The good, the bad, and the ugly will all be laid out in this honest and in depth review. Its just my take on a sensational weeks skiing with some friends, and some advice and tips on whats good, what to expect, where we found best to ski, and anything else I can remember whilst tpying this out. I hope you find it useful.....
.....My friend Skidaddle and his good lady flew out on Saturday 28th Feb, with the advantage of having a day to themselves before the rest of us turned up. They did however have to suffer the longer drive to Gatwick, and the apparent unpleasant experience of Grenoble airport, where cases and skis took almost 2 hours to be claimed by their owners! Fortunately, we were flying in from Stansted, an hour down the road, and into Turin - an airport I had used several times before. Skidaddle texted me to say his hotel was lovely in Monetier, the highest of the villages that make up Serre Chevalier, but that they had found the skiing over their side of the mountains not to be so good, mainly because of warm temps lower down.
We arrived just in time to get a late dinner at 10pm, and throw our skis into lockers down in the ski room of the Clubhotel Le Grand Aigle. Let me get one thing straight at the start: if you want somewhere cheap, basic, and with good access to the slopes, this place is fine. If you want comfort, 4 star cuisine, saunas and hot tubs, go somewhere else. Its not a quiet place - a bus load of kids on a school trip from Wolverhampton put paid to that (along with most of the boarders in our group, and several other large parties who were here the same week!!!) but its convenient, and its a place to sleep. For what I paid, I would not complain, but some of the people who went here with Equity Ski and paid £700 pp (inc lift pass at £175), I can sympathise!
The Grand Aigle was rechristened Colditz for the week, that might give you an idea of what the place looks like! Fortunately, the hotel is ON a red piste opposite the Club Med in Villeneuve offering ski in/out, which is a godsend in my opinion. It was a short schuss down to the Pontillas gondola, and up the mountain first thing the next morning. Lifts open at 9am, which is annoying late compared to what I like.
Many people head up the mountains from Villeneuve by using the Frejus bubble lift or the Aravet gondola, but there is also a quick chair called Casse de Boeuf which takes you higher than any other first stage lift, or you can take the short walk to the Pontilas lift over in Le Bez area of Villeneuve. The lifts are all situated across the road from the old town of Villeneuve, and in areas of not particularly attractive accommodation, but this is France after all, and if you want chocolate box chalets, go to Switzerland!
The Pontilas lift is a 20 man standing gondola, and gave us an indication of what to expect when it came to the antiquated and slow lift system around most of the area. I would hate to be here at peak times as there must be hideous queues around the mountains.
Serre Che is made up of 4 areas: Monetier, Villeneuve, Chantmerle and Briancon. Monetier is the higher of the 4 villages, and each has its own ski area making up a kind of interlinked 4 Valleys. There are 250km of pistes to go at, with some superb off piste opportunities as well. In total there are 25 green runs, 33 blues, 42 reds and 15 blacks. We never skied anything that I would consider difficult or hard, even the blacks which were really only graded because of the steepness, but they were all superbly groomed each morning and pretty wide. The blues were often narrower tracks, but there were some really nice cruises as well in places. The reds were more like Austrian blues, so I would say this area was pretty much perfect for all grades of skiers, as there is a lot of whatevey any ability would be looking for. It is perhaps best suited to intetmediates and people who are comfortable getting around on any kind of slope.
Our first morning, the Monday, it was a beautiful sunny day with only a few clouds in the sky. Skidaddle and his other half turned up at 10 past 9 at the Pontilas lift, and we headed up into the Villeneuve sector. At the top of the Pontilas gondola, you have to clip your skis on and head down the 100 metres or so to the Frejus chair. This is an old 3 man chair which is very slow and struggles to get large numbers up the mountain quickly - great if you are up their early! It is also one of the older style chair lifts which dont slow down as they come in to pick you up and have a habit of knocking lesser experienced people over, and as such do stop quite a lot. Not great, but the weather up the mountain was looking fantastic, and we had a superb first morning cruising around and finding out feet again. Sadly, most of the lifts in this sector are drags, and damned long ones at that, apart from the long 3 man Balme chair, from where you can access across to Monetier or ski back down the gorgeous long piste into the Cretes restaurant area.
There is a beginners area up here with an easy green, and a couple of drags: the Barres drag takes you half as far as the Balme chair, and there are a further 3 drag lifts accessible from here which take you to the higher points of this valley, including Clot Gauthier at 2589m. There are a series of red and blue runs from here, which take you across the next ridge and into the Chantmerls sector, or you can head up or down to another couple of drags from the Villeneuve sector and head off to the left. Villeneuve is mainly above the trees, and quite exposed in places, but there are some lovely runs up here. There is also a lovely long piste that runs off all the way down to resort which takes a good 20 minutes to finish if its not busy! We stayed around this first area the first day.
Heading across towards the Serre Chevalier peak and the boardpark area, there is a long long drag, Pre du Bois, or you can take the newer faster 4 man Cote Chevalier chair. These deliver you around the Scott Board Park area where there are some great blue runs, the obvious board park to play on, and the Aravet lift and eating area, where there is a fantastic restaurant not to be missed!
The runs below the board park run through the trees and offer some great views and fabulous skiing on piste.
There is some great off piste available higher up above the tree lines, but in the first 2 days when it was sunny, it was already pretty tracked out and becoming quite crusty. Fortunately, the sun was shining on the pistes, and the massive snow falls they had previously had meant there was good on piste skiing to be had all over the mountain.
Heading across the other side of the board park and down towards Serre Ratier, you find yourself in the Chamtmerle sector. You can ski off the mountains into any sector below and pick up the ski buses to deliver you back to your own areas. There are some really gorgeous pistes, and some more difficult reds over here, with some better higher speed chair lifts to help. We luckily didnt find queues longer than 2 or 3 minutes for chairs at peak times, and the pistes were often almost deserted.
From this side, you can head right over into the Briancon sector, going past the Rocher Blanc peak which is quite an imposing piece of rock! Sadly, the wind had got up by this time, and the chair back across from Briancon was closed, so we decided not to head right down into Briancon.
By the end of the Wednesday, the wind was getting up at the highest points, and the clouds were gathering, with the promise of some snow, and sure enough, mid afternoon it began to fall steadily. By 4pm the pistes were deserted, and it was becoming quite difficult with snow beginning to pile up.
The off piste was fun, especially with our boarding pals!
It continued to snow all night and all next morning, until the sun broke through at lunchtime, by which time we had found fresh tracks right across the place, and not too many people venturing out. It was paradise.
It snowed again the next day, but the pistes had been perfectly groomed, and the top surface was just perfect.
The next day, the sun returned, and we had the beauty of deep fresh soft snow and the bright sun on our faces, casting long shadows as the day went by.
However, the wind was very strong, closing the higher lifts, and we struggled to get around to where we wanted to, but managed to find links across in the trees and on longer drags. Nothing is a problem if you are prepared to hunt around!
On our last day, the link to Monetier reopened, and we headed over to discover some fabulously empty slopes with tons of soft fresh snow on them, again perfectly groomed. We joined the boarders for the whole day, and had a real blast cruising about, doing some off piste, and having some fun.
Monetier is linked across the top of the Cucumelle peak, from where the run back into Villeneuve is quite simply fantastic. Fast, long, steep, and seriously good fun. You have to ski the Cucumelle top to bottom.
The wind at the highest points going across was still high, but not as bad as the 120kmh of the previous day; no wonder they were shut. We made the trip upo to the highest point in the area, Pic de l'Yret, where it was very cold, but the view across the peaks into Italy and beyond were stunning.
Down in Monetier, the wind was gone and the pistes were lovely. There are some newer faster chairs down here, and the skiing is really enjoyable through the trees.
Sadly, like all good things, it had to come to an end, and we all headed back over to the Villeneuve sector, and savoured the last beer in the sun, before skiing and boarding off the long run into the village. Its always nice to have a late afternoon beer in the sun at this time of year.....
So a brilliant weeks skiing drew to a sad close. Unfortunately for Skidaddle, he hasnt been at all well, and missed 1/3 of it, but for me it was as good a time on the slopes as I have had - although I say that each time I go these days!
As for the necessaries, Serre Che is a great ski area for anyone of any ability. Villeneuve is a lovely little village; we sat having lunch outside by the river with the sun pouring down, surrounded by snow covered mountains on Sunday lunchtime waiting for our transfer bus. Its only 2 hours from Turin or Grenoble, and there were a number of GB plates about, and I know its an easy drive down.
Monetier is a quieter place, but equally as pretty. You wont find rowdy bars and bouncing apres ski here, but its not Austria and that we knew before we went. There are places to have a late drink, but I would avoid Bar Legrotte at the bottom of the Aravet lift: the reps recommend it, but thats because its full of them and the seasonnaires, and sadly the bar staff seem to only want to serve their mates in there.
Food and drink - expensive generally. On the slopes we made a pack up a couple of days, and ate carefully: 12 euros for a very good lasagne is not cheap, but its not Courchavel either. 5 euros for a stubby of Heineken is however something of an insult in my opinion - be careful in the restaurants!
As for France, I still have not changed my opinion of the people. In general we found people quite rude, impatient, and unhelpful. I speak French, enough to ask directions and order food and drink, but was still met with little enthusiasm or welcoming. On the slopes and in the lift queues it was as I remembered, and I dont think the bloke who pushed past me from 10 people further back and went right across my new skis will forget the response he was met with. But Serre Chevalier has so much to offer on its slopes that such attitude and behaviour pales into insignificance. I will return, but not to the same hotel. Next time it will be a chalet so that I can enjoy my own log fire and know what I am paying for food and drink!
Spring skiing is great - the sun on your face and a midweek dump of fresh snow is unbeatable. I was grateful for having my new fatter skis with me, as I was able to plough through anything, and I have never "whooped" as much in my life as I let them run for 4 of the 6 days on the slopes.
Serre Che does need massive investment in its lifts, but the pistes are superbly looked after, and there was cordouroy each morning to dig into.
The sun went down on a thoroughly enjoyable weeks skiing, and for me on another good season on the slopes around Europe. Plans are being drawn up for next season as I write, and Serre Che may well soon be getting another visit from me. If you have considered it, get it booked and stop messing about.
