La Grave is a special place to ski. 

Located in the Alps of southern France, this jagged system of high-mountain glaciers offers adventurous skiers and snowboarders an almost infinite number of natural lines.

La Grave is totally “unpisted” — in other words, it’s all ungroomed. That makes for a unique challenge not just for visitors, but for the ski patrollers tasked with ensuring the terrain doesn’t kill people on a day with low visibility or high avalanche risk. 

It’s a serious job. But as you can see in the video above, the perks are just as serious.