It may not yet quite be possible to ‘ski forever’ but if you head for a ski resort where the lifts take you higher above your starting point than most others, creating a huge vertical, it’s most likely you’ll enjoy one of the longest runs on the planet as you ski back down – the longest more than 20km in fact.
But, as with most ski stats, when you try to say which resorts have the biggest verticals, quite a lot of “Yeah, but…” scenarios pop up.
For example some huge verticals are not fully skiable in one go – you might have to get a lift mid-way down to get over a rise, there’s not a constant fall line the whole way.
Or what if you get a lift up 2,000 vertical metres but you can ski down 2,200m below the bottom of the lifts, do you still count it? Or equally if you can hike up a bit from the top of the highest lift before you start your descent?
So there can be a lot of provisos in these stats and I’ll try to briefly cover them in each case = briefly because I don’t like to be too bothered by these details as all the huge verticals provide for epic descents, and that’s the important thing.
Oh and we’re not going to get started on the biggest skiable vertical on the planet if you climb up or take a helicopter (Mt St Elias, Alaska, 5,489m – pictured above, credit Red Bull – sticks up further above the surrounding land than Mt Everest does); or the biggest non-skiable vertical on earth (Mauna Kea, Hawaii, 10,280m, but more than half of it under water) ; or the highest mountain so far discovered anywhere (Olympus Mons on Mars 24,000m high), we’ll just stick with what we can all ski…
1. 2738m, Chamonix, France
Chamonix’s vertical is the world’s biggest lift-served drop by some distance. It does not serve any groomed runs however, ‘only’ one of the world’s most famous runs, and its longest, the Vallee Blanche, a 22km off-piste descent which good intermediates with stamina, a guide and a head for heights can tackle.
Yeah but: The skiable vertical is actually a bit less as Chamonix count the top of the building on the Aiguille du Midi when they measure the top lift height and you start at the bottom of that multi-storey building and edge further down along a ridge before you start skiing (see pic above). The Vallee Blanche also usually requires you stop at the end of the glacier to negotiate glacial moraine and at the lower end near Chamonix snow cover is problematic.
2. 2479m, Verbier, Switzerland
OK, we can go straight in to “Yeah, but…” for this big number as whilst it’s “Technically possible” to ski this vert, which involves going from the top of the Mont Fort glacier lifts right down to the valley floor, there’s no official piste to do it on and even for those prepared to try it without an official slope, the snow cover rarely gets down that low these days. I’m told however, that it has been skied.
3. 2310m, Val Thorens to Orelle, France
The Orelle gondola, one of the ski world’s longest, linked a fourth valley to the 3 Valleys some years ago, but even before it was built it was possible to get a guided off piste descent to Orelle. Val Thorens have been extending a groomed piste progressively down the valley so perhaps one day we could see the longest groomed run vertical possible.
Yeah, but, for now it’s a case of ‘dodging obstacles’ to make an off piste descent when snow cover is good enough all the way down to Orelle (900m above sea level) – usually in January.
4. 2269m, Zermatt, Switzerland
The world’s longest vertical you can complete on groomed pistes (or off piste) is at Zermatt, beginning from Europe’s highest lifts on the Klein Matterhorn.
Yeah, but, the thing is Europe’s very highest lifts to 3899m are a couple of drag lifts that only operate in the summer months on the year round glacier, not in the winter when the lower slopes are operational, so the max vertical is not normally possible unless you get those top drag lifts especially opened. So it’s really more like 2150m, less than the next three.
Yeah, but (2), it’s possible to ski a slightly greater vertical of 2369m over to Valtournenche in Italy but pedants like I don’t include this as its one where you normally need to take a drag lift half way down to get over a rise in the descent.
5. 2220m, Les 2 Alpes, France
Relatively straight forward, down from the top of the glacier at 3,520m.
Yeah, but you can actually, reputedly, add 48m to the vert by taking the ratrac that takes skiers over to La Grave and skiing back down from there.
6. 2200m, Alpe d’Huez, France
The near neighbour of Les 2 Alpes also has one of the world’s longest groomed pistes over on of its biggest verticals, which also happens to me the world’s longest black, the wonderful Sarenne run.
Yeah, but you can actually ski on another 30 vertical metres below the bottom lift if the snow is there and you want to say you’ve skied an even bigger vertical, but you need to walk back up to the lift.
6. 2174m, Murren to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
The route of the famous Inferno race each winter.
Yeah, but…there’s rarely enough snow down to the valley floor.
8. 2138m, Meribel – Brides les Bains, France
Although the piste officially ends 500 metres above Brides Les Bains when you need to hope on the gondola to finish your journey down it is technically possible to ski the full vert when conditions are good and you know where you’re going. It has been done…
Yeah, but, like our entries at 2, 3 and 7 this one is rarely skiable. Brides Les Bains is only at 600m above sea level so adequate snow cover is rare all the way down.
9. 2100m, La Grave, France
A cult descent at a cult resort.
Yeah, but it’s actually possible to ski 50m lower than the bottom lift for a 2150 metre vertical descent but you need to hike back up that bit if you do.
10. Three contenders:
2092m, Courmayeur, Italy – this is the off piste descent from Punta Helbronner. Yeah, but reports indicate to ski the full vert you need to do a bit of hiking or jump a big cliff, so maybe it doesn’t count?
2034m, Davos to Kublis, Switzerland – a wonderful long off piste route that was one of the first ever skied in the Alps. Yeah, but, you need to get a train back from Kublis, it’s not really the bottom lift at the same ski area, so maybe it shouldn’t count?
2026m, Villaroger, Paradiski, France (pictured top) – one of the world’s classic descents from above Les Arcs.
Yeah, but you can actually add another 250m at the bottom if you cross a road, snow cover is good enough and you hike back up, which actually puts it at number four, kind of…
So, any I’ve missed?