SKI 2025
Hokkaido Powder
Japan has the greatest snow on earth - this is not an exaggeration. Sub-zero storms roll in from Siberia, getting wet and heavy as they cross the Sea of Japan, only to hit the mountains of this island country and drop everything in a thick blanket of snow. The combination of mid-winter temperatures reaching -40°C and 110% humidity creates a snowpack of the lightest snow possible but still reaches depths of 7 meters (22 ft) or more.
I skied in Hokkaido for four seasons before the Covid pandemic, and I’m excited to be returning, even if just for a few weeks, in February 2025. So I decided to carve out one week to share this amazing place with up to four friends. This isn’t a resort tour - we’ll have a van to shuttle us to the best backcountry trailheads. Days spent touring will finish with a traditional onsen soak.
The combination of incredible snow and a truly unique culture will make skiing in Hokkaido a trip you’ll never forget.
Available for only one week in February.
The Alps
The Alps of Europe hold the routes of modern ski touring and mountain guiding. You can find ski tours of every ambition, with many putting the first word into “ski tour” with amazing descents and just as many putting in the second word to show you one amazing panorama after another. I’ve been skiing and climbing in Europe for over a decade with my guide license reciprocity in Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland.
One of the undeniable attractions of overnight ski touring in Europe is the advantage of fully catered huts, offering beds, sheets, dinner and breakfast. So anyone can travel for a week in the mountains with a change of clothes and a toothbrush in a 35-liter pack!
All of these tours - except the Integral Haute Route - have 6-day itineraries and are good for 4-5 friends to join me:
The Haute Route. The tour from Chamonix to Zermatt is the OG, covering over 120km and 8000-10,000m elevation climbed and skied. While it starts in France, all of the huts are managed by the Swiss Alpine Club, and the tour runs through the unique canton (state) of Valais/Wallis. There is a moment on the tour when the cabane become hütte, and the French rolls into German. The views and camaraderie along the tour, however, doesn’t change.
The Integral Haute Route. Passing up the car shuttle connecting Trient to Verbier, the Integral Haute Route instead heads east over the Col du Grand St-Bernard and rejoins the “traditional” route on either side of the Pine di Arolla. This adds 4-6 days to the tour length - an amazing trip!
Gran Paradiso. The tallest summit fully within Italy, the tour of Gran Paradiso crosses the massif from the Valsaveranche to Valnontey. It also summits the Gran Paradiso itself and its neighbor Punta Rossa.
The Spaghetti Tour. This awesome loop starts and end in Zermatt, but stays in a hook of Italian huts, ending with a summit attempt on Monte Rosa / Dufourspitze (the second highest summit in Europe!) on the very last day before skiing down back into Zermatt.
The Ortler. Another loop tour starting in the famous ski town of Bormio, the Ortler tour can be all about the history, criss-crossing the range to see the First World War ruins and spending a night in Solden to visit the Messner Mountain Museum. Or it can be about summits, touching the high points of Monte Cevedale, Monte Zebrù, Monte Ortler, or a number of summits in between. Or it can just be about the tour, working with the weather and the sun to get the best snow of the day!
The Silvretta. A point-to-point tour of the Swiss-Austrian border, what sets the Silvretta apart is its accessibility in poor weather and avalanche conditions. When the going is good, incredible panorama views and ski descents are available - and when it’s not good, it’s still possible to have an awesome ski tour from one hut to the next. My preferred tour starts in the Swiss Engadine, leaving the town of Scuol to run along the range until dropping into the classic ski town of Klosters. And thanks to Swiss trains, we can catch a ride right back to Scuol to pick up our bags!
There is so much more: The Urner Haute Route, Bernese Oberland, the Imperial Haute Route, the Tour du Ciel…and I’m always game to start exploring! I have big ambitions to look further east into Tirol, Bulgaria and Slovenia.
Available for weeks in March and April.
Kulshan and the Cascades
In June all of us are starting to look forward to summer, but there’s still skiing to be had on Kulshan - Mount Baker. Like its bigger sister Tahoma (Mt Rainier), Kulshan is completely surrounded by glaciers. I offer a variety of trips that you can tailor to your ambitions:
The Standard. A three-day summit tour from the Coleman-Demming Glaciers (northeast); the Easton Glacier (south) or the Boulder Glacier (southeast).
The Express. A two-day summit tour of the Coleman-Demming Glacier route.
The Bullet Train. A one day ascent and descent - again of the Coleman-Demming.
The Watson Traverse. A three-day west-east tour up the Coleman-Demming, down the Park Headwall, and out the Ptarmigan Arm to Heather Meadows and the Mt Baker Ski Area.
The Rainier Prep Tour. For those with bigger ambitions, this four-day tour features a full day touring across the Coleman and Roosevelt Glaciers, stopping enroute to practice crevasse rescue. I put a special emphasis on having guests route find across the glaciers, giving them immediate and direct mentorship to help them identify the cleanest lines through the hazards on the up and the down.
The Kulshan Triple Crown Tour. This five-day tour circumnavigates the mountain widdershins (counter-clockwise) from Heliotrope Ridge, touching every glacier that runs from its summit. Along the way we summit Colfax Peak, Sherman Peak (the south summit), and the mountain top itself; we get to ski the South Colfax Couloir, the Crater Rim to Boulder Glacier, and the classic Park Headwall. It is a master-class in North American wilderness overnight ski touring!
There’s always more: in June, the conditions can vary greatly from year to year: some years even more is possible to ski, and just as often there’s less. I’ve found Kulshan to be consistently good. Other great options include Glacier Peak via the Kennedy Glacier and Mt Olympus - both remote, wild, 5 day tours. Give me a shout about your ideas!
Available for dates in June.