If you've ever fancied trying out some of the numerous alternative sports to downhill skiing, a new option this winter in the 3 Valleys is Biathlon.
Les Menuires, which is celebrating its 40th birthday this winter, is home to Vincent Jay, a gold medal winner in the sport at the Vancouver Olympics earlier this year. This season the resort's ski school will be offering 'Introduction to Biathlon' courses. It follows the introduction of the sport in resorts as far afield as Bansko in Bulgaria, Seefeld in Austria and Northstar in California in recent years.
So what is biathlon? For the uninitiated, this sport involves cross country skiing with a rifle strapped on your back like a ruc sac. Every few kilometres you stop at a shooting range and try to hit five targets 50 metres away that are the size of walnuts!
Exhausting to try at competitive level and exciting to watch – if a skier races too hard they are unlikely to be able to shoot accurately enough and miss the targets, losing points, but if they ski too slowly they'll lose anyway! The sport is covered by Eurosport each winter at Europa Cup and world Cup levels.
In Les Menuires the French ski school (ESF) will offer two hour introductory sessions for 86 Euros for one or two people. You can also try biathlon at Bessans near Val Cenis (free ski bus), Peisey Vallandry between Les Arcs and la Plagne and at Le Grand Bornand.