If you love the feeling of untouched snow, ordinary piste skiing only tells half the story. The Valais holds some of the best off-piste terrain in the Alps, and two valleys in particular, Val d’Anniviers and Saas-Fee, are where we spend nearly every day of the season. Between them you’ll find everything from open glacier bowls to steep couloirs and sheltered tree runs.
In this guide we take you through 10 of our favourite off-piste zones across both valleys: the peaks and glacier terrain around Grimentz and Zinal in Val d’Anniviers, and the high-altitude glacier playground above Saas-Fee. Each one calls for the right conditions, the right equipment, and ideally a guide who knows the terrain, so treat this as an introduction to what’s out there rather than a route description to follow on your own.
Table of Contents
10 of the best off-piste zones in the Valais
1. Combe Durand
Combe Durand is one of the signature off-piste descents above Grimentz, a wide, north-facing bowl that holds cold, dry powder longer than almost anywhere else in Val d’Anniviers.
It’s accessible without a long approach, which makes it a natural choice for a first taste of what this valley has to offer, ideally with a guide who can read how the snow has settled that day.
2. Mittelallalin to Saas-Fee
On the Saas-Fee side, the classic is the run from Mittelallalin, at 3,500 metres, all the way back down to the village at 1,800 metres, a vertical descent of around 1,800 metres on a single run.
The Metro Alpin funicular, the highest underground railway in the world, gets you up to the glacier in minutes, so you can be skiing untouched snow on the Fee Glacier well before most of the valley has finished breakfast.
The upper section is wide, open glacier terrain, ideal for finding your rhythm in deep snow, while the lower half gets progressively steeper and more technical as you drop back toward the village.
Glacier travel here means real crevasse hazard, hidden under a thin, deceptive layer of snow in places, so this is not terrain to explore without a guide who knows the current state of the glacier.
It’s the kind of run that defines a Saas-Fee freeride trip: enormous vertical, spectacular views of the Dom and the surrounding 4,000-metre peaks, and snow that stays cold thanks to the altitude.
3. Corne de Sorebois
Corne de Sorebois is one of four peaks above 2,800 metres that give Val d’Anniviers its reputation as a freeride destination, and it’s a favourite of ours for the variety packed into a single mountain.
Depending on the aspect you choose, you can find sheltered, wind-protected powder on one side and open, sun-softened snow on the other, which makes it a useful option whatever the recent weather has been doing.
There’s also enough terrain here to keep a guided group busy for a full day without repeating a line, from mellow, rolling slopes suited to guests building confidence off-piste, to steeper pitches for more experienced skiers.
The lower sections drop into forest, which is a useful card to have on a stormy day when visibility up high closes in and the trees offer definition and shelter.
Access is straightforward from the Grimentz-Zinal lift system, which is part of what makes this such an efficient zone to guide: minimal time spent travelling, maximum time spent skiing.
As with everywhere in this valley, conditions and avalanche danger vary constantly by aspect and altitude, so we always assess Corne de Sorebois fresh each morning rather than skiing it on habit.
4. The Längfluh sector
The Längfluh cable car opens up a steeper, more serious side of Saas-Fee’s terrain, directly opposite the imposing north face of the same name.
One of the routes we like from this sector drops from Spielboden, offering steep pitches and natural features that reward good technique, before filtering back down toward the main lift system.
This is more technical terrain than the open glacier above Mittelallalin, and it’s best suited to skiers who are already comfortable managing speed and exposure off-piste.
When a fresh storm has loaded these slopes, the Längfluh sector is often where we find the best untouched snow of the day, since it takes a little more effort and knowledge to access than the lift-accessed classics.
5. Becs de Bosson
At just over 2,900 metres, Becs de Bosson is one of the higher points accessible from the Grimentz-Zinal domain, and the altitude shows in the quality of the snow it holds.
The terrain below the peak is varied, open slopes give way to more defined gullies lower down, which means a guide can tailor the line to conditions and to the group’s ability on the day.
It’s also one of the more scenic zones in the valley, with views stretching across the Val d’Anniviers toward the main Alpine ridge, which is worth the stop partway down even on a powder day.
Becs de Bosson tends to hold good snow for longer after a storm than lower, more exposed slopes, which makes it one of the zones we return to most often when we’re planning a guided day here.
6. The Hanging Glacier, Saas-Fee
For something further off the beaten track, a route from a specific window of the Metro Alpin crosses the Hohlaub Glacier before dropping over what’s known locally as the Hanging Glacier.
It’s a striking way to ski, on a river of ice that feels suspended against the mountainside, and it eventually leads all the way down to the Mattmark dam in a neighbouring valley.
This is very much guide-only terrain: the approach crosses genuine glacier hazard, and finding the right entry and exit points depends on local knowledge that isn’t something you can pick up from a map.
For guests who want to see a different side of Saas-Fee beyond the lift-accessed classics, this route is usually the one that leaves the biggest impression.
7. Roc d’Orzivals
Roc d’Orzivals rounds out the four major peaks above Grimentz-Zinal, and it tends to be quieter than some of the other zones simply because it takes a little more local knowledge to ski well.
The terrain here rewards patience: waiting for the right aspect to come into condition rather than skiing whatever is directly underfoot, which is exactly the kind of judgement call a guide is there to make.
On a good day, the descents off Roc d’Orzivals offer some of the longest sustained pitches in the valley, without the crowds you’d find on a similarly good line closer to the main lifts.
It’s a zone we tend to save for groups who are already comfortable off-piste and want to see more of what Val d’Anniviers has beyond its most obvious terrain.
8. The Allalinhorn, Saas-Fee
If you want to combine freeride skiing with a first taste of ski touring, the Allalinhorn at 4,027 metres is the most accessible 4,000-metre peak in the Alps, and Saas-Fee’s glacier access is exactly why.
The Metro Alpin takes you to 3,500 metres, leaving a manageable two to three hour skin to the summit, roped up for the glacier crossing, with views that stretch to the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc on a clear day.
The descent is the real reward: over 2,000 metres of skiing back down to Saas-Fee on wide, open terrain that holds excellent snow thanks to the altitude.
It’s a serious day out, but a well-guided introduction to ski touring rather than a purely technical mountaineering objective, which makes it a natural next step for confident off-piste skiers.
9. Saint-Luc, Chandolin and the hut-to-hut route
Val d’Anniviers is made up of five connected ski areas, and Saint-Luc and Chandolin, to the north of Grimentz-Zinal, add a different flavour: wide, sunny slopes and some of the best tree skiing in the valley on stormy days.
From Zinal, a hut-to-hut off-piste route heads north toward Saint-Luc and continues west toward the village of Brig, a multi-day option for guests who want to see the wider Valais rather than ski a single zone.
It’s a good illustration of how connected this region is for off-piste skiers: you can ski hard in one valley for a few days, then move on to fresh terrain without ever leaving the Val d’Anniviers system.
For most guests, even a single day exploring the Saint-Luc and Chandolin sector is enough to see why it’s considered one of the more underrated parts of the valley.
10. Saas-Almagell and the lower forest
Not every good day in Saas-Fee happens above the tree line. When a storm rolls through and visibility on the glacier drops to nothing, the lower slopes toward Saas-Almagell and the forests just above the village become the better option.
Trees give you definition when flat light erases every contour higher up, and this sector holds a surprising amount of good skiing for guests who assume Saas-Fee is only about its glacier.
It’s also a gentler introduction to off-piste skiing for guests who are still building confidence, with a lower consequence of terrain than the exposed lines higher on the mountain.
Between these ten zones, Val d’Anniviers and Saas-Fee cover almost every kind of off-piste terrain you could want: open glacier bowls, steep technical faces, sheltered trees and genuine ski-touring objectives.
What ties them together is that conditions change fast in the high alpine, and the same slope that’s perfect one morning can be a serious hazard the next, which is exactly why we build every guided day around the current snowpack rather than a fixed itinerary.
If there’s one thing we’d want you to take from this list, it’s that these zones are a starting point for a conversation with a guide, not a set of directions to follow on your own.
Ready to explore this terrain properly? Contact Freeride Guiding to book a day with one of our UIAGM-certified guides in Val d’Anniviers, Saas-Fee, or both.