Report from February 15, 2025

We loaded onto the very fancy Skyway Monte Bianco in Courmayeur, Italy, yesterday around 1 p.m.

We spent the morning skiing at the Courmayeur ski resort, where you can see all the Skyway terrain.

We decided to double dip after getting reports from our buddy Marco that Skyway was skiing well.

You first notice how luxurious and polished everything at Skyway is.

Tile, stone, and metal all very clean with impressive design.

We stepped into the bubble-shaped tram and began to ascend.

I couldn’t believe how fast we were going.

Then, the thing started to spin!

I didn’t realize it spun around…

The tram was packed, and we were the only skiers.

Most people ride up to enjoy the views, touch snow, and enjoy the mountaintop restaurant.

We were there for more.

At the mid-station, we shifted to the upper tram, and we whisked away once more.

Bubble again.

Spinning again.

Very high speed again.

When we stepped out onto the platform, we were 6,660 vertical feet above where we’d started.

I was intimidated and scared but soothed by the fact that Martin & Marco seemed so calm.

This was just their ski resort despite how big the surrounding mountains felt.

Monte Bianco, or Mount Blanc, is 15,781′ tall and it loomed over us as we descended the hundreds of metal stairs down to the glacier.

After a short traverse, we were standing atop the Dario couloir.

The 45º chute starts open and wide and ends tight and V-shaped.

It kicked my butt…

The top skied well before the V-shaped part became icy and tough to get an edge into.

I battled the best I could.

The day was warming up, and I felt it working hard in the chute.

I hacked my way down one turn at a time, blasting out into the bottom with a smile.

I met up with Zian, Martin, & Marco, and we continued on.

Marco said the open fields of glory powder were better in the morning before the sun cooked it a bit.

It was still damn fun.

Hot pow.

We slashed our way down to the mid-station for another one.

Well, honestly, I was exhausted.

My travel day from Utah the previous day, plus the big ski runs, slowed me down.

I tried to get out of another run, but the boys talked me into it.

Back atop Skyway Monte Bianco, I was shown another route to snow.

This time, it was through a James Bond-style tunnel that went on forever.

It opened up onto a precarious platform full of tourists gaping at the in-your-face views.

Cesso Couloir.

Martin stepped up and over the railing and put his skis on a perilous mini slab of snow.

The tourists were freaking out.

They could swear he was off to his death.

Even for me, it felt pretty damn extreme…

Two Israeli tourists were especially engaged.

The dad even came over and held Marco and his skis as he clicked in.

I asked them not to help me with my gear because I felt it might throw me off.

I’d be lying if I said that it wasn’t one of the most dramatic places I’ve ever put on skis in…

I moved very slowly and deliberately.

Martin and Marco skittered across the icy top section and immediately started blasting turns down the wide open face, which led to the chute proper.

The tourists gasped each time.

I tried to follow suit but didn’t quite have the flair the other boys did.

The top section had decent flow and much softer snow than Dario Chute did.

The bottom chute proper portion of the chute skied great with sluff bouncing around me as I found a rhythm and flowed the chute without stopping.

I was stoked at the bottom.

Marco helped a speed flyer he knew get in the air.

A small avalanche blasted off the cliffs above us as we stood there.

Time to go.

It was now truly getting hot.

We dropped down, skied hot powder, and decided to ski the full 6,600 vertical feet to town.

Zian had been looking for a ski he’d lost the day before, and we picked him up on the way down.

They knew of a chute that faced north and held good snow.

We skied some mellow pillows above it and found the best snow of the day there.

In the chute, we skied good, cold snow.

The bottom of the chute was guarded by a large, 8-foot deep glide crack that Martin figured out how to nearly fall in.

He was fine, and we continued down the mellow valley in crusty snow down into town.

We skied and strolled back to the base of Skyway with smiles as we drank in mind-bending views.

We crammed into a busy cafe to quaff spritz drinks and eat huge seven Euro pizzas.

Life is good on the Skyway.

Thanks, Italia!

Forecast

Photos