Where to Go on an Extreme Ski Trip

Although skiing turned from utilitarian to recreational sometime in the mid-1800s, the pastime has seen its evolution from easy to extreme. There are plenty of ski resorts to choose from to test your skills by day and pamper yourself by night. Or you can go ultra-extreme and choose from some of the most challenging ski runs on the planet.

Banff National Park

Banff National Park is a gorgeous playground during summer months when most

tourists come to stay, but its snowy landscape come fall and winter make it an extreme skier’s paradise. Hit the trails on Delerium Drive from the top of the Continental Divide for a series of steep cliffs and chutes.

Harakiri, Mayrhofen, Austria

Home to one of the most frightening black ski runs in the world, some sections of Harakiri, otherwise known as Piste No. 34, are the steepest in Austria. You may have to wait to ski down this rollercoaster of a trail, snow slides down its steep face and tumbles below.

Crested Butte, Colorado

At just 300 yards long, the steepest sustained ski run in the country beckons extreme skiers to Crested Butte, Colorado. From top to bottom, Rambo maintains a pitch of 55 degrees where you practically dangle from the edge at the top.

Girdwood, Alaska

Take an extreme vacation to Alaska’s wilderness and hit the slopes at Alyeska in Girdwood, Alaska’s only major ski resort. Test your nerves on the Christmas Chute intended for expert skiers with 50-degree pitch in-bounds on a 1,000-foot-long double-black diamond chute.

Extreme skiing isn’t for the faint at heart, so make sure you’re up for the challenge and pick a destination with plenty of ski patrols on hand. At some locations, like Harakiri, you can even buy a t-shirt that says you survived the run.