Steep, deep, cruising, on piste, off piste, scenic or deep in trees – there are many types of ski runs and many different opinions on what makes the ultimate descent on a ski holiday.
A timid intermediate might appreciate a wide groomed piste, with endless views and a gradient forgiving enough to provide an opportunity to enjoy them. A determined racer might be looking to clock up a long distance, impressive vertical or top speed, while experts are often hunting for those hidden lines found on mountain faces peppered with moguls or blanketed in deep powder that only the strongest of legs can conquer.
Wherever or however you find your thrills on the slopes, there’s no better feeling than sliding to a final stop and looking back at what you achieved, adrenaline pumping and bursting with admiration for the mountain landscape.
Here, The Telegraph’s team of ski experts reveal the runs that deliver that feeling most. Use their list to inspire your next great descent. Vote throughout for your favourite and leave your suggestions for epic must-try runs in the comments.
Lucy Aspden-Kean
Jump to:
- Aiguille Rouge
- The Last Spike
- 30 Gränsangärna
- The Streif
- Tortin
- The Hidden Valley
- Le Mur Suisse (Swiss Wall)
- The Sella Ronda
- Hole-in-the-Wall chute
- Double M
Aiguille Rouge
Les Arcs, France
- Slope grading: Black/red; expert/intermediate
- Start point: Top of Aiguille Rouge lift (3,226m)
- End point: Villaroger lift (1,200m)
The Aiguille Rouge boasts one of the biggest descents in the world at some 2,000 vertical metres; it takes in a glacier, glorious views across expansive high alpine terrain of Les Arcs, lovely wooded pistes and finishes in a pretty little alpine village, Villaroger, at a brand-new high-speed ski lift – what’s not to like? I never ski this run without a grin on my face – do it on a quiet, sunny morning with fresh snow and you will too.
Insider skier tip
Take time to enjoy the fantastic vistas from the viewing platform at the top of the Aiguille Rouge ski lift.
Recommended by Alf Alderson
The Last Spike
Revelstoke Mountain Resort, British Columbia
- Slope grading: Green; beginner
- Start point: The Stoke Chair (2,225m)
- End point: Revelstoke Village (512m)
Revelstoke Mountain Resort is home to 3,121 acres of big mountain terrain, North America’s greatest lift-serviced vertical drop (5,260ft) and its longest piste – The Last Spike. This 9.5-mile-long trail runs the extent of Revelstoke’s mighty vertical, gentling winding down the open flank of South Bowl before dropping through snow-laden glades and meadows to the base village.
Rated green, the top-to-bottom run is accessible to skiers of all abilities, taking about 20 minutes without stops (your thighs will be screaming).
Insider skier tip
This trail is particularly dreamy first thing in the morning – think 20 minutes of fresh corduroy – so gun for that first lift up. I also love occasionally diving off the trail into the trees (Iron Glaiden and Cannonball are personal favourites) to refresh my legs.
Recommended by Gabriella le Breton
30 Gränsangärna
Riksgränsen, Sweden
- Slope grading: Red; intermediate
- Start point: Övre Stolliften chairlift top (909m)
- End point: Solliften chairlift base (520m)
As the snow gets sticky in the Alps, 120 miles (200km) north of the Swedish Arctic Circle the season’s just starting. It still feels like midwinter at the world’s “spring skiing capital” in May, when there’s 24-hour daylight.
You can ski almost any line down, but part of the ski area lies in Norway and run 30 Gränsangärna, a fast red, which crosses over the boundary, descending the full vertical before ending back in Sweden. The perfect choice for a midnight-sun run.
Insider skier tip
Ski in the ethereal half-light at 1am in mid-May to feel you’ve reached the peak of your skiing life.
Recommended by Patrick Thorne
The Streif
Kitbühel, Austria
- Slope grading: Red; intermediate
- Start point: Hahnenkammbahn, 1,665m
- End point: Base of the Hahnenkamm mountain, 805m
Hitting 95mph by car? Sure. On skis? It’s the Streif, the World Cup downhill at Kitzbühel’s testosterone-soaked Hahnenkamm. Outside January’s event, the frisson is available to us mortals as a glorious groomed top-to-bottom red run, with life-saving diversions for the Mausfalle’s 85-degree drop-off and molar-mashing (optional) 80m jump at the finish. Decades ago, I found myself in the still-sweaty start gate after the last racer went. I pushed out, managing half a turn on the water-injected ice before taking flight. Only the Londoner pint went down faster.
Insider skier tip
Be sure to stop for a photo moment at the start gate.
Recommended by Leslie Woit
Tortin
Verbier, Switzerland
- Slope grading: An itinerary (patrolled but not pisted); expert
- Start point: Chassoure (2,743m)
- End point: Tortin cablecar (2,045m)
Tortin is a wide, steep, north-facing wall of bumps, often considered the longest mogul run in Europe and one I love lapping with friends all day long. It’s not for the faint-hearted, with an average gradient of 35 to 40 degrees, but often much steeper. People watching here is marvellous…
Take the lifts up to Attelas and then warm up your knees by zipping down into Lac des Vaux (I do this twice if it’s my first run of the day). Grab the chairlift to Chassoure, ski forward 50m or so and stop as you reach the edge of what looks like a sheer drop. The entry is the toughest section; generally, traversing skier’s right can open up an easier way in.
Tortin goes on and on (and on). Sometimes, the moguls are as high as I am tall, and at 4,300m long, the run can be exhausting – but there’s a mellow run out at the end and a restaurant at the bottom to re-fuel before going again.
Insider skier tip
Hit Tortin first thing after a fresh snowfall and there won’t be any moguls. Just steep, deep, north-facing powder.
Recommended by Abigail Butcher
The Hidden Valley
Alta Badia, Italy
- Slope grading: Red; intermediate
- Start point: Lagazui (2,742m)
- End point: Middle of nowhere (1,660m)
Reached from the Alta Badia area, by shared taxis from Armentarola to Passo Falzarego, or from the Cortina area on ski, this is one of the most beautiful runs in the world.
The Passo Falzarego cable car takes you from the pass up to Lagazuoi (2,742m), from where the solitary 8km red run descends off the back of the mountain, with a vertical drop of over 1,000m, into the neighbouring valley.
The Hidden Valley takes you away from all civilisation and winds its way in splendid isolation through stupendous scenery of sheer cliffs and frozen waterfalls. At the end, a horse-drawn sled with ropes attached tows you back to Armentarola. The experience is best suited to confident intermediates and better – I first completed this run on my second-ever ski holiday and have been back many times since.
Insider skier tip
Just before the end of the run, the simple Capanna Alpina hut is a great place to sit on the sunny terrace, enjoy a well-earned drink and admire the scenery.
Recommended by Dave Watts
Le Mur Suisse (Swiss Wall)
Portes du Soleil, France/Switzerland
- Slope grading: Black; expert
- Start point: Pas de Chavanette, Avoaris, France (2,144m)
- End point: Les Crosets, Champéry, Switzerland (1,813m)
I used to drop into the epic Swiss Wall in Portes du Soleil without a thought, but three ski-racer kids and a multitude tumbles on, it now requires more courage to launch myself off its icy headwall. Moguls the size of small cars, many 2m deep, polka-dot the entire 1km-long run – it’s so steep, it can’t be groomed.
Yet I love the thespian drama of it all: the DJ tunes blasting out from the O’Padcha terrace at the top, boisterous spectators on the chairlift above, the cross-border thrill of skiing from France into Switzerland in (if all goes well) a matter of minutes.
Insider skier tip
If you bottle out last-minute, no sweat. This is a rare run where it’s perfectly respectable to ride the chairlift down as well as up. To increase the odds of a successful descent, tackle the east-facing run late morning in March, when the snow is in the sun and usually softer.
Recommended by Nicola Williams
The Sella Ronda
The Dolomites, Italy
- Slope grading: Blue/red; beginner/intermediate
- Start point: You can access the run from any of the four main valleys with a Dolomiti superski ski pass: Selva (1,563m), Val Gardena, Alta Badia, Val di Fassa or Arabba
- End point: Back where you started
Often called the most panoramic ski route in the world, the legendary 44km-long Sella Ronda trail loops the dramatic Sella Massif in the Italian Dolomites, linking four mountain valleys and five villages. It typically takes a day to complete and is a wonderful mix of motorway blues and zippy reds. If you’re nifty on your skis, make a detour to Malga Ciapèla to catch the trio of cable cars up to the 3,265m-high Marmolada, otherwise known as the Queen of the Dolomites.
Insider skier tip
There are two ways to ski the Sella Ronda: the orange route runs clockwise around the Sella Massif and is the most popular, while the green route travels anti-clockwise and has more lifts.
Recommended by Katja Gaskell
Hole-in-the-Wall chute
Winter Park, US
- Slope grading: Double Black diamond; expert
- Start point: The top of the Challenger chart lift (3,200m)
- End point: The Waffle Junction restaurant (2,700m)
Most US resorts discourage true off-piste skiing, but the better ones leave acres of the mountain ungroomed, so you can chop through that famed powder all day long. Winter Park is one, and there are several couloirs here that are accessible from the Challenger chairlift – the locals call them chutes.
All are super steep (none is quite as terrifying as Corbet’s Couloir in Jackson Hole) and I was on a high all week after tackling the double-black Hole-in-the-Wall chute – although I’ll admit I was following an experienced guide.
Insider Tip
Choose a good powder day – you won’t have to wait long – and book a guide; they can show you the best line to take.
Recommended by Matt Hampton
Double M
Tignes, France
- Slope grading: Red; intermediate
- Start point: The top of Les Lanches lift (2,855m), above Val Claret in Tignes
- End point: The bottom of Les Lanches (2,110m)
If you’re an intermediate skier, this Tignes run is for you. It’s fast, it’s wide and it’s exactly the right length (3km) to be done in one go before your thighs give up.
Turn left out of the lift and you’re quickly onto a wide left-hand turn where you can channel your inner Jean-Claude Killy at full tilt. Swoop back to the right again and soon you’re following the course of Les Lanches itself – try some long zig-zags between the lift pylons for added edge-of-your-skis excitement. Before you know it, you’ll forget your intermediate status and be mentally collecting Olympic gold before skidding around for another ago.
Insider tip
If you want the extended version, head up to the top of Grande Mötte (3,656m) and take the Glacier run, which joins Double M near the top via a couple of short red runs.
Recommended by Ben Ross