Extreme Skiing in Cortina at Vallençant Couloir

Those who love steep skiing and have excellent mastery of movement and solid experience on skis, can challenge the spellbinding Vallençant couloir that drops vertically from Monte Cristallo. The great Cristallo Range offers many opportunities for off-piste skiing, from less challenging to consistently hard and steep extreme skiing (*) recommended to high level technical skiers.

The Frenchman Patrick Vallençant was the first to ski down this couloir. He was the iconic skier of the 70's when extreme skiing was a revolutionary and non-comformist activity and we used to ski on long skis with unsecure ski bindings and makeshift boots.

(*) Off-piste skiing is labeled extreme when the incline is over 45 degrees. Other factors determine the extreme difficulty of the run, such as snow conditions, run exposure, slope length, route width and climbing difficulties encountered along the itinerary.

Information on the extreme-skiing excursion at Vallençant Couloir in Cortina

From the large parking lot at Rio Gere we ride the chairlift taking us to Son Forca. We put on our seal skins and climb along the beautiful southeast valley at Staunies that reaches the old Rifugio Lorenzi at an altitude of 3000 meters.

We walk with crampons along the Marino Bianchi Via Ferrata overcoming challenging and exposed stretches up to the couloir entrance on the mountain's north face. Beyond the initial cornice, paying attention to possible snow slides, we ski down at an average 50 degrees incline (about 60 meters on the left we meet a roped split as a possible safety point).

When the couloir narrows along a 150 meter stretch, the incline increases, reaching 55 degrees (roped split on the right).

We continue on decreasing inclines until we reach the great amphiteater at Val Fonda. Along rolling slopes we reach the small parking lot at Rio Marogna in Carbonin, where we left a car to return to Rio Gere).

Technical Information on the Extreme-Skiing Excursion to the Vallençant Couloir

Mountain Range: Cristallo
Support Points: Rio Gere Restaurant – Rifugio Son Forca
Upward Exposure: Southeast
Downward Exposure: North
Upward Elevation Gain: 900 meters
Downward Drop: 1600 meters
Average Incline: 50 degrees
Maximum Incline: 55 degrees
Cellular Signal: Good

Equipment

tel. +39 3279311671 - booking@dolomitiskirock.com

Extreme Skiing in Cortina at Vallençant Couloir

Information on the extreme-skiing excursion at Vallençant Couloir in Cortina

Equipment

Subscribe to our newsletter