From nearly 10-mile descents to thousands of uninterrupted vertical feet, these five legendary runs let you ski longer before heading back to the lift.
(Photo: Courtesy of Revelstoke)
Published July 2, 2026 10:54AM
Every skier loves a good challenge, and few are as satisfying as pointing your tips downhill and skiing from summit to base in one uninterrupted shot. The ski runs with the biggest vertical drop in the world offer exactly that: The rare chance to ski an entire mountain in a single descent while racking up miles of turns and thousands of vertical feet.
The tricky part is deciding what counts. We excluded descents that include multiple separately-named pistes, like Schwarze Schneid at Sölden and Panorama in Saas-Fee. We considered only in-bound trails, leaving off-piste routes like Vallée Blanche in Chamonix, which offers over 9,000 feet of vertical, off the list.
In the end, we came up with five marathon ski runs that fit our criteria and are a worthy notch on your ski pants:
The Last Spike at Revelstoke, Canada
Vertical drop: 5,600 feet
Length: 9.5 miles
Trail difficulty: green
It’s fitting that a run at Revelstoke is among the single, on-piste trails with the most vertical. Revelstoke has the longest lift-accessed vertical descent in North America and is known for its steep terrain. But the run with the most vertical is actually much longer than it is steep; The Last Spike is a meandering green trail that winds its way from the top of the ski area to the bottom. The leg burner is 9.5 miles long, leading from around 7,280 feet (just below the highest skiable point on Revelstoke, at 7,677 feet) to the very bottom of the resort, at 1,679 feet.
Les Cascades at Grand Massif, France
Vertical drop: 5,600 feet
Length: 8.7 miles
Trail difficulty: blue
Grand Massif ski area sits in the shadow of Mont Blanc, with its highest skiable point topping out at just over 8,400 feet. But the run with the most vertical, Les Cascades, starts a bit lower at just over 8,100 feet. From there, Les Cascades flows down 8.7 miles to the base village of Sixt at almost 2,500 feet. The red-rated route (comparable to a blue in the U.S.) runs along a ridge above treeline before dipping into the trees and winding its way into the Sixt base village. The total vertical drop is around 5,600 feet.
La Sarenne at Alpe d’Huez, France
Vertical drop: 5,500 feet
Length: 10 miles
Trail difficulty: black
People have claimed that La Sarenne has the largest vertical drop of any single inbound ski run, at 6,560 feet. But here’s the catch: While La Sarenne starts at the top of Alpe d’Huez’s 10,900-foot Pic Blanc peak, it ends at treeline, at around 5,400 feet. The point where the named run of La Sarenne ends is nowhere close to the bottom of the ski area, shaving off significant vertical feet.
That aside, La Sarenne offers almost 5,500 feet of vertical drop and 10 miles of skiing, making it the longest black-diamond run in the Alps, and by our count, the world.
Peak to Creek, Whistler-Blackcomb, Canada
Vertical drop: 5,020 feet
Length: 6.8 miles
Trail difficulty: blue
As its name implies, Peak to Creek runs from the top of Whistler Mountain at 7,160 feet above sea level to the base village of Creekside at 2,140 feet. The blue run traverses along the Whistler Mountain ridgeline before dipping into the trees and skirting along a deep valley. Along Peak to Creek’s 6.8 miles, skiers will bag just over 5,000 vertical feet.
La Longia in Val Gardena, Italy
Vertical drop: 4,200 feet
Length: 6.5 miles
Trail difficulty: blue
The only non-French or Canadian ski run on this list is situated in the Val Gardena region of the Italian Dolomites. La Longia, which translates to “the long one” in English, has also been called “The Fairytale Run” for its beautiful route from the top of Seceda mountain at 8,260 feet to the village of Ortisei at 4,050.
All told, the 6.5-mile-long run offers just over 4,200 feet of vertical drop and access to the other 11 ski resorts that make up the massive Dolomiti Superski ski area partnership.
