Adventures

Peaks Season

Five of the World’s Highest Skiable Peaks

Hey, you look like you could use an informative and hopefully entertaining list highlighting five of the highest skiable peaks on the planet sorted by continent and elevation as well as the subsequent risks and rewards of conquering those mountains. What? You do.

AFRICA

Oukaïmeden Ski Resort, Morocco

Highest Piste: 10,738 feet.
The Journey: Sure, you could take Africa’s highest ski lift to Oukaïmeden’s summit. But you could also take a donkey or a camel. And that makes for a way better story.
The Destination: A snowy oasis of a summit in an otherwise desert landscape. Elevation is weird like that.

EUROPE

Val d’Isère Ski Resort, France

Highest Piste: 11,994 feet.
The Journey: Well, there’s the chairlift. You should probably just take the chairlift.
The Destination: These slopes have been the setting for Olympic Games and the Alpine World Ski Championships. They’re nice. They’re powdery. They’re... pretty damn tough. Related: they’ll also let you snowkite around all day.

NORTH AMERICA

Silverton Mountain, United States

Highest Piste: 13,487 feet.
The Journey: You’ll reach the summit of this Colorado behemoth by chairlift. Oh, or by a private plane that picks you up in Aspen and drops you off in Telluride, where you’ll catch a chopper to the summit from there.
The Destination: 22,000 acres of virgin and probably definitely incredibly dangerous terrain.

ASIA

Gulmarg Ski Resort, India

Highest Piste: 13,780 feet.
The Journey: You’ll ride one of the world’s highest chairlifts (a gondola that starts in the small village of Gulmarg in the Himalayas) until it dead-ends. Then you’ll hike 30 minutes to the summit. Is all.
The Destination: Incredible views and probably lots of bucket list check marks.

SOUTH AMERICA

Huascarán Sur, Peru

Highest Piste: 22,205 feet.
The Journey: Your guide will take you to Huaraz, where local porters and donkeys will then escort you to the snow line. Need those donkeys.
The Destination: You’ll spend a few days acclimatizing your body with steep climbs and treacherous practice hikes. Then comes the avalanche emergency training. Then the skiing and stuff.