Steep Skiing Camps Worldwide, La Grave, France. American freeskier Doug Coombs presides over a thrilling ski week in hairy terrain. Campers learn couloir etiquette, beacon drills, and more. www.dougcoombs.com

Chocolate Freeride Productions, Verbier, Switzerland. Intended for solid skiers wishing to safely graduate to big-mountain freeriding, weeklong courses sample Verbier's mammoth off-piste. www.chocolatefreeride.com
—R. S.

Portes du Soleil is a sprawling resort in southeastern France that houses 209 lifts and, in summer, 373 miles of mountain-bike trails. Ride from village to village, using the lifts and granny gears to pedal to a different hotel each night. Traces Directes organizes tours and can help get your bags from bed to bed. $1,330 for five days; 011-33-4-50-74-7040

SwisSkiSafari uses helicopters to access 7,000-vertical-foot descents in the Swiss backcountry and chill time at five-star front-country hotels. In between, blast down groomers in Saas Fee, Zermatt, and Verbier. Four days of skiing, meals, and accommodations, $7,900; 011-41-27-398-2194, www.swisskisafari.com

KE Adventure Travel's guides will show you how to crampon and piolet your way along France's Mer de Glace, Glacier des Rognons, and even up the Mont Blanc du Tacul, a 14,000-foot peak. Eight-day trip out of Chamonix, $2,555; 800-497-9675, www.keadventure.com
—Tim Neville

Engelberg, Switzerland: Snow-porn stars Shane McConkey, Jamie Pierre, and Micah Black all visited this resort last season. Why? To ride in-bounds treats like Steinberg (4,000 crevasse-riddled vertical feet) and backcountry steeps like Galtiberg (a 6,500-foot plunge). A local guide is highly recommended. www.engelberg.ch

La Grave, France: The Anti-Whistler, La Grave has no pedestrian village, disco, or official ski patrol. Instead, there's 7,000 vertical feet of no-beginners-allowed terrain. www.la-grave.com

Dammkar, Germany: Featuring a bigger–than–Jackson Hole vertical of 4,300 feet, Dammkar also gets some of the best snow in Bavaria. The area's recent decision to quit grooming explains its official name: Dammkar Freeride. www.skigermany.com

Courmayeur, Italy: Courmayeur is Chamonix's conjoined twin to the south. Above the first stage of its creaky Telepheriques du Mont Blanc cable car? Topless sunbathers. Above the third? A descent down 6,888 vertical feet of the Toula Glacier, highlighted by chutes approaching 50 degrees. www.courmayeur-montblanc.com