Queyras Ski & Hike

Winter gives all its magic in the Queyras regional park of the Southern Alps. We will start this six-day ski tour in the village of Ceillac, and finish it in Abriès. Wildlife is extremely varied there, as only 2200 people are living in this 65000 hectares area. Mountain goats, bighorn sheeps, grouse and wolves share this natural reserve, and we humans are only here as guests.

We will ski through larch forests, mountain meadows and w’llpast ancient villages and hamlets, for four to eight hours per day of ski touring. We will spend the nights in cozy, typical huts and cottages with shower and excellent local cuisine. The journey is designed to avoid rushing and have enough time to enjoy the beautiful, not too steep slopes and amazing snow of the area.

During this trip we will go from hut to hut through the French regional park of the Queyras, at an altitude comprised between 1700 and 3100 meters. This area is characterized by its wilderness and very preserved villages like Saint Véran, Ristolas and Les Roux. The tree line there stops around 2400 meters, giving place above it to delightful open slopes. Although it is rare to see a wolf, crossing its track is a common thing around here!

The Queyras regional park is located in the southern French Alps, and touches the Italian border. In winter, this place is only accessible from Guillestre. Thus, the villages there are quite isolated, which makes locals particularly solidary. The highest peak is the 3385 meter-high Pic de la Font Sancte, which we will pass on the first day. The trip offers magnificent views on the southern Ubaye and its Pic de Chambeyron, and also on the impressive 3842 meter high Mont Viso, further East in Italy.

The first two days, we're staying in the highest traditional village of France; Saint Véran from where we will take our time to make a day tour and skiing off-piste in the small ski area. A perfect start of the week, dedicated to practice walking on skis with using our skins and some kick-turns. Here we will stay for 3 nights and stay in a lovely cottage. On Sunday we will make a daytour to the summit of the Gardiole or the bit more relaxed Pic Cascavelier. At Monday we can ski in the ski area of Saint Véran and do a steeper descent at the back side to reach a beautiful valley.

At Tuesday we take the ski-lifts of the village to make some descents during the morning. The slopes are open and not steep. Guaranty for fun and time for training on our personal skiing level. After the lunch we take our skins for a 50 minutes hike to the Pic Chateau Renard. From here we ski down in the direction of the refuge de la Blanche. Our overnight stay in the mountains. At Wednesday we climb to the Col de la Noire during the morning as an option. For those how want to relax a bit can stay until the guide will pass again for our second ascent of the Pic de Caramantran and little descend to the Refuge Agnel.

Thursday will be a bit more sustained, as we go to the Pic Ségure and ski down on the beautiful north-facing slope to Ristolas. On the last day we will climb La Mait, a summit overlooking the beautiful Italian Po valley, and descend to Abriès, where a taxi will takes us in an hour back to our starting point in Ceillac.

This tour is made for the touring skier who likes to relax with good wine and good food after a busy day on skis. PowderGuides is an absolute expert of the area, as most of the team members live around there!
During this trip we will stay in mountain huts and cottages with nice rooms and excellent food. In huts, dorms can go up to a capacity of 8 people. All these places have their own particular atmosphere and propose delicious local dishes.