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Longest tree line red runs in europe

 Poster: A snowHead
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I love a 'nice' tree lined red run. I hate the 'open bowl' with 10+ runs in it and they are all the same.

I need to check my exact heights but I think the runs top to bottom in San Colombano (very near Bormio Italy) is approximately 2.5-3km long. The top starts open but quickly becomes tree lined. There are 2 runs: one down to Le Motte and on the other side down to Isolacia. I can spend half a day just doing these over and over. Only problem is some ancient lifts + button lifts.

Can you suggest any other excellent long tree line reds ?
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Europe = Verbier / Serre Chevalier
US = Telluride / Aspen
Japan = Niseko / Furano
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The tree runs above Plan Peisey in Les Arcs are a dream when conditions are good. Super carving territory so pick any one of Myrtilles, Moray, Aigle, Ours, Combe or the Black Ecureuils.
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Off the top of my head:

La Thuile (bottom part of Ponteilles & La Nouva runs) - 4km tree-lined
Oberstdorf - both the Nebelhorn and Kanzelwand valley returns are about 4km tree-lined
Les Arcs -> Villaroger - about 3km with trees
Les Houches (Voza -> Schuss des Dames) about 3.5km
Kitzbuehel - numerous red runs down from the Hahnenkamm about 3.5-5km
Wengen - not a red, but the blue descent from Kleine Scheidegg is about 7km and has trees most of the way
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Any of the non-purpose built ski areas in Austria! The lifts start from the valley floor and the valley runs are mostly red (or blue cat tracks) through the trees. Austria is 73% forested, the ski areas are largely below the tree line. I agree with the OP, I far prefer a long varied run through the trees to a featureless moonscape with identical short runs.
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Austria, Riesneralm

https://www.bergfex.com/riesneralm/panorama/

Longest run is apparently 7km, and I reckon that's the blue 5. This particular run is one of the more difficult blues I've encountered and can easily be mixed with red up near the top (15 and 8 ). The red 6 is also quite long and is quite challenging. Red 10 has the best views, but is a little shorter. Red 2 is OK. Blue 1 is not steep, but is quite narrow as it's just a groomed snow covered forestry track in most places.
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Le Jaillet in Mageve has some long tree line runs, the blue treffieannaise is 5.3Km long so the red that runs beside it must be lengthy
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La Longia Seceda-Ortisei in the Dolomites which claims to be 10km, must surely qualify.
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Quite a while since I have been to Val d'sere - but I seem to recall OK there being a fair length.
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Wengen. Also the red off kleine scheidegg top of honegg chair to grund apart from top bit is pretty good for trees.
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Prilet in St Luc / Chandolin is 6.2 km or so , absolutely gorgeous piste.
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Masella in the eastern Spanish Pyrenees has 900m of vertical which can be done on only reds, with only the uppermost 150m being above the treeline.
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Euro tree-line is circa 2,200 so any run down to a low resort that has snow which is what @queenie pretty please, alludes to.

Though the caveat of the OP is red run, so that will eat up vertical over the length of a run.

And I suspect many a resort will have summer trails that in the winter are green runs and they can be very long indeed winding their way down to the valley floor.

Serre Che is often quoted as having some of the finest tree skiing in the world, there are tree-lined runs and then there are trees, two very different disciplines!

Exhibit A from yesterday Cool


http://youtube.com/v/ZOUOKa_8nVE
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kezzy19661 wrote:
I love a 'nice' tree lined red run. I hate the 'open bowl' with 10+ runs in it and they are all the same.


Each to their own, though I'm not sure how a "tree-lined bowl" makes those same 10+ runs different from one another... Puzzled
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@coddlesangers, Yes the Prilet one of the best pistes in the Alps this comes from a lover and part time resident of the Haute Tarentaise France
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 Poster: A snowHead
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have a look at schladming, or kronplatz, both treeless at the very top but your soon in the trees.
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kezzy19661 wrote:
I love a 'nice' tree lined red run. I hate the 'open bowl' with 10+ runs in it and they are all the same.

I need to check my exact heights but I think the runs top to bottom in San Colombano (very near Bormio Italy) is approximately 2.5-3km long. The top starts open but quickly becomes tree lined. There are 2 runs: one down to Le Motte and on the other side down to Isolacia. I can spend half a day just doing these over and over. Only problem is some ancient lifts + button lifts.

Can you suggest any other excellent long tree line reds ?


Not Europe, but Lake Louise and Sunshine Village in Canada. In-bounds skiing through the trees, like really between trees. Brilliant. I just need to learn how to stop!


Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Wed 29-01-20 12:30; edited 1 time in total
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The runs from above Courchevel 1850 to Le Praz are excellent and ~900m vertical
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countryman wrote:
Wengen. Also the red off kleine scheidegg top of honegg chair to grund apart from top bit is pretty good for trees.


Spot on. About 6km I think. Tschuggen piste. 1300m vertical.
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achilles wrote:
Quite a while since I have been to Val d'sere - but I seem to recall OK there being a fair length.


Much of it is above the tree-line, though.
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@Kenzie, fair enough. It is a long time since I was there - my memory has obviously over simplified the run to being enjoyable and through trees.
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Not red but for top to bottom tree lined and just a great piste to ski - Kandahar in Garmisch...900m vertical. Downhill this weekend.
If it has to be red you could do the Olympia next door.
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In Klosters from the Gostchnergratt you can ski to Kublis largely in the trees, that gives around 1400 meters of vertical I believe.
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A favourite of mine is the 1a,b,c from Gjaidalm all the way down to the valley floor at either Obertraun or Krippenstein. It does start off above the trees, but it's 11.5 kms of pure thigh burning fun! Bad Hofgastein also has the Hohe Scharte, great name, which is also about 10.5 kms and goes from the very top right down to the valley, can't remember the piste name H5??? H something anyway. That's a gorgeous run I could happily spend all day on. I also found some really long thigh burners on a trip over to Grossecke and Speiereck, very pretty treelined and lots of very sharp curves to catch you out if you aren't paying attention.
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I give another vote for the one above Val Gardena going down to Ortisei (Dolomites). Though in truth there are just a couple of steepish corners to justify it being red. Is the story true that the run featured in an early James Bond film?

Not sure about the one from Davos/Klosters to Kublis, for the full drop you need to start at the top of Parsenn above the tree line. And at the Kublis end quite a lot seems to be through fields with only occasional trees. But the total distance travelled must be considerable.
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The alternative to treelines runs isn't necessarily a "featureless moonscape". Done some super cruisy red runs in San Pellegrino today, in glorious sunshine surrounded by stunning Dolomites mountain vistas.
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wishfulthinker wrote:
La Longia Seceda-Ortisei in the Dolomites which claims to be 10km, must surely qualify.


It does, but if that's a red run I'm Mikaela Schiffrin. There might be a few steepish sections but also some places where you have to skate.
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Red 18 then into black 10 at Zell am Ziller.
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Andalo
Alleghe
both 1200m through the trees
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RedandWhiteFlachau wrote:
The tree runs above Plan Peisey in Les Arcs are a dream when conditions are good. Super carving territory so pick any one of Myrtilles, Moray, Aigle, Ours, Combe or the Black Ecureuils.


YES! I remember superb tree-lined runs around Peisey-Vallandry..
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Weathercam wrote:
Euro tree-line is circa 2,200 so any run down to a low resort that has snow which is what @queenie pretty please, alludes


2200 m = Southern Alps
1800 m = Northern Alps!
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@Langerzug, being a tad pedantic?

2,200 is pretty well max, are you referring to N or S facing slopes?

And also not too sure your definition of Northern Alps?

For instance forest above Bozel forest is 2,100m+

And stretches of trees Aime La Plagne 2,278 m

So with people quoting nigh on 1,400 m vertical tree runs that would make the valley floor 400m according to your figs in the "Northern Alps"?

For sure on a good snow cover day one could ski piste then trees all the way to low valley floors such as Grenoble Bourg Oisans but I'm not too sure that's what the OP is referring to
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@Weathercam,
Western and Southern Alps are warmer than North-Eastern
E.g. around Arlberg in some spots there are no trees over 1700 meters.
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Ahornabfahrt in Mayrhofen, 5.5km and 1215m vertical. Used to be a black, now a red. Possibly my favourite run anywhere.
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Basically, you're looking for any resort that is 2200 or more top and as low as possible base. With trees.
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It's not just about "tree line". In many Alpine areas which would " naturally" be covered in forest, trees have long been cleared to make way for pasture, particularly on the favoured "sun facing" side of valleys with better growing conditions.
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@pam w, That's why I asked N or S facing.

Best ski resort runs in low altitude resorts are not usually on S facing slopes as not worth the investment of infrastructure as season is so short.

Here we have superb S facing slopes but no lifts. Interestingly enough they planted forest about 80yrs ago to protect buildings from slides.

Were off out to ski some truly superb trees though long steep climb.
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@Weathercam, quite a few runs mentioned here start well over the treeline.

I’m not talking north or south facing slopes.
In Austria’s northern Alps (Vorarlberg, Tyrol, Salzburg, North-Styria), the treeline is at 1800 max, including south facing slopes.
In Zermatt it is at 2200-2300 meters, which is one of the highest in the Alps (but the village is at 1600, so no long tree runs there. Cool )
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Langerzug wrote:

In Austria’s northern Alps (Vorarlberg, Tyrol, Salzburg, North-Styria), the treeline is at 1800 max, including south facing slopes.


In many places that's true, but certainly not all. For example Fimbatal in Ischgl the trees top out somewhere a little over 2100m. Evidence on the (1989m altitude) webcam here Wink https://www.bergfex.com/ischgl/webcams/c2840/

Oddly enough that's a NW-ish slope. The south facing side is too steep and slides too often for much tree growth.
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@clarky999, Fimbatal is very close to the very mild, and very inneralpine Engadin...(Fimba...even the name suggests latin warmth, sooo rhätoromanisch.... Very Happy
By the way, the webcam also shows that Ischgl got very little new snow last few days...another proof of the relative mild climate.
Arlberg had 50 cm...
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