Access will be via ski lifts (no ski touring is involved in this course)
Date: week commencing Saturday 22 February 2025 (course will start on Sunday 23 February 2025)
Base: choose your chalet
Course cost: £400 per person (if staying in a skivo chalet) / £500 per person for non skivo guests – a minimum of 5 people are required for the course to run
Coach: TBC
Duration: All day from 09.00 – 16:00hrs over 5 days
Group size: 6 maximum
Skill level: Confident skiers with a sense of adventure who enjoy going off the beaten track!
Course content
Winter course content: This all day course will explore the outer reaches of this huge ski area. Late February often provides great powder in the Alps and our coaches will spend their day taking you to the very best pitches and terrain.
Spring course content: When this course runs in the spring we will explore the outer reaches of Les 3 Vallées ski domain. It’s the perfect time of year to enjoy the magical experience of ‘corn/spring’ snow and enjoy skiing all over the valleys.
Our team of coaches not only know where to find the very best snow but also where it is at specific times of the day. They will move around the mountain finding the best pitches and terrain as the sun softens the snow which makes for an amazing ski experience.
Both courses are based almost entirely off piste and you need to be equipped accordingly for back country skiing. Although we will return to the chalet each evening you will need to be fully equipped for back country skiing with transceiver, shovel and probe. You can hire this locally if needed.
Equipment needed
You will need to be fully equipped for back country skiing:
- Avalanche kit – transceiver, shovel and probe (can be rented in resort)
- 30 litre winter rucksack; water bottle / hydration pack
- Suncream (factor 50+)
- Sunhat
- Helmet and warm hat
- Sunnies and goggles
Contact us to reserve a place(s) on this course.
A very special one off end of season introductory ski touring week – come along and enjoy those empty slopes to the full.
Date: week commencing Saturday 12 April 2025 (course will start on Sunday 13 April 2025)
Base: Choose your chalet
Course Cost: £350 per person (if staying in a skivo chalet) / £500 per person for non skivo guests – a minimum of 5 people are required for the course to run
Coach: Dave Beattie
Duration: All day
Group size: 8 maximum
Skill level: Confident red run skiers with a good level of fitness. You must have a sense of adventure and enjoy going off the beaten track!
What is ski touring / ski mountaineering ?
It’s basically about exploring the mountains on skis and enjoying the tranquillity and remoteness of the mountains. You then have the mountain to yourself as you ski down.
If that sounds like something you would enjoy or already have some experience of – then this course could be ideal for you.
So what are the pre-requisites to fully enjoy the course?
- Passionate about exploring the mountains away from the piste
- Have a good basic fitness - ski touring is like walking in the mountains then choosing your route to ski back down
- Confident skier on red runs and enjoy the challenge of back country skiing
- Have a sense of adventure
Course content
Where we go each day will be dictated to a large extent by the weather and snow conditions. This is prime time for back country skiing and the plan is to explore on touring skis.
On our sample itinerary are the following tours. Obviously we will choose which one suits the conditions at the time.
Sample Week
Day 1: Orientation with equipment (which can be hired locally) Short tour into Les Avals from 165
Day 2: Ski to La Masse Les Menuires off piste the into the Lac du Lou area where we can explore and have lunch at a local refuge.
Day 3: Left access to the Chanrossa above Courchevel 1650 and into Les Avals and to the Petit Mont Blanc. Option to ski to the ski station Pralongan en Vanoise – where one of our minibuses will pick us up.
Day 4: Day tour above Pralognan – ski tour to the Col de la Vanoise below the Grand Casse. ( PIC ) Ski back the village.
Day 5: Local tour in the Courchevel area. The Freeride/Creux Noir bowl offers some great skiing with easy ski tour access. If the snow allows descent to the Las Tueda in Meribel.
You will need a ski pass as we will use lifts for access.
Equipment needed
You will need to be fully equipped for back country skiing:
- Avalanche kit – transceiver, shovel and probe (can be rented in resort)
- 30 litre winter rucksack; water bottle / hydration pack
- Suncream (factor 50+)
- Sunhat
- Helmet and warm hat
- Sunnies and goggles
Contact us to reserve place(s) on this course.
Pre-Covid we always offered a bump course on the last week of the season which Tom Kenny staffed. It was very popular and it’s now time to resurrect it but with Ben Beattie as the coach. So who might enjoy this type of course? If you want to improve your bump skiing with all day coaching then this is the course for you.
Date: week commencing Saturday 12 April 20250 (course will start on Sunday 13 April 2025)
Base: choose your chalet
Course Cost : £350 per person (if staying in a skivo chalet) / £500 per person for non skivo guests – a minimum of 5 people are required for the course to run
Coach: Ben Beattie
Duration: All day from 09.00 – 16:00hrs over 5 days
Group Size: 6 maximum
Skill Level: Confident on red runs with a passion to improve your mogul technique
Course content
The session will be split into 2 separate sessions:
Mornings
- Technical skills and drills on piste to develop your rotary skills (turning legs and feet without using the upper body)
- Range of movement drills which are critical in bumps
- Use of the pole plant
- Skiing in narrow corridors on piste
Afternoons
- Mogul based and implementing the morning skills in the bumps
- Progressively more challenging lines
- Tactics in the moguls and how to see the line
Contact us to reserve place(s) on this course.
What our guests say about us
Just wanted to say what a wonderful holiday we had recently. Chalet Sapin Bleu was a fabulous chalet (real luxury) and my friends and I are keen to return next season. I think what made it so good was all the friendly help from the very start, to getting there and getting skis etc sorted out. The chalet staff were great and the quality of the food was just amazing.
We had a great week with skivo – my eighth, but the first for my wife and her two friends, and also for the lovely group of people with whom we shared Chalet Roger. The entire skivo team looked after use fantastically well; nothing was too much trouble and Bogie’s cooking was superb. The lessons were really good and we had amazing weather and snow
Just wanted to email and thank you again for hosting us for such a wonderful week. Our whole party had the best time ever and we are all really struggling being back at work – especially as it is snowing heavily here! It is by far the best week of the year and we are very grateful to you and the whole skivo team for making it so memorable.