Ski Safari | Mountain & Ocean Adventures Worldwide

Ski Safaris are always a super exciting time for me. Before leaving, I would have spent days researching and planning the trip. Most often, we’re heading to an area I’ve never been to before, so I’m as amped as my clients to discover new horizons. The forecast was calling for heavy snows in the Alps, and variable weather in the Mediterranean. So we thought we’d take our chance and head south!

This trip to Corsica in the middle of the pandemie was even more tantalizing! We knew we could travel to Corsica after getting a PCR test. There were no quarantine restrictions going to or returning back home to Switzerland. Whether or not we would actually be allowed to waltz right back in across the border in a week’s time, left me with a tiny morsel of curiosity.

Arriving at L’Île-Rousse on the ferry from Livorno, Simone and I were gripping the Ferry handrails, craning our necks to study the wind force and direction. We planned to start the trip with a little afternoon kite surfing since we had just the half day. Simone had brought his foil board, which turned out to be a bonus. The winds were light in the little bay of Algajola, a 20 minute drive from L’Île-Rousse. He had a good full-on session, while I flailed with my North 12m kite as it slowly deflated with a faulty airport valve. I’ll be getting on a foil next so I can ride with him in lighter winds!!!

Simone on his foil, enjoying the light winds of Algajola.

We drove south to Corte to base ourselves in the Restonica valley for some ski touring. The valley was insanely beautiful to us, coming from the Alps. The road weaves and winds its way up the valley, way, way above the steep river below. Cows were leaving a country style mess on the road . It was a challenge to not drive off the cliffs as I drove, wanting to see all the sights. We skinned right from the the van, up through sparse woods, then put on ski crampons to get over the frozen spring snow to Lac de Melo below the Breche de Gloria. Above, the sun started heating the snow, making the last climb to the Breche very agreeable indeed. Standing on the main east-west ridge dividing Haute Corse felt inspiring. The ski down on mature spring snow was a blast! It’d gotten warm in the Alps earlier, but there was nothing like flying down these vast couloirs, skiing mature spring snow on all aspects. This snow had been sitting there since October so it was super nice to get on such fine corn snow.

Over the next 7 days, we meandered up and down the valleys of Haute Corse near Corte and discovered the wonderful granite, climbing, e-biking and kiting on the beaches near Calvi. We used the e-bikes on our last day to approach Monte Cinto, the highest peak on the island.

Ski Safari, gotta do it!

Skiing 2000 meters down wild couloirs to bowls to more couloirs into a tiny primitive village in the middle of their annual celebration with everyone wearing outlandish costumes, was our last day of a 7 day ski Safari.

Staying flexible to location, route and lodging was key again to our excellent little adventure. Not knowing which valley, which town or which isolated village we would arrive in the next day made it all that much more stimulating.

Starting just across the Rhone Valley from Verbier, at Montana Crans, we headed up the wind scoured Wildstrubel, only to get blown off 200 m from the summit. With our tails between our legs, we headed south back into the Valais rather than our intended descent north into the Bernese Oberland. It was obvious the wind was hammering the high peaks, so we decided to had a fun day riding a little lift and skiing beautiful power through the forest on the other side of the Rhone valley. Then into the Loetschental next day, over the north ridge for an all-day-run down a lovely valley surrounded by huge rock walls to Wengen, where we met up with team Telluride who joined us for an epic descent the next day, after skinning then skiing then skinning then skiing then skinning into another remote valley, sliding up to the front door of a four-star hotel, served cheese fondue and then, them, team Telluride, skiing down and away in the dark full of white wine and cheese to make the train back to Zürich. Us three, we woke up to hot expresso and a delicious buffet breakfast, slapped on our skins, and headed to the pass 1’400 m above us. The descent down the other side to Kandersteg was the “valley of cliff bands” needing good route fighting or several hundred meter rappels if you got it wrong. With no rope in my backpack we opted for solid route finding. Not another soul in site, just us and the chamois, skiing powder through the last cliff band onto the Oeschinensee, surrounded by hundred-meter-tall-frozen-waterfalls and then sausage and soup in the restaurant on the other side. We found another cozy hotel in Kandersteg, then hopped on the train the next morning right behind the hotel, taking us back to our car in Loetschental and that fabulous last run into the valley celebration.

My first ski Safari of the season and I want to go again tomorrow!