Heli Haute Route

While the Haute Route has been on every adventurer’s life list for more than a century, this famed route from Chamonix to Zermatt remains a serious endeavor even today. EpicQuest has bridged the gap, allowing the discerning skier to have their powder and eat it too. Combining heli-skiing with the classic Haute Route itinerary, guests spend eight days moving from Verbier to Zermatt, Switzerland. The hip, young resort of Verbier is renowned as the “Freeride Mecca of Switzerland,” while Zermatt has a rich history of alpinism and was one of the first tourist destinations, mountaineering epicenters, and ski resorts. With some of Europe’s most impressive and expansive lift systems, the potential for world-class 6000ft+ heli runs, and descents amongst the most spectacular peaks of the Alps, like the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa, this trip is a must for anyone who hasn’t experienced old world’s ski culture firsthand. You will be pleased to stretch out at the finest five-star chalets and hotels in the ski world, while making the most classic descents with a minimal amount of effort. This is a fast moving tour, and will appeal to Advanced-Intermediates or Expert skiers.

Fly into Geneva’s Cointrin International Airport, from every major US hub. Your Epicquest guides will meet you with a private van for a 90-minute ride through the vineyards that line Lac Leman to Verbier. Itineraries typically leave the U.S. on Friday, arriving Saturday morning, and departing Europe the following Sunday.

With bookends like Mont Blanc (4880m) and Monte Rosa (4664m), Verbier and Zermatt sit in the middle of the Alps’ biggest peaks. With some of the most advanced ski lifts in the Alps, the access to quality steep skiing within the resorts is unprecedented. And the glacial terrain you’ll ski from the helicopter on the Trient Massif, the Petit Combin, Monte Rosa, and everywhere in between, is simply breathtaking. The run from the Tête de Valpelline beneath the North Face of the Matterhorn is one of the most awe-inspiring in the Alps.

The Pennine Alps can receive weather from several different storm patterns that will generate legendary powder. Cold northwestern storms tracking out of the North Atlantic arrive in early winter, while Mediterranean lows can approach from the south and deposit snow on the Italian side of the border. With over a dozen resorts within striking distance, we can always find the best conditions, no matter where the storms come from.