Situated at the foot of Massif des Écrins and dominated by the towering La Meije peak (13,070 ft), La Grave is a quaint ski resort village in the French Alps and a veritable paradise for freeriders and the hardiest powder chasers. It bears an intimidating reputation due to its challenging off-piste freeride terrain and its wide array of open bowls, steep couloirs and magnificent glaciers. With only one groomed trail on a glacier, this resort is a resort in name only—the better part of La Grave’s massive vertical boasts rugged and glaciated terrain and spectacular descents stretching into the distance, making it ideal for more experienced backcountry aficionados! On top of that, this tranquil backcountry skiing haven is never crowded, so it is perfect if you’re looking for your own private powdery playground. Remember, this demanding area is not for newbie skiers, so make sure you hire a knowledgeable guide. Find out more about why La Grave is one of the best places for backcountry skiing in Europe from 57hours.
What you get in this adventure:
What’s not included:
To enjoy this backcountry adventure, you need to be in very good physical shape. You will be on your feet for 5-7 hours a day for five full days covering a lot of diverse terrain every day. You will need to manage controlled descents in variable conditions. All participants should feel comfortable on challenging red-level resort runs or higher and be able to carry a loaded daypack while skinning up variable degrees of terrain. For the advanced program, you need to be in really good shape seeing as you’ll go uphill on 1000 m of uneven terrain.
To participate in this tour, you need to have previous backcountry skiing experience. For the intermediate tour, you need a good level of skiing. For the advanced adventure, cross-country skiing experience is beneficial and recommended, but not essential. You will be skiing, touring, and summiting on glaciated terrain for hours every day. Your guide will take care of the planning, oversee your technique, and teach you how to better manage the terrain. They also have the experience and avalanche training necessary to keep you safe.
For technical backcountry ski touring gear, you will need to bring:
For personal items, we recommend bringing:
All mandatory gear can be rented if you don’t have your own. You can rent:
Ski rental locations are in La Grave and should be picked up the night prior to your outing. If you need to rent gear, let us know and we can help make arrangements.
Group sizes and pricing:
Backcountry skiing in La Grave can be arranged for larger groups. Contact us to make arrangements.
Min. age requirements:
If your group has skiers under the age of 18, contact us prior to booking to make arrangements.
To get to La Grave, most people fly into Lyon-Saint-Exupéry Airport, 2 hours away from La Grave. When you get to Lyon, you can rent a car or take a bus or train to Grenoble, and then take a bus directly to La Grave. You can also fly into Turin Airport 2.5 hours away. From Turin, you can rent a car or take a train to Bardonecchia and then drive to La Grave for 1h 20 minutes.
The meeting place is in La Grave. Once you and your guide agree on the details of your itinerary, your guide will suggest the best place to meet, whether that’s at the guide shop or a predetermined location. The guide will choose the appropriate terrain dependent on conditions and the ability of the group.
57hours is committed to providing safe outdoor adventure experiences. We require all guides using our platform to have a COVID-19 safety plan and to make the details of that plan accessible to travelers. In most cases, group sizes will be reduced, guides will avoid overcrowded locations, and other safety measures will be met depending on the location and activity.
We also expect clients to respect local regulations and take measures to protect themselves, guides and the communities they’re travelling to. For more information on COVID-19 measures in La Grave, France, please refer to France Diplomacy’s advice for travelers and foreign nationals.
Please contact us if you have any questions or require further information. We are happy to provide you with the most up-to-date information
To book this adventure, please pay the full amount upon checkout.
Please note that booking fees are non-refundable in all cases and will be deducted from the refund amount.
