Escape The Crowds. Go Adventure Skiing

You have to hand it to the major ski resorts. They've built super fast new lifts, mega apartment blocks for self-catering, offered not-to-be-missed ski pass deals, created artificial snow when snowfall's lacking, all to attract more visitors. And, mostly, they've nailed it. 

Congratulations. We now have more queues for lifts, more crowded pistes, nowhere for resort workers to live and, thanks to all the increased travel, more damage to the planet affecting climate change and, ironically, the future of ski resorts.

And, although they're successfully attracting more snow-loving families in rainbow-coloured ski gear to eat extortionately priced burgers and chips up the mountain, they have also managed to put off those who ski or snowboard for the freedom it offers to enjoy the mountains, which is hard to do when you're in a long queue with a mass of Gore-Tex clad elbows jabbing in your ribs.

So is it any wonder that there's a growing number of skiers and snowboarders leading an exodus out of resort and away from the over-priced passes and over-crowded slopes?

And it's not just to go ski touring, because since Covid created the surge for skiing without lifts, you can't get away from it all on the classic tours close to resorts. Fresh snow overnight? Good luck with parking at your favourite ski tour spot.

It's time, then, to explore new horizons, beyond the Crystal Holiday ski brochure.

JAPAN'S SECRET SKI PARADISE

 

The trick is to stay one step ahead of the latest hype. Or as many ski touring steps as you can.

Off piste pioneers said sayonara to Niseko, 10 years ago and moved on to smaller resorts like Kokusai, ski touring with guides. More recently there have been whispers about Japan's secret ski paradise, Rishiri Island, below. Although, the fact that it's been hailed 'the snowiest destination in the world' by Conde Naste Traveller, means it's, meh, not such a secret any more.

Ski Safari, who have over 20 years experience tailoring ski adventure holidays (the clue's in the name) are on the case to find new, less crowded locations, launching three new resorts in Japan for this winter: Shiga Kogen, the largest and most extensive 'alps-esque' skiing in Japan but with incredible snowfall to match; Madarao, home to some of the deepest snow and best tree skiing on the planet; and Naeba, which offers the fastest slope access on their programme. 

But there are many, many small Japanese resorts great for blower pow, onsens and ramen away from the Aussie snowboarding crowds. A good mountain guide will know where to take you, and there's also great insider info to the more remote areas here.

Some Japanese ski resorts have gone out of business thanks to a boom and bust scenario, increasing snow droughts and reduced popularity (there are lessons to learn here) but that's a good thing for catskiing enterprises.

Our Style Altitude crew highly recommend the abandoned Weiss Mountain, above, discovered on a ski touring road trip in Japan. It's like an exclusive ski adventure playground for powder hounds where Niseko Weiss Powder Cats limit visitors to 12 per day, guaranteeing fresh tracks.

MORE REMOTE RESORTS

 

At Style Altitude, we are big fans of the backcountry and adventure skiing, embarking on one of the first sail and ski trips to the Lyngen Alps around 20 years ago, to appreciate ski touring in the beautiful scenery, with long spring days and not another soul in sight.

Since then an army of adventure skiers have stormed Norway's peaks, unperturbed by the escalating cost of sailing and guided touring, let alone the price of a pint. And now the more remote resorts in Norway are gaining in popularity and appearing in the ski tour op brochures.

Since acquiring Mountain Tracks, last June, Ski Safari have expanded their wild ski horizons, this winter, heading to the Kaçkar Mountains in north-eastern Turkey with their first ski touring group staying in a remote mountain village guest house for access to wide open powder bowls and long descents. 

'This is a throwback to the foundations of ski touring,' says Max Balmford, Sales & Operations Manager. 'Deep in the backcountry, there are no ski lifts in sight, no snowmobiles to give you a boost up the mountain and very little in the way of infrastructure. It's just you, your skis, your group, and a lot of mountain to explore.'

Alternative destinations coming onto the adventure skier's radar include Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and North Macedonia.

FOR MORE INTREPID ADVENTURE SKIERS

 

You can even take a 10 day skiing trip to Afghanistan in March, 2027.

'The rugged landscape, the ancient history crossed with tough, yet incredibly hospitable people is an intoxicating mix.' according the organisers of 'unusual adventure holidays'.

Hospitable? Hmm. Seeing as most governments currently warn against travel to Afghanistan with foreigners facing severe risks of kidnapping, terrorist attacks and arbitrary detention, it'll take an intrepid skier to sign up for this adventure.

Send us a postcard, and a trip report - or an SOS. 

Of course, getting to such far away mountains is the first challenge of your trip. Going off grid means first finding an airline that'll inevitably land miles away from your ski destination, then taking a slow train that runs once a week and/or and a sled pulled by huskies, arriving 48 hours after you left home. As our Ski Tour Editor found out on an epic ski trip to Siberia.

And, fingers crossed, your luggage/skis/boots all turn up, as well. 

But that's the point of adventure skiing. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. As Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, famously remarked, 'For me, when everything goes wrong, that's when adventure starts'.

ADVENTURE SKI COMPANIES

 

If you fail at just finding a flight that is fit for your off grid purpose on Skyscanner, don't give up. There is a small but flourishing number of adventure ski tour ops set up to take the stress out of pioneering. DBP Adventures, for instance, have it sussed.

'We remove the hassle of organising complex logistics in remote areas,' says Christoffer Backman, DBP Adventures, 'Skiers want the thrill of the unknown, but they also want to feel safe and maximise their time on the mountain. We provide certified local guides who know the hidden spots, small group dynamics, and a setup where everything from transfers to accommodation is sorted. It is the perfect balance of high adrenaline during the day and great camaraderie in the evening.'

DBP Adventures was created in Denmark because of the swing away from resort skiing. All their winter ski/snowboard adventure trips avoid ski lifts, so you'll definitely not have any queues catskiing, heli-skiing or ski touring away from the resorts. Christoffer explains:

'It really started from our own craving for something more authentic. We love skiing, but we were getting tired of the massive crowds, the tracked-out snow by 11am, and the overly commercialised resorts. We wanted to bring back the raw feeling of exploration - finding untouched powder, experiencing completely different cultures, and sharing those pristine mountains with just a small group of like-minded people. We wanted to build the trips we were dreaming of going on ourselves.'

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH

 

Pioneering a trip to a totally off grid powder destination could, of course, be more of a nightmare than a dream. It becomes 'flakcountry' when It's a case of going perilously beyond any (immediate) rescue and the very real possibility of encountering a bear or puma.

Or being kidnapped if you made it to Afghanistan.

But when the going gets tough, the key is to take your own mountain guide, one who is willing to go the extra off grid mile, carry the flask of coffee, dig your ski out of deep powder - and, if needs must, wrestle a bear. Their expertise and pre-trip reccying make flakcountry wild skiing as safe as reasonably possible considering the distances and remoteness involved. 

Mountain guide Stefan Palm has been going off grid for years, pioneering new powder fields all over the globe. Recently he was ski touring on Cerro Castillo (2675m) and Cerro San Lorenzo (3706m), two mountain massifs in Chile's Patagonia, below. This trip he described as, 'expedition skiing, mountaineering crossed with skiing crossed with going into the wilderness with all the potential risks'.

And, here's where it is absolutely OK to be ageist. Always chose an older guide, their age being proof of their survival skills. We recommend any in our Guide To The Guides.

For six ultimate wild ski adventure trips that'll test not only your skiing and snowboarding in powder but, also, your resourcefulness, grab a coffee and Google maps, and check them out here. 

And don't forget to take out good travel insurance.