Baldys Serre Chevalier 2012 report as requested

Serre Chevalier 2012

Well for all of you that know the place I am sure you will be pleased that the skiing is just as good as ever ) . This time 18 (12 guys, 6 girls) of us departed Gatwick on 4th Feb, most having never met before. We had a nice mix of 1 first timer through to some really experienced guys wanting to extend themselves in many "areas". We stayed at the Grand Aigle right at the bottom of the BEZ red and a short ski down to the Pontilliss Gondala. The Hotel itself is OK for all the basics , bed, bar and shower but has little else to offer. Cheap and cheerful comes to mind but we all knew that before we went.

Unfortunately on Day 1 that Gondala was out of order until the afternoon so we had to flog to the Frejus bubble. The snow was in excellent condition all over with only small icy patches mainly low down. Because of extremely low temps there was still a lot of powder still on piste for us peasants and bags of really deep powder off piste, so everywhere was a joy, with very few people around as Half term hols for both the French and Brits were the next week :P . As expected the group quickly arranged itself into 3 main groups…the off piste mad men, reasonable skiers and the new to skiing group. The really good thing was we all managed to meet up most days at 1100 for "coffee" and 1300 for lunch, and then again most of us struggled to La Grotte for about 1630. Tony_H will be pleased to know that La Grotte will not go broke this year because I think we funded it for about 12 months with some of the more hardcore drinkers being ejected most evenings about 1 o' clock, somewhat worse for wear. :cry:

The new Vallons 6 man chair has made it much easier to get to Monetier and we spent days 2 and 3 over there cruising the reds and blues. The Tabuc black was (as usual) extremely Moguly in places so I passed on that as I was skiing with quite a serious injury that needs surgery very soon. Monday night saw a fresh fall of snow high up (about 20 cms) so Tuesday was great skiing. I reckon we transited across from Briancon to Monetier twice and we were all very tired and elated at the end of the day. It called for extended Apres Ski that night and there were a few sore heads the next morning at breakfast :mrgreen: . That night a few of the more experienced piste skiers were "persuaded" by the mad bad boys to ski off piste on Wednesday as they told us the conditions were epic. And so it was…sort of. After a few quick bursts down the Cucumelle to find our feet we dived left off the top of the Cucumelle into bandit country above Frejus village in the gullies and deep dips. The first few runs were fantastic in powder several feet deep, all us piste skiers having to learn the new and tiring technique of lifting the tips and turning using both skis nearly equally. This inevitably lead to quite a few nose dives as our carving skis and poor technique were sometimes not quite up to it and by the afternoon only me and two other piste skiers remained. The mad "B's " then decided we should try and go higher and ski through the trees as the powder was "bound to be better there"….I am sure it seemed like a good idea at the time like many things!! But alas it all started to go wrong very quickly as one on the group started to fall will alarming regularity. Unfortunately the powder was so deep (about 5 foot) that he had difficulty continually getting his skis back on and quickly became extremely exhausted to the point of having to wait about 30 mins every time he fell. By this time we were deep in the trees and the only way out was by side slipping down the slope, picking a new line and slipping again. The guy became so tired one of the "experts" went back on foot…at this stage in chest high powder…took his skis away and made him roll down the slope until he was clear of the trees. In all we were in the trees for over 2 hours and by now all quite cold and tired with the last lift due to close in 15 mins. But we lived to tell the tale and I know that at least one guy who will never ski off piste again (not me I must add). Lots of apres ski called for and gratefully accepted!! We had a fancy dress party in the hotel that night, much to the amusement of about 70 kids and the hotel staff and someone told me we consumed vast amounts of alcohol again! ) ) People came dressed in a right mix of costumes from the invisible man, A PILOT (ME) through Wonderwoman and Father Xmas...late edition.
Normal service was resumed on Thursday with the big boys going their way and the others hitting most of the runs above Chantemerle and Villeneuve, playing in the snow park and blasting the reds and blues. These were the areas where we had really only transitted on the days across in Monetier or Briancon. A good day was had by all. Thursday night was "Chefs night off" so we all went to "The Refuge" to eat. I can really recommend it and it worked out about 25 Euros/head without wine. The night became even better as one (of the two) South Africians who came picked up the "L'addition" of about 800…yep 800 Euros. I have never been to a French bar/restaurant that ran out of red wine! We drank it out of that and were starting on the white when they asked us to leave. We retired to La Grotte for many more drinks and dancing (apparently)!! I must add he was extremely rich with two houses (one worth 1.6 million pounds) in SA, one in Romania, one in France and one in Australia…Oh and 3 fixed wing aircraft spread over several countrys, 2 helicopters, a Gyrocopter and a 30 foot fishing boat!! He was going to fly in with his Gyrocopter and fly us around the mountains by the weather was too bad and he had to leave it in Lyon.
Friday saw many many sore heads so most of us had a short day starting about 1030 and finishing about 1400. It was very cold and by now the bottom of the Bez was tres icy. Tired people getting back to base were falling around like skittles. It was quite funny really. I just side slipped down the slope and to the safety of the bar and watched from there. The last evening was very civilised and most were in bed by 11 having packed.
The Bad bits. French pricing policy. Serre Che is considered by most of us to be reasonably priced in terms of drinks and food. I found the prices to vary incredibly and paid an astonishing 5 euros for a Vin Chaud at Pi Mai above Frejus, yet 2.5 Euros in the restaurant at the base of the blue Bergers run above Briancon. Soup there was 4.9 Euros but 11 at the Serre Ratier. La Grotte charged 5 Euros a pint for Lager yet our Hotel price was less. And so on. Lesson…ask the price before you buy….unless you have my SA friend with you!!
A great time was had by all….they want to know when I am going to arrange another one…Over to you Mrs Bald-Eagleman.
Piccys to follow when they have all sent them to me and IF I can find how to load them up.

Excellent stuff Baldy.
I have to say you were generous with your description of the Grand Aigle; IMO its like Auschwitz but its cheap so you get what you pay for.
Good to hear La Grotte is going strong. Not a place to visit for breakfast whilst they are still disinfecting the floors, trust me.

Have to say it sounds like you might have suffered with the skiing a little as a result of the apres....!!!! But plenty of fun had by all it seems.

The slopes have always been fairly quiet when I've been there, sounds like you had a similar experience.

I should have warned you about Pi Mai. Lovely food but stupidly expensive. The cheapest place was the other place at Serre Ratier and also the cafe at the top of the Frejus lift above Villeneuve.

From what I remember the beer in The Grand Aigle was about 4 euros a pint, but it was almost undrinkable when we were there. Hopefully that improved. Very flat and we thought it was possibly watered down.
The hotel is in a very very good position for the skiing though, provided you beat the Club Med kids to the Pontillas Gondola.

The off piste in Serre Che is a lot better than people think. Sounds like you had some great snow conditions. Maybe the guy you took with you who struggled should have bailed out earlier. Trying off piste in carvers is a mistake a made a few years ago!!!

Look forward to some photos.

Favourite runs?
Best mountain hut/restaurant?

Favorite runs..prob two runs over at Monetier ..the Yret which leads into the blue Eychauda back to the Flecon bar/restuarant and the Aya from the top of the Bachas lift which was a great blitz at speed (well speed for me anyway).

Best Restaurant..def the one above Briancon at the bottom of the Bergers run. It looks over Italy towards Sauze/Sestriere and on good clear days you can sit on the deckchairs and enjoy the view with the cheapest food and Vine Chaud in the area. Trouble is the best runs/restaurants are about 15 kms apart!! :mrgreen:

Thanks for a great report. :thumbup:
We are thinking about Serre for our march trip!
Regards,

Thanks BE, in 3 weeks I will be patiently waiting for the night to be over so I can hit the slopes.

First morning plan includes the Aiguillette reds and Luc Alphond before meeting wife for lunch :D

Thanks for the update dave, i was wondering how you got on.
I need to sort out a detailed report of Flaine too.

OldAndy wrote:Thanks BE, in 3 weeks I will be patiently waiting for the night to be over so I can hit the slopes.

First morning plan includes the Aiguillette reds and Luc Alphond before meeting wife for lunch :D

Fantastic runs, well worth getting over there for them.