Freeride tips for the next decade

As a result of the fact that I have skied in 75 countries and close to 650 ski resorts, I invariably get asked, “What is the best ski resort in the world?” What the ski aficionados really want to know is my recommendations for the best locations for freeriding. 

Interestingly enough, the world of freeriding has changed immeasurably over the past 50 years, resulting in an ever-changing answer to that question. The locations to be recom-mended have changed, partly as a result of the changing nuance in the meaning of the question. In the 1960s, a person enquiring about the best resort for skiing deep powder was most probably interested in which area gets the most and the lightest snow. Everything else was immaterial. The answer was probably Alta, which averaged somewhere around 11 meters of snowfall per season and, as a result of the resort’s proximity to the desert, the snow was often a dry champagne powder that was second to none. Snow Report from Alta. The fact that Alta had only a few ski lifts was of no concern, and its proximity to an international airport only 30 minutes away was a bonus. Skiing powder was not that easy to learn on 205 GS skis, and there was always enough to go around. 

Fast-forward 50 years, and the circumstances have changed radically. Alta, as well as Chamonix, Verbier, St. Anton, Engelberg, and quite a few other resorts have, over the years, developed a cult following of freeriders, and the virgin snow, no matter how light or how much has fallen, is exhausted before noon on a powder day. Therefore, the recommendation of where a freerider should go for the best experience is no longer dependent entirely on the amount and the quality of snow. Today it becomes equally important that the resort has as few freeriders as possible. How and where, then, can we best avoid a flock of freeriders akin to a swarm of locust invading and destroying the harvest? Rule one is to avoid ski-bum havens and most resorts with a reputation for freeriding. Ski bums tend to proliferate in resorts with big-time après-ski and cheap accommodation. Steer clear.

As important as knowing the places to avoid, a fan of powder snow wants, of course, to know to where he should travel to achieve his fluffy goal. Begin by choosing resorts that are difficult to get to—far from an international airport—and preferably far from the most frequented mountain ranges. If you can, travel far afield, to countries that do not have an indigenous snowsports culture. Try poor countries, where the locals can’t afford to ski. Or visit expensive countries, where the ski bums can’t afford to ski! Travel to exotic locations that are expensive and time-consuming to get to. Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and India fit the bill, among others.  

If one prefers to stay in the Alps, visit resorts that market themselves to families with small children. Visit small ski resorts that have little or no after-ski. And keep in mind that some of the exclusive resorts of Switzerland are too expensive for most ski bums. The powder in St. Moritz and Zermatt usually remains untracked for longer than many other resorts. While the wealthy patrons enjoy long lunches at exclusive mountain huts, you can still be pumping powder in the afternoon. 

With this long introduction serving to explain some of the important criteria for choosing a likely location to enjoy powder past lunchtime, here are a few of my favorite ski locations. 

Jackson Hole has the name, but Grand Targhee, the little stepsister on the other side of the Tetons, is definitely worth a visit. It averages almost 13 meters of snowfall per season—about three meters more than its more famous neighbor!

The view of the nearby Tetons is alone worth the price of a lift ticket. This is perhaps the most dramatic range in the United States. As in most of the locations on this list, Targhee is not a good destination for nightlife. This is a local mountain. The resort itself only has about 250 beds, and there are a few more hotels in Driggs, a small town about 20 kilometers away. 

There are a few open slopes in Targhee, but the mountain is primarily awash with excellent glade skiing. From the top of the Dreamcatcher lift, one can easily traverse in either direction to access what seems like half of Wyoming. There is plenty of space between the trees, and there is often plenty of powder between them as well. If one does run out of powder using the lifts, Targhee is also home to Wyoming’s only cat-skiing operation.

When you disembark from the gondola at 3980 meters above sea level high up on Mt. Apharwat, you have unloaded from the highest ski lift in the world. There are a number of higher lifts, but they are not built for skiers and boarders. At that elevation, you would expect all the skiing to be above the tree line, but you would be wrong. Large birch trees grow up to about 3500 meters in this part of the world. Don’t worry, however. They are widely spaced and easy to navigate when skiing powder. 

India is not know for its efficiency, and it can be frustrating at times that the lifts are often closed during bad weather, and even sometimes on bluebird mornings as it takes some time to shoot down avalanches. In those circumstances, freeriders generally enjoy the pine forests below the ski lifts. They ski the trees from the village at 2660 meters down to Tangmarg at 2100 meters and return by taxi. An added point of interest is that the forest is chock full of monkeys. 

Do set aside some non-ski time to take in the sights of Srinagar. Built on the shores of Daal Lake, and surrounded by the mighty Himalayas, it is one of the most exotic, most beautiful and most fascinating places I have ever seen. The best way to experience Srinigar is to stay in a houseboat and be paddled about in a gondola-shaped boat called a shikara.

Do not be led astray by all the bad press about Iran. The government is not a favorite among the Western media, but the people are among the kindest and most hospitable in the world, and the skiing is out of this world. The local people don’t have much of a ski culture, so you won’t have to compete with Iranians for first tracks, and most foreigners are scared off by Iran’s negative image in the news. In addition, Dizin will probably be the least expensive ski experience you will ever have. 

Of course, you shouldn’t come here hoping for a vibrant après-ski scene. The powder is light and dry, like in Utah, but the country is dry of alcohol. In addition, woman and men have separate lift queues and are not allowed to ride the lifts together. 

The slopes of Dizin are all above tree line, and offer marvelous views of the Alborz range as well as Iran’s highest peak, Mt. Damavand. It is possible to ski off-piste down to the base of the little ski area of Darbandsar, which also has a very respectable 860 meters of vertical. From there, it is only about ten kilometers to Shemshak, yet a third ski resort definitely worth visiting for any freerider. 

Dragobrat is a very different experience from Dizin in more ways than one. Whereas Dizin offers no alcohol, the vodka in Dragobrat flows like water. While Iran has not much of a ski culture, Dragobrat has always been a location where Ukrainian powder hounds congregate. Similar to Iran, however, the Ukraine is a cheap country to visit, and skiing and boarding here costs a fraction of what it costs in the West. 

 The village is a hodge-podge of small, cozy hotels with a friendly vibe, where freeriders clink glasses together and exchange toasts of boodmo long into the cold Ukrainian night. The mountains here are not so high, rising only to 1703 meters, and they are rounded, appearing more like hills. Nevertheless, the powder is excellent, and the atmosphere offers a genuine Ukrainian experience. 

Situated a bit more than halfway between Santiago and Puerto Montt, Corralco is not very convenient to get to. If you like powder, count that as a plus. Inconvenient translates to fewer skiers. Throw in the fact that the resort averages nine meters of snowfall per season, and you quickly understand that a visit might be worth a little inconvenience. 

The lifts are built on a spectacular volcano, one of many that jut majestically above the surrounding lakes and valleys of Chile. Don’t let the small amount of 29 kilometers of piste deter you. There are large swaths of off-piste terrain. Corralco offers more vertical than almost all of the other volcano resorts in Chile, and if you bring your skins, you can glide up the final 465 vertical meters to the peak to access even more territory.

Text: Jimmy Petterson