World's biggest lift-served ski verticalsHow big is yours? It's a question that gets many ski resorts gloating. And indeed, the vertical drop figures published by resorts – the difference between the top of their highest lift and the bottom of their lowest lift – can be impressive. But, as with so many other statistics, they can also be misleading. As you drool over the big numbers, be wary of these common failings you won’t find in the small print on your piste map...
Words by Patrick Thorne*
The Small Print
1. You have to walk up the last bit, Ok?
A common statistical trick in US states like Colorado is to give the highest point within the ski area as their ‘top elevation’ – even if there isn’t a ski lift actually up that high. Crested Butte, for example, puts its ‘summit elevation’ at 12,162ft, but its highest lift actually reaches 11,875ft, nearly 300ft lower.
2. Whoops! …we forgot about the cliff
Two of the biggest differences between the top and bottom of the ski lifts are to be found in Germany and Switzerland. At Garmisch in Germany, last season’s Alpine World Champion-ship hosts, the lifts climb more than 2100 vertical metres from 720m in town to 2830m at the top of the Zugspitz glacier – but there’s a big unskiable cliff half way down. It’s a similar problem if you were to try to ski down from Europe’s highest rail-accessed point at the 3454m high Jungfraujoch above Grindelwald and Wengen down 2500 vertical metres or so to the valley below and there are big rocks to negotiate if you want to go down from Val Thorens to Orelle.
3. Erm, there may not be any snow at the bottom
Ski lifts in the Swiss Four Valleys run from 821m up to 3330m – more than 2,500 vertical metres. But there are no longer any official runs below Verbier and rarely any snow on lower slopes, although it is usually skiable on a few days each winter. It’s a similar story on the bot-tom section of the Vallee Blanche down to Chamonix and descending from above Murren to Lauterbrunnen in the valley.
4. Well you ski down a bit, then you have get a lift up a bit, before you descend the rest of it
Jackson Hole used to have the biggest lift served vertical in the USA at 1262m (skiable verts are one thing the yanks don’t do as big as the Europeans). There are now two other US re-sorts - Snowmass in Colorado and Big Sky in Montana claiming up to 120m bigger lift-served verts, but Jackson Hole is still proudly proclaiming it, “…has the longest continuous vertical rise of any ski area in the U.S …to the top of Rendezvous Mountain!” because you can’t ski the others top-to-bottom in one straight descent. In the Alps it’s the same story for the near 2,500m difference between the top and bottom of the lifts at Les Arcs.
5. Obviously we don’t run ALL our lifts all year round
Zermatt is one of only two ski areas (the other being Tux in Austria) in the world that runs its lifts all year round, weather permitting. But its highest lifts, a couple of drags to 3899m, Eu-rope’s highest lift-served point, only usually run in summer time, when runs down to resort are closed. Zermatt’s lowest lift-served point can’t quite be reached direct from the top either – shaving a few metres off the top and bottom of the headline vert figure.
So where's the biggest?
Taking into account the many 'ifs, buts and maybes', here is the definitive (probably) top 12 list of what are, essentially, the biggest skiable (all things being equal), lift-served verticals in the world. As you'll see, French and Swiss resorts are dominant…
Position
Ski resort
Country
Vertical descent /m
Range /m
Notes
1
Chamonix
France
2755
3790-1035
At 22km, the Vallee Blanche is the longest piste in the world over the biggest lift-served vert, but its off-piste and the lower section is often closed. 2000m+ descents are also possible to Courmayeur from lifts ascending on the Italian side.
2
Verbier
Switzerland
2509
3330-821
Lower section below Verbier vil-lage has no official piste and rarely has snow cover.
3
Val Thorens
France
2310
3210-900
Off-piste route to Orelle
4
Zermatt
Switzerland
2269
3899-1630
The longest pisted descent although top lift is not normally open in winter, so max vert more likely 2190m. It’s also possible to ski over the border to Valtournenche in Italy, 2375m of vertical but you do need to take a short lift ride en route down.
5
Les 2 Alpes
France
2220
3520-1300
You can go 48m higher using a ratrac which gives the link to La Grave and increases the vertical to 2268m.
6
Alpe d'Huez
France
2200
3330-1130
Serving the world’s longest groomed black piste. You can ski 30m below the lowest lift.
7
Murren to Lauterbrun-nen
Switzerland
2174
2970-796
Skied in the famous Inferno race each winter but otherwise not often open to the very bottom and may need a lift en route.
8
Meribel – Brides les Bains
France
2138
2738-600
Most tenuous as it’s very, very rare that there is snow down to Brides les Bains and the lower part of the route to it is off-piste. Ski from La Saulire.
9
La Grave
France
2100
3550-1450
It’s actually possible to ski 50m lower than the bottom lift for a 2150 vert but you need to hike back up.
10
Courmaueur
Italy
2092
3462-1370
Over on the Italian side of Mont Blanc with a separate lift system and off piste route from Punta Heil-bronner.
11
Davos to Kublis
Switzerland
2034
2844-810
A 17km off-piste run followed by a train via 10 stations back to Davos, all on the lift pass.
12
Les Arcs to Villaroger
France
2026
3226-1200
Technically number 11 but it is sometimes possible to ski below the bottom lift a further 250m of vertical.
North America's No. 1
Revelstoke
Canada
1713
2495-782
Outside the world top 30, North America’s biggest vert, taking the title from Whistler a few seasons back.
The Rules
- The distance is that between the top of the highest lift and the bottom of the lowest lift.
- Must be continually downhill with no hiking or lift required to make the full descent.
- It does not matter if the descent is on-piste or off-piste, or possible year-round or only one day a year. It just has to be physically possible. Though, it assumes the skier/boarder is a normal advanced/expert skier not an insane extreme skier happy to do big cliff jumps etc.
- Verticals which involve hiking to get higher at the top, or to get back to the bottom lift were not to be included (although some might consider they should be!).
- Verticals which required a non-fixed lift to make the complete ascent/descent circuit such as a helicopter or a coach at the bottom to get back to the base were not included. 6. Multiple descents from one lift system were only counted once.
*The list was fine-tuned thanks to contributions from Jimmy Petterson (skiingaroundtheworld.net), Oliver Kern (skiresort.de), Olivier Lepoureau (skicollection.co.uk), Xavier Schouller (peakretreats.co.uk) and Christoph Schrahe (ski-weltweit.de).
Posted by Online Editor - Thu, 15/12/2011 - 2:32pm
How big is yours? It's a question that gets many ski resorts gloating. And indeed, the vertical drop figures published by resorts – the difference between the top of their highest lift and the bottom of their lowest lift – can be impressive. But, as with so many other statistics, they can also be misleading. As you drool over the big numbers, be wary of these common failings you won’t find in the small print on your piste map...
Words by Patrick Thorne*
The Small Print
1. You have to walk up the last bit, Ok?
A common statistical trick in US states like Colorado is to give the highest point within the ski area as their ‘top elevation’ – even if there isn’t a ski lift actually up that high. Crested Butte, for example, puts its ‘summit elevation’ at 12,162ft, but its highest lift actually reaches 11,875ft, nearly 300ft lower.
2. Whoops! …we forgot about the cliff
Two of the biggest differences between the top and bottom of the ski lifts are to be found in Germany and Switzerland. At Garmisch in Germany, last season’s Alpine World Champion-ship hosts, the lifts climb more than 2100 vertical metres from 720m in town to 2830m at the top of the Zugspitz glacier – but there’s a big unskiable cliff half way down. It’s a similar problem if you were to try to ski down from Europe’s highest rail-accessed point at the 3454m high Jungfraujoch above Grindelwald and Wengen down 2500 vertical metres or so to the valley below and there are big rocks to negotiate if you want to go down from Val Thorens to Orelle.
3. Erm, there may not be any snow at the bottom
Ski lifts in the Swiss Four Valleys run from 821m up to 3330m – more than 2,500 vertical metres. But there are no longer any official runs below Verbier and rarely any snow on lower slopes, although it is usually skiable on a few days each winter. It’s a similar story on the bot-tom section of the Vallee Blanche down to Chamonix and descending from above Murren to Lauterbrunnen in the valley.
4. Well you ski down a bit, then you have get a lift up a bit, before you descend the rest of it
Jackson Hole used to have the biggest lift served vertical in the USA at 1262m (skiable verts are one thing the yanks don’t do as big as the Europeans). There are now two other US re-sorts - Snowmass in Colorado and Big Sky in Montana claiming up to 120m bigger lift-served verts, but Jackson Hole is still proudly proclaiming it, “…has the longest continuous vertical rise of any ski area in the U.S …to the top of Rendezvous Mountain!” because you can’t ski the others top-to-bottom in one straight descent. In the Alps it’s the same story for the near 2,500m difference between the top and bottom of the lifts at Les Arcs.
5. Obviously we don’t run ALL our lifts all year round
Zermatt is one of only two ski areas (the other being Tux in Austria) in the world that runs its lifts all year round, weather permitting. But its highest lifts, a couple of drags to 3899m, Eu-rope’s highest lift-served point, only usually run in summer time, when runs down to resort are closed. Zermatt’s lowest lift-served point can’t quite be reached direct from the top either – shaving a few metres off the top and bottom of the headline vert figure.
So where's the biggest?
Taking into account the many 'ifs, buts and maybes', here is the definitive (probably) top 12 list of what are, essentially, the biggest skiable (all things being equal), lift-served verticals in the world. As you'll see, French and Swiss resorts are dominant…
| Position | Ski resort | Country | Vertical descent /m | Range /m | Notes |
| 1 | Chamonix | France | 2755 | 3790-1035 | At 22km, the Vallee Blanche is the longest piste in the world over the biggest lift-served vert, but its off-piste and the lower section is often closed. 2000m+ descents are also possible to Courmayeur from lifts ascending on the Italian side. |
| 2 | Verbier | Switzerland | 2509 | 3330-821 | Lower section below Verbier vil-lage has no official piste and rarely has snow cover. |
| 3 | Val Thorens | France | 2310 | 3210-900 | Off-piste route to Orelle |
| 4 | Zermatt | Switzerland | 2269 | 3899-1630 | The longest pisted descent although top lift is not normally open in winter, so max vert more likely 2190m. It’s also possible to ski over the border to Valtournenche in Italy, 2375m of vertical but you do need to take a short lift ride en route down. |
| 5 | Les 2 Alpes | France | 2220 | 3520-1300 | You can go 48m higher using a ratrac which gives the link to La Grave and increases the vertical to 2268m. |
| 6 | Alpe d'Huez | France | 2200 | 3330-1130 | Serving the world’s longest groomed black piste. You can ski 30m below the lowest lift. |
| 7 | Murren to Lauterbrun-nen | Switzerland | 2174 | 2970-796 | Skied in the famous Inferno race each winter but otherwise not often open to the very bottom and may need a lift en route. |
| 8 | Meribel – Brides les Bains | France | 2138 | 2738-600 | Most tenuous as it’s very, very rare that there is snow down to Brides les Bains and the lower part of the route to it is off-piste. Ski from La Saulire. |
| 9 | La Grave | France | 2100 | 3550-1450 | It’s actually possible to ski 50m lower than the bottom lift for a 2150 vert but you need to hike back up. |
| 10 | Courmaueur | Italy | 2092 | 3462-1370 | Over on the Italian side of Mont Blanc with a separate lift system and off piste route from Punta Heil-bronner. |
| 11 | Davos to Kublis | Switzerland | 2034 | 2844-810 | A 17km off-piste run followed by a train via 10 stations back to Davos, all on the lift pass. |
| 12 | Les Arcs to Villaroger | France | 2026 | 3226-1200 | Technically number 11 but it is sometimes possible to ski below the bottom lift a further 250m of vertical. |
| North America's No. 1 | Revelstoke | Canada | 1713 | 2495-782 | Outside the world top 30, North America’s biggest vert, taking the title from Whistler a few seasons back. |
The Rules
- The distance is that between the top of the highest lift and the bottom of the lowest lift.
- Must be continually downhill with no hiking or lift required to make the full descent.
- It does not matter if the descent is on-piste or off-piste, or possible year-round or only one day a year. It just has to be physically possible. Though, it assumes the skier/boarder is a normal advanced/expert skier not an insane extreme skier happy to do big cliff jumps etc.
- Verticals which involve hiking to get higher at the top, or to get back to the bottom lift were not to be included (although some might consider they should be!).
- Verticals which required a non-fixed lift to make the complete ascent/descent circuit such as a helicopter or a coach at the bottom to get back to the base were not included. 6. Multiple descents from one lift system were only counted once.
*The list was fine-tuned thanks to contributions from Jimmy Petterson (skiingaroundtheworld.net), Oliver Kern (skiresort.de), Olivier Lepoureau (skicollection.co.uk), Xavier Schouller (peakretreats.co.uk) and Christoph Schrahe (ski-weltweit.de).