Daily Freeride Groups in Haute-Maurienne

Our head quarter is located at Val-Cenis Sollières, here, nearby the ski resort of Val Cenis.

Despite the well known nearby ski resorts like Val D’isère, Val Thorens, La Grave or Sestrières in Italy, Haute Maurienne valley remains an unknown ski destination.
There are five very different resorts along 50 km that together offers a great variation of terrain, altitude, orientation and steepness. There are high alpine glaciers in Bonneval, forest skiing in Val Cenis, North facing slopes in La Norma and south facing offpiste slopes in Aussois. The Maurienne valley also connects with Val Thorens and the 3 Vallées and is not far from Sestrière in Italy. This variation gives almost endless opportunities for finding good conditions and skiing powder snow!

You can reach Modane by train, from where we take care of you. There is a shuffle connexion too, to reach the different ski resorts. 
Italy is very close too and Modane can be reached by train from the Val di Susa, or by car with the Fréjus tunnel. Torino Airport is one of the closest to us, just 1.15 drive away.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you need help with your trip to Haute-Maurienne.

The five ski resorts of Haute-Maurienne represent so many different terrains, altitudes, exposures and microclimate.

Our goal: to get the best out of it, whether for the quality of the ski or the safety, two subjects on which we make no concessions! Each morning our guides meet to analyze the conditions of the previous day, and the forecasts (snow/weather), in order to refine the program and be able to offer you the best possible day of skiing.

Dynamism and adaptation, these are our guarantees of good skiing!

Do you want to discover the secret corners of the resort of your choice? Do you want to enjoy the best of the valley and follow us to the best ski of the day?

Join us and ski like a real local one!

Have you ever put your skis off the slopes or do you spend your time chasing powder? Whatever your level, we have a group for you, and a suitable program.

Off-piste beginner: I have a fairly good level on-piste skiing, and I am able to ski almost any red piste. I have no experience of off-piste but I dream of my first turns in the powder! Physically I can ski without problem for a whole day at my own pace and level.

Apprentice Freerider: I am a good skier on piste, including black piste. I've done a bit of off-piste before and I turn easily if the snow is smooth and the slope is not too steep. I would like to improve my technique… and my confidence off the slopes.

Freerider Expert: I am a very good skier and no slope is too difficult for me. I already have practiced skiing off the slopes a lot, and I can even say that this is my main practice. I no longer go skiing to stay on the slopes! I am confident in any type of snow, but I would like to improve technically.

Expert: I am a strong skier, whatever the terrain and type of snow. I can ski long freerando routes, although it is technically and physically demanding, even steep. I am looking for new challenges!

At Upguides, we limit the size of groups to 6 skiers for a guide, at most.

Touring and freeride skiing often requires to take your distances, for safety or for comfort. A small group means more skiing for everyone and the group moves more smoothly.

And do we really have to talk about the additional security provided by a group of reasonable size? The guide can have everyone in front of his eyes at all times, and communicate better.

Large groups are slow, they move slower, and we love skiing too much to put up with that. This is not our choice to have so many skiers in a group that it would be difficult to remember each name!

We focus on safety as much as we work hard to deliever the best skiing.

It all starts with our morning meetings that enables us to plan the safest routes with the best snow. None of the guides would skip it! 

The next step is involving you in our thinking process with an open discussion. We believe in a horizontal structure in the group where everybody feels comfortable speaking his/her mind.

Then we make sure you have the right gear: modern and functional transceivers, probe and shovels. We strongly encourage the use of ABS backpacks or equivalent. Get in touch if you need to rent anything from us.

We also make sure that you know how to use it, by doing a quick but efficient safety briefing prior to skiing, a good moment to practice beeper search and ask any questions you might have reagrding the snow conditions of the day and the runs we will ski.