heliskiing
Just an hour from Tignes, the most beautiful off-piste runs in Italy and Europe await you.
heliskiing
- Tignes - France
Heli-skiing is the story of an Austrian, Hans Gmoser, who emigrated to Canada. A fan of powdery slopes and an adept at using helicopters to get close to extremely remote areas, he set up the first heliskiing company in 1965!
Since then, his idea has spread all over the world, and here in the Tarentaise, we're close to Italy, where heliskiing is authorised (forbidden in France, only take-offs and landings in areas designated as landing strips can be used: Drop Zone in English).
It's forbidden... but it is possible to do covers on the DZ! In our area, there are Freerando descents from Val d'Isère leading to Bonneval-sur-Arc. Once in Bonneval (you can take a ski pass and do off-piste skiing there), we take the helicopter back to the resort's DZ (Val d'Isère or Tignes). This makes for a great Freerando day, and means we don't have to climb over 2,000m to get back in our skins.
So we can't really talk about Heliskiing, because we're not being dropped off on a summit, but rather Helitaxi to get back to the resort!
Price: Guide: €500; Helicopter: €320 (divided by the number of clients)
The closest to Tignes is on the border between La Rosière on the French side and La Thuile in Italy. Other areas are available on request (Courmayeur Mont-Blanc, Cervinia, Gressoney, Zermatt, etc).
Heli-skiing is already a helicopter with a maximum passenger capacity of 6: 1 pilot, 1 guide and 4 clients. It's a Guide who will take you to the top of the mountain, maximising safety, and a group of skiers/snowboarders who are already off-piste and fully equipped (avalanche transceiver, shovel, probe AND MUST HAVE AIRBAG!!).
Depending on the snow and weather conditions on the day, only certain sectors may be passable.... You can therefore plan some drop-offs that won't be possible on the day, so you'll have to fall back on others.
Duration
1/2 or 1 day
Difficulty
Advanced skiers
Accessible
Groups of up to 4
Equipment
Compulsory avalanche transceiver and airbag
Everything you need to know about tariffs, 3 things to bear in mind
The guide or instructor
To go heliskiing in Europe, you need a mountain guide and/or a ski instructor (only in France, but the latter is more limited in terms of authorised itineraries, bearing in mind that a ski instructor is not allowed to ski in glaciated areas, as they are not trained in safety in these particular areas - only a mountain guide is allowed to do so!
Daily rate for an Office Guide :
- 480 for a group of 2,
- 500 for a group of 3 to 4 people.
The route to the Col du Petit Saint Bernard DZ
- You can either drive or take a taxi to the resort of La Rosière, then buy a day ski pass to access the main DZ at the Col. Choose your ski pass according to the itinerary: either just La Rosière, €52.50, or the whole area, including La Thuile, €57.
- Or go to the DZ du Col by Helitaxi from Tignes or Val d'Isère (+/- 800€ per way)
Price of the helicopter
This price varies according to :
- The drop-off location (the chosen summit).
- Whether there's a restart at the foot of the mountain or not (depending on the summit, some summits necessarily require a restart, either to take us back to the starting DZ or to make another drop-off).
- The number of deposits.
- If the next drop-off is in the same zone as the previous one, the price is lower than if the next drop-off is in a zone diametrically opposed to the previous one.
This price for the Helicopter is to be understood: it applies to one rotation or one recovery, regardless of the number of customers (from 1 to 4), and the same applies to the Guide price.
Below is a map of the La Thuile Heliski Area, a price list for helicopter rotations and an example situation to help you understand how to calculate it.
Price example
I take the heli-taxi from Tignes, (DZ des Boisses) (800€), + 2 friends who take me to the DZ du Col.
I'll make a drop-off on the Tête du Ruitor (€750), then head down the Italian side towards La Thuile to Cascate, where I'll make a second drop-off on the Flambeau (€620). I descend again to Cascate. I'd like to make a third drop-off on Mont Ouille (700€). I descend to the Chavanne resumption, to return to the pass DZ and stop skiing (300€). I return by heli-taxi to Tignes (800€) or I return by taxi.
Price :
- Guide: €480
- Helitaxi: 800/each way x 2: €1,600
- Helicopter rotations (x3): €750 + €620 + €700
- Return to DZ du Col: €300
Total: €4470 to be divided in two: €2215
Do you have any questions?
Contact us and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
- 06 95 86 85 75
- bureaudesguidesdetignes@gmail.com
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and your GROUP COURSES by e-mail or on WhatsApp: +33 6 95 86 85 75