jamesdeluxe
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2020
When Americans are asked about the French mega resorts that are on their bucket list, the top entries are usually 3 Vallées (Courchevel), Les Arcs (Paradiski), and Val D’Isère/Tignes (Espace Killy), which happen to be the biggest ones. While I absolutely intend to visit them all at some point in the future, there are a lot of other enormous ski circuits that I'd like to hit first and Serre Chevalier in the southern French Alps has occupied my top spot for a while now. I'd planned to go last season, but the region had abnormally poor snowfall so I postponed to this winter. To get there, I flew into Milan 2.5 hours to the west -- the easiest gateway airport via a nonstop flight from the U.S.
The long and short of it is that Serre Chevalier is enormous: more than eight miles wide, up to three miles deep, with approx. 10,000 skiable acres and every type of terrain you can imagine. The standard Alps disclaimer applies: the ski map is heavily compressed and doesn't convey the scale, grandeur, whatever you want to call it.
Along for the visit was Tony Crocker, First Tracks Online's snow-statistics wizard, and his wife Liz. They're based in Los Angeles and when not at their "home hill" Mammoth, they spend two weeks every season in the Alps and also road trip throughout the North American west. Yep, must be nice.
We quickly took in what was spread out before of us -- on one side Côte Gauthier:
On the other, Backside Yret:
With only two days at our disposal to get the lay of the land, we were fortunate to have Julien, a lifetime resident of the region, give us an challenging half-day tour of offpiste/trees. Throughout, he kept up a brisk pace so I didn't have much opportunity to take in-action pix.
With tree lines that go much higher in elevation than is normal in the Alps, skiing Serre Chevalier's extensive larch forests is one of the resort's big calling cards. In fact, many call it the best lift-served tree skiing in Europe. Here's Liz dropping into a lightly tracked glade:
By late morning, we scored some untracked goodies left over from the previous weekend's storm, including a south-facing line that was still powdery.
We didn't ski that line but I took a pic!
Here's Tony with Briançon (the highest city in France) down below:
Liz further down:
Lunch stop:
At 1:30, we went out on our own and found plenty of elbow room:
Mid-afternoon, we stopped at a Quebec-inspired sugar shack/café. I like the pink macaroon display:
With service by the effervescent Sandrine:
Since there are no maple trees there, they use local honey:
Serre Chevalier is serious about being a ski-resort leader in renewable energy: the goal is 30% by the end of 2023. Interesting to learn that the majority of it is generated from the snowmaking system.
"Blueberry picking is forbidden before August 20"
A few shots of me with tired legs in the late-afternoon shadows under a vapor trail:
A bit further down:
Exiting through a series of natural half pipes:
Mid-mountain at 4:15, we finally ran into other skiers -- all seemed to be racing back to the base for drinks:
That evening at Fondue/Raclette Night -- check out this nutty gadget with retractable heating elements that melt the cheese onto the dish placed underneath. The diner scoops it up with a spatula or (at this restaurant) a cleaver to spread onto meat or bread. Only in France, right?
The long and short of it is that Serre Chevalier is enormous: more than eight miles wide, up to three miles deep, with approx. 10,000 skiable acres and every type of terrain you can imagine. The standard Alps disclaimer applies: the ski map is heavily compressed and doesn't convey the scale, grandeur, whatever you want to call it.
Along for the visit was Tony Crocker, First Tracks Online's snow-statistics wizard, and his wife Liz. They're based in Los Angeles and when not at their "home hill" Mammoth, they spend two weeks every season in the Alps and also road trip throughout the North American west. Yep, must be nice.
We quickly took in what was spread out before of us -- on one side Côte Gauthier:
On the other, Backside Yret:
With only two days at our disposal to get the lay of the land, we were fortunate to have Julien, a lifetime resident of the region, give us an challenging half-day tour of offpiste/trees. Throughout, he kept up a brisk pace so I didn't have much opportunity to take in-action pix.
With tree lines that go much higher in elevation than is normal in the Alps, skiing Serre Chevalier's extensive larch forests is one of the resort's big calling cards. In fact, many call it the best lift-served tree skiing in Europe. Here's Liz dropping into a lightly tracked glade:
By late morning, we scored some untracked goodies left over from the previous weekend's storm, including a south-facing line that was still powdery.
We didn't ski that line but I took a pic!
Here's Tony with Briançon (the highest city in France) down below:
Liz further down:
Lunch stop:
At 1:30, we went out on our own and found plenty of elbow room:
Mid-afternoon, we stopped at a Quebec-inspired sugar shack/café. I like the pink macaroon display:
With service by the effervescent Sandrine:
Since there are no maple trees there, they use local honey:
Serre Chevalier is serious about being a ski-resort leader in renewable energy: the goal is 30% by the end of 2023. Interesting to learn that the majority of it is generated from the snowmaking system.
"Blueberry picking is forbidden before August 20"
A few shots of me with tired legs in the late-afternoon shadows under a vapor trail:
A bit further down:
Exiting through a series of natural half pipes:
Mid-mountain at 4:15, we finally ran into other skiers -- all seemed to be racing back to the base for drinks:
That evening at Fondue/Raclette Night -- check out this nutty gadget with retractable heating elements that melt the cheese onto the dish placed underneath. The diner scoops it up with a spatula or (at this restaurant) a cleaver to spread onto meat or bread. Only in France, right?
