, an expert after a couloir, or anywhere in between, aged 10 to well past 80
- Safety kit provided
- avalanche airbag pack, transceiver, shovel and probe, checked before every departure
- Who skis with you
- an off-piste ski instructor or mountain guide UIAGM, the guide joining on request for the occasional route that calls for one
- Beyond the ski area
- Tarentaise day trips and heliskiing on both sides of the border, the flights arranged for you
- Where we meet
- Val d'Isère, first thing, at the Olympique gondola (foot of Bellevarde)
- Contact
- +33 7 67 40 21 01 · reply within 24 hours, in English, French or German
- +33 6 51 66 58 53
Ski Val d'Isère with a team that reads the snow every morning
Backcountry skiing, or off-piste as the Alps have always called it, is what you come to Val d'Isère for, and it is our whole craft here: guided days and ski touring with people who are out on these slopes most days of the winter. You ski Solaise in the morning, before the sun has reached it, and Bellevarde in the afternoon. An instructor who has skied a bowl a hundred times knows how it looks today, with the wind of two days ago lying over last week's refreeze. That is the knowledge we pass on to you.
Boris Malesset, the founder, ran the TopSki school in Val d'Isère before setting up his own. He skis all over the world, from the Alps to Japan by way of Iceland and Svalbard, and still reads this mountain more closely than any other. On your days with us, you ski under his eye, with a small team who know each sector and the hour when its snow is at its best. Boris holds the French BEES, the Swiss Level 3 ski instructor patent and the Austrian Schiführer diploma.
Off-piste skiing your way, on skins or by helicopter
Val d'Isère and the Espace Killy open onto some of the finest off-piste skiing in the Alps, and when the snow is better elsewhere, we take you to find it.
Guided off-piste skiing and ski touring. The heart of the craft. From your first powder turns on the gentle open ground of Solaise to the Couloir des Pisteurs, kept for very strong skiers: we choose the terrain to suit your level, and it grows with you. Explore off-piste skiing →
Ski touring courses. Put on skins and reach the quiet slopes beyond the lifts, from the Pays Désert to the Col de la Sana, learning the movement and how to read the ground. Teenagers welcome. See the ski touring courses →
Heliskiing, on both sides of the border. French law keeps the helicopter for the return, so we ski it in reverse: up on skins, back by heli, by way of Bonneval-sur-Arc. For the classic drop, we take you across into Italy, to La Thuile or Sestriere, and arrange the flights for you. How our heliskiing works →
Day trips in the Tarentaise. Sainte-Foy, Bonneval-sur-Arc, La Rosière: a short drive away, you find other snow and other lines. A briefing in the morning, lunch with a view, back by late afternoon. See our day trips →
And also. Off-piste snowboarding and splitboard, private lessons on the Espace Killy to find your legs again, a day of ski school in Tignes, our prices by the day or the week, and our ski weekends and trips to Mont Blanc and further afield.
Avalanche safety: your day begins with the snowpack
Off-piste skiing takes place away from the marked, open pistes, on slopes the ski patrol leaves in their natural state, so your avalanche safety begins with us well before the first turn. You set out with an avalanche airbag pack, a transceiver, a shovel and a probe, provided and checked before we leave. Each morning we read the BRA, the French avalanche bulletin, set it against what we saw on the ground the day before, and choose the sector from there.
The rest is judgement: if the avalanche danger is high, we change terrain or turn back, there and then. That judgement leaves you free to give your whole mind to the snow. For a first look at the day, the webcams and the weather are on the Val d'Isère tourist office website.
A word from the founder
Every winter we take skiers like you off-piste in Val d'Isère, with the same pleasure. We built the school so that you could ski this mountain the way we love to ski it: with time to read the snow, the freedom to turn back, and the pleasure of progressing at your own pace. You set out in a small group, take the mountain as it comes, and head home in the evening with a fine day of snow in your legs and something new in your skiing.
Boris Malesset, founder of PowderWeGo, ski instructor since 1996, off-piste professional since 2001, based in Val d'Isère since 2005, former director of the TopSki school there.
Safety, as we practise it. Off-piste skiing, freeride touring and ski touring take place away from the marked, open pistes. We provide and check the safety kit before every departure (avalanche airbag pack, transceiver, shovel and probe). We follow the BRA, the French avalanche bulletin, and the snowpack daily, and adapt, or cancel, every outing to the conditions. The kit is only the start: we manage the risk through preparation, a close reading of the terrain and the good sense to turn back when the day calls for it.
FAQ
Is backcountry skiing the same as off-piste?
Close cousins. Off-piste usually means skiing from the lifts down ungroomed, unpatrolled slopes; backcountry skiing tends to mean going further, often on skins, beyond the resort. From Val d'Isère we do both, always guided, with an avalanche airbag pack, transceiver, shovel and probe for everyone.
Is PowderWeGo a ski school or a travel agency?
Both, in that order. First an off-piste ski school in Val d'Isère, with guided lessons and days out. Then, once we leave the ski area: day trips in the Tarentaise, heliskiing on both sides of the border, and further trips organised from start to finish.
Do I need to be an expert skier to ski off-piste with you?
No. You need to link your turns down a red run and want to learn. From there we build: powder beginners start on the gentle open ground of Solaise, experts go looking for the steep. We fit the terrain to the group, so everyone skis at their best. Not there yet? Our ski lessons in Val d'Isère start from your very first turn.
Is the safety kit provided?
Yes, all of it. Each skier is given an avalanche airbag pack, a transceiver, a shovel and a probe, checked before every departure. It's included in the price: you bring only your skis (hire available locally) and your clothing.
Can you heliski from Val d'Isère?
Yes, two ways. In France the law keeps the helicopter for the return, so we ski it in reverse: up on skins, helicopter back after the descent. And we cross into Italy, to La Thuile or Sestriere, for classic heliskiing. We arrange all the logistics. The detail is on our heliski page.
How do I book, and how quickly do you reply?
Through the form on this page or by phone on +33 7 67 40 21 01. We reply within 24 hours, in English, French or German. The sooner the better: the good powder days are booked ahead.
When shall we ski together?
Send us your dates and your level, and within 24 hours we'll tell you what you can ski with us in Val d'Isère, and where.
Phone: +33 7 67 40 21 01 WhatsApp: +33 6 51 66 58 53