Every skier has a private list of days they hope to have: first tracks on a powder morning, a run down a famous glacier, a trip to the other side of the world when the home mountains are green. These ten experiences, first collected by the ski site Unofficial Networks, mix big adventures with simple pleasures, plus the practical details that make each one work.
Mountain adventures every skier should try
1. Catch first chair on a powder day
Fresh snow is untouched for only the first hour or so. Have your boots, layers and lift pass ready the night before, check the lift opening times and be in the queue before the ropes drop. Even on a groomed morning, the first runs on perfect corduroy are among the best of the day.
2. Ski Japan
Japan's northern island of Hokkaido and the Japanese Alps of Honshu are famous for light, dry snow, delivered by cold winds blowing off the Sea of Japan. Hakuba, in Nagano Prefecture, hosted alpine events at the 1998 Winter Olympics and is a good base for a first trip, while Niseko in Hokkaido is known worldwide for powder. End the day the Japanese way, in an onsen hot spring, with a bowl of ramen.
3. Go heli-skiing
Commercial heli-skiing began in Canada: mountain guide Hans Gmoser founded Canadian Mountain Holidays in 1965, and British Columbia and Alaska are still its heartland. Skiers go out in small groups with their own guide, who chooses runs and tests the snowpack, and everyone carries a transceiver, probe and shovel. You need to be a confident off-piste skier. Heli-skiing is banned in France (since 1985) and Germany.
4. Ski the Vallée Blanche
The Aiguille du Midi cable car, opened in 1955, lifts you about 2,800 m from Chamonix to 3,842 m in some 20 minutes. From there the Vallée Blanche runs about 20 km across the glaciers of the Mont Blanc massif. It is unmarked off-piste terrain with crevasses, so go with a mountain guide. Other classic European goals include the freeride slopes of Verbier, the lift-served high mountain at La Grave and the long runs of the Dolomites.
5. Ski in July
When the Northern Hemisphere is in summer, the ski season runs from about June to October in Chile, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. The Andes resorts near Santiago and Mendoza and the club fields and big resorts of New Zealand's South Island make a summer ski trip into a real journey.
Skills that make every ski day better
6. Take an avalanche course
If you want to ski beyond the ropes, a recognised avalanche course, such as an AIARE Level 1 in North America, teaches how to read terrain and snow, plan a route and carry out a companion rescue with transceiver, probe and shovel. It is the start of an education that grows with every season.
7. Learn to tune your own skis
Sharp edges and a fresh coat of wax change how skis feel on hard snow. The late extreme skier Doug Coombs made a well-known short video on a quick ski tune. Learn the basics (cleaning the base, waxing and touching up edges) and leave base grinds and binding adjustments to a ski shop.
8. Ski until your legs give out, then stop
Spend at least one day skiing from first chair to last lift. Pace yourself with breaks and a proper lunch, and finish on a run you know, not on an unknown descent at dusk. Most injuries happen when legs are tired, so a smart final run is part of the challenge.
Ski culture: films and traditions
9. Watch the classic ski films
The original list named five films every skier should see:
- The Blizzard of Aahhh's (1988), Greg Stump's best-known film, with Glen Plake, Scot Schmidt and Mike Hattrup, which helped launch extreme skiing.
- Hot Dog… The Movie (1984), the cult freestyle comedy.
- Aspen Extreme (1993), a Hollywood drama about ski instructors in Aspen.
- There’s Something About McConkey, about Shane McConkey (1969–2009), the Canadian-born big-mountain and ski-BASE pioneer known for his “Saucer Boy” character.
- G.N.A.R. (2010), a comedy about a points-based ski game, featuring McConkey.
10. Start your own ski tradition
The best ski trips develop rituals: a group photo at the same summit sign, a favourite mountain hut for lunch, a toast at après-ski or a last run together. Small traditions turn separate holidays into a shared story.
For more ideas, see our ski-trip shortlist framework, Seven Ski Destinations: Mountains, Ski Culture and Different Kinds of Trips and Chuck Berry’s 5X1NZ challenge.
Related reading
- Let Me Take You to the Mountain: GoPro’s Andes Adventure
- Dub Roots: Dubsatch Collective’s Alta Ski Film
- This Is Skiing!
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