Courmayeur in the stunning Aosta Valley is a brilliant destination for adventurous families that enjoy nothing more than adrenaline-pumping action. I highly recommend Cour-mayeur for experts and intermediates because there are fantastic skiing and snowboard-ing opportunities that will test your nerve and help you to develop your skills and confi-dence. You can also try your hand at one of the most exhilarating extreme sports around – heliskiing!
Here is all you need to know about Courmayeur. For experts and intermediates both on-piste and off-piste, there’s plenty of fun-filled activities to keep you entertained.
On-Piste
Courmayeur boasts 31 pistes over 41km, and the majority of runs are well-suited to in-termediates and experts. The runs on the Val Veny side of the rock ridge provide the best challenge, as there are a handful of exhilarating reds to master during your trip. There are also a few black runs, but these would be classified red in many other resorts.
One of the main highlights in the area is the Cresta Youla to Dolonne run, which de-scends a whopping 1,400m. The slopes on the other side of the ridge are gentler and busier, but there is still plenty of fun to be had there – and they provide good variety!
Off-Piste
Accomplished skiers may get a little bored of the pistes after a few days, but fear not be-cause Courmayeur boasts plenty of fantastic off-piste skiing and snowboarding opportu-nities.
There are three brilliant itineraries from the Cresta d’Arp at the top of the lift system, which provide a great challenge. If you really want to step things up a notch and test your limits, I suggest riding the Mont Blanc cable-car to Punta Helbronner at 3462m. There are a few epic descents from here, including the legendary seven-mile Toula glacier route. This is perhaps the most interesting and challenging route in all of Courmayeur.
Heliskiing
Courmayeur is also one of the few places that you can try the incredible activity of heliskiing. This is something that any adrenaline junkie will immediately fall in love with, as it involves taking to the skies in a helicopter and flying to off-trail spots where you then tear down the mountain.
The valley head of Val Veny is the main spot for this, and drops can be made on both sides of the valley. Landing spots are all above 3,500m, and boast descents with vertical drops of around 1,500m. There are varying levels of difficulty available, as well as truly breathtaking views to enjoy as you take this exhilarating adventure by storm.
How to Get There
You will want to fly into Geneva airport from London, which will take approximately an hour and a half. The resort is a further 90 minutes from the airport, so it is best to pre-book a Shuttle Direct transfer so that you can skip the taxi queues and arrive comforta-bly.
I always like to recommend Courmayeur for experts and intermediates because it is a playground for adventurous skiers and provides the opportunity to try one of the most exciting extreme sports there is. And what could be better?!
Lukas Johannes is a driver for Shuttle Direct, the number one provider of shared and private airport transfers all over Europe and northern Africa. If you're planning a ski break to Courmayeur, for experts and adventurous intermediates the resort a wonderful choice. Lukas and his colleagues can make sure that you get to and from the airport swiftly and safely with your ski luggage and ski equipment.
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