Why guided, when the runs are right there.
The 3 Valleys hold some of the largest lift-served off-piste in the Alps. Most of it is visible from the chairlift. None of it should be skied without a guide, and the reasons for that statement are entirely unromantic — they are about avalanche release zones, about the line that opens at eleven and shuts by two, and about the fact that the seventh person down a slope often triggers what the first six did not.
A state-certified instructor with off-piste specialisation reads the snowpack the way an experienced sailor reads sea state — by texture, by weight underfoot, by the sound of the slope at the top of a traverse. He knows that the south face of Boismint will be skiable at ten in the morning and dangerous by twelve. He knows that La Masse holds dry snow three days longer than Méribel because of how the wind crossed the col on the last storm. None of this can be looked up. It is a body of working knowledge, held by people who ski here every day of the season.
Marion Levasseur leads the off-piste programme at Snowtailors. She came to us from a background in mountain rescue and seven seasons of guiding in La Grave; she now runs the freeride days for our advanced guests across all 5 villages. The decision to ski a particular line on a particular morning is hers — and she is, very politely, not negotiable on safety.
The line you remember twenty years later isn't the steepest. It's the one that opened, briefly, because the wind dropped at nine and someone noticed. Marion Levasseur, off-piste lead
Iconic itineraries, named.
What follows is a working list — not exhaustive, never the whole programme, but a sense of what an off-piste week with Snowtailors actually covers when conditions cooperate.
Val Thorens — La Masse, Cime Caron, Boismint
La Masse is, quietly, the best lift-served powder in the 3 Valleys — north-facing, holding dry snow for days after a storm, with multiple aspects to choose from depending on stability. The full Cime Caron face opens after a storm window and gives long descents with helicopter pick-up at the bottom. Boismint south face holds dry snow into April; it is a late-season favourite for guests on Easter weeks.
Méribel and Courchevel — Mont Vallon, Saulire couloirs, Couloir Tournier
Mont Vallon is the long, classic descent of Méribel — six kilometres from summit to forest, varied aspect, intermediate-friendly when stable. The Saulire couloirs above Courchevel are, by contrast, an advanced project: three named chutes off the back of the Saulire, each requiring a rope-drop entry and firm avalanche conditions. The Couloir Tournier, on the Courchevel side of the Saulire, is the most committing of them — and one of the prettier morning skis in the area when it's in.
Saint-Martin and Les Menuires — Lac du Lou, Pointe de la Masse
The long itinerary from the Pointe de la Masse down to the Lac du Lou is six kilometres of off-piste with a single instructor, a single guest family, and not a soul in sight. It is, on a clear day in late January, one of the great ski experiences in France. The route requires booking — we cap it at four guests per instructor — and we don't run it on poor visibility.
What is included in your day.
An off-piste day with Snowtailors is fully equipped — no separate hire, no rental shop diversion at eight in the morning. Each guest is fitted with the following before leaving the village:
- Avalanche transceiver (DVA) — a digital three-antenna model, fitted to the body, tested before departure with a full search drill.
- Shovel and probe — carried in the pack, demonstrated at the morning briefing.
- Optional ABS airbag rucksack — recommended for advanced terrain, included on request, weighs around 2.5 kg.
- Off-piste skis on request — wider-waisted skis (95 mm and above) can be rented through our shop partners and delivered to your hotel ski room before the morning briefing.
- Helicopter pick-up on request — at the bottom of the long itineraries (Lac du Lou, Vallée des Encombres) when conditions permit. Quoted separately.
Equipment is checked at the chalet door or hotel ski room, not at a shop counter. The morning briefing is twenty minutes — transceiver search drill, route plan, weather and stability assessment — and is a non-negotiable part of every off-piste day. We have never skipped it.
When we don't go.
This is the paragraph we ask guests to read most carefully, because it is the one that defines us.
We cancel an off-piste day, or reroute it on-piste, whenever the avalanche risk is 3+ on the BERA scale, whenever visibility makes route-finding unsafe, or whenever recent snowfall has not yet stabilised on the chosen aspect. We make this decision the morning of the day, on the basis of the Météo France bulletin, the dawn observation of our pistes patrol contacts, and Marion's own judgement of the snowpack. The decision is not negotiable.
We say this because guests sometimes arrive with expectations set by a brochure photograph, or with a tight calendar, or with a competitive friend. We understand. We will, if we cancel, propose a quietly superb on-piste day at no penalty, or we will shift the off-piste session to a later date in the same week. What we will not do is ski a slope that an avalanche professional would not ski with their own family. There is no tariff at which we change that policy.
In fifteen winters of running freeride days, Snowtailors has had no client involved in an avalanche. That is not luck — it is the discipline of saying no, repeatedly, in front of paying guests who would rather we said yes. It is, to us, the entire job.
What it costs, openly.
Off-piste pricing is on quotation because the variables matter — number of guests, level, helicopter, equipment, season. The figures below are indicative and reflect a standard winter-season day, with full avalanche kit included.
- Half-day off-piste (3 hours, up to 4 guests, kit included) — from €450, indicative.
- Full-day off-piste (8 hours, lunch coordinated, kit included) — from €890, indicative.
- The Tailored Off-piste Week (5 or 6 days, the same instructor) — on quotation, with continuity discount.
- Helicopter pick-up (bottom of long itineraries) — from €350 per person, on quotation, not included.
- Avalanche awareness training (half-day or full-day, on the snow) — on quotation.
High-season periods — Christmas, February, Easter — are tariffed higher because instructor availability tightens. We will always quote transparently before booking, and we never run an off-piste session that we would not, on the day, want to ski ourselves.