We flew from Gatwick to Grenoble with Monarch, as if tempting fate after our disastrous journey to ADH in January, but everything went to plan. Monarch in fact put on bigger planes which suggested more people going in March than in early January - we flew on one of their old A300 Airbus's which has had a refit inside since the last time I flew on one of them. Perfect flight, on time, and we arrived in Grenoble on time and in a light snow shower. Bags and skis arrived, much to our relief this time!
Our bus took us past ADH, up through La Grave (strange place) and over the Col du Lautaret which has some stunning views and a dramatic road up and down the mountains:
We arrived in Villeneuve (Serre Che 1350) at tea time, so immediately had a welcome glass of champagne and a buffet meal, before heading off into the village and exploring. Last year we stopped in the Clubhotel Le Grand Aigle which was not in the village, and so we chose the Rocketski Chalet Pyrene which was more centrally located. We we delighted to find a skibus stop right outside the front door, a 2 minute walk to the nearest supermarket to stock up with beers etc, and a short 5 minute walk to a choice of 3 major lifts up the mountain, as well as a 5 minute walk into the village for the bars and restaurants: perfect.
This is the chalet:
and this is what the village looks like crossing the river that runs through the heart of it:
Villeneuve is a lovely old rustic village. The bars are all small and quaint, with tons of character and low curved ceilings. Some of the buildings look quite derelict from the outside, but inside they are stunningly done up. Pont de l'eau is a superb restaurant on the river, very small and you need to book in advance as its really popular.
It was very cold that first night, minus 11, and we awoke on the Sunday morning to snow falling and settling on the roads in resort. This meant only one thing: powder up the mountain!
We decided to take the skibus at 8.30 and make first lift up the Pontillas gondola above the Villeneuve section into Frejus, and then take the slow 3 man Frejus chair. It was bitterly cold up at the mid station, but absolutely no wind and deathly silent. The anticipation mounted as the lift buzzed its way over the final ridge and suddenly we were faced with the first view of the pistes at the Col Mea/Balme section.
Visibility was not good due to the snow falling, but it was not foggy and it was easy to make out the lovely snow covered pistes below. Mrs H and I skied down the first 300m to the Barres draglift in order to have a couple of warm up runs on the lovely Barres green run:
Stewart and his OH had a play on the runs here, before we decided to take them over to the Chantmerle section after coffee, and show them around the area. You can ski right across from one end at Monetier to the other at Briancon, using connecting lifts, without touching a red or a particularly difficult run - there is always a blue or green alternative option. The Cote Chevalier chair took us over above the board park, underneath the Serre Chevalier peak and we skied down to Aravet where we had lunch.
Unfortunately, the weather deteriorated and the wind picked up a little, but we headed up the Grand Serre chair nonetheless, where the wind was picking up all the fresh powder and blasting it right across the run in front of us. It was minus 15, snowing, and zero visibility and my somewhat inexperienced and nervous friends tried to head off the peak, and unfortunatley collided with each other on the way down. No major incident, but a bit of a confidence damaging exercise for Stewart's OH, so we headed lower down into the trees, where they decided to call it a day. Mrs H and myself headed over to the Prorel lift which connects over to Briancon, and had some good runs down the Salludes red and also the fantastic reds underneath the less well known and deserted Aiguillette chair. This is me hammering down the Aiguellette red:
This next picture of the Aiguillette run was taken later in the week when the sun came out and it was only minus 7, as I forget to take my camera out in all the excitement of getting up the mountain on the first day:
Day 2 saw the weather clear up a little. There was only a light snowfall, almost like diamonds glistening in the air, as the sun tried to break through the clouds above. We headed up the same route, and blasted the reds and blues above Villeneuve and Chantmerle, returning again to the fantastic Aiguillette runs for some fast skiing. There were some people skiing underneath the lift in the trees on hard moguls - great to watch:
Serre Che is basically 4 main resorts with connected ski areas above them, all interlinked with pistes and lifts. The main 2 areas, in the middle of it all, are above Villeneuve and Chantmerle. Lifts from the valley floor are numerous but somewhat old and slow. Main access is from Chantmerle by means of a chair, a cable car, and a gondola all leading into the lovely Serre Ratier area, where there are several good cafes and restaurants. High speed chairs then take you up to 2000m plus above Grand Alpe and the boarder cross track underneath the Serre Chevalier peak at 2491m. The skiing starts above the trees here, but soon plunges down into them again on some superb wide reds and blues.
The sun was breaking through up here on day 2:
From Villeneuve, the Pontillas gondola takes you up to mid station where you have to ski 100m to the Frejus chair. This leads you into the valley where there are greens and blues running down through it, served by several long drag lifts, or you take the Balme chair up to 2600m and over into the Monetier section where the famous and superb Cucumelle red runs all the way back down to the start of the Frejus chair. The Cucumelle was deserted each time we skied it, and we were able to really open up and hammer down it, resulting in some red cheeks and burning thigh muscles. This is the Cucumelle run as seen from Barres:
By day 3 the sun was out and conditions were glorious. Many of the pistes and off piste sections are north facing and therefore hold the snow particularly well. We noticed more people heading up earlier when the sun was out, but only once did we have to queue for a lift, and that was in order to take the slow Balme chair linking over to Monetier, where the best off piste is to be had.
At the top of the Cucumelle run, there were groups of powder hounds taking the 45 minute walk up to the Cucumelle peak at 2700m. We were tempted, as there was still so much untracked snow, but Mrs H decided against the long walk and so we watched as people whooped their way down for a minute after the long walk up:
Monetier has some wonderful skiing above it. The village sits at 1500m and the snow is always that little bit better over here. From Cucumelle you ski down through the valley on Eychauda, a terrific long cruisy blue where you can really work you edges and carve all the way down. Above here is the highest point of the ski area at Yret, 2830m and some of the best off piste conditions I have skied.
Further over at Cibout, there are similarly good runs and off piste to be found, including a massive mogul field, as well as the tricky and steep Col du Vent off Yret:
We had a couple of full on mornings over at Monetier, and then found oursevles in need of refreshment, but dared not have our own Mars bars and water that we had taken up with us:
It was notably colder on the Monetier side: probably because this faces across to La Grave and the Col du Lautaret where it had been reportedly minus 27 that week!!!!!
We skied lower down into Monetier from the Tabuc top station. The Clos Gaillard and Corvaria red runs are stunning - they were superbly groomed with lovely soft snow on top to produce tails behind us as we turned, and literally no one else on them. It was a privelege to be there with the place to ourselves.
Head off down to the right hand side in Monetier, and the fantastic Peyra-Juana cafe can be found on the Rochamout blue run. We stopped for the obligatory cafe au lait before heading back up the long Bachas chair to link back into the rest of Serre Che:
There are 2 good places to lunch up the mountain; firstly Serre Ratier with its choice of self service, table service and cafes, and alternatively the more laid back Aravet, with sun chairs laid out for those perfect days:
Stewart and his OH, as well as my other friend's wife who does not ski much and doesn't do heights either, found it easy to come up here on the gondola and join us for lunch, wonderful sitting in the sun.
Food and drink prices varied considerably from place to place, but we found ourselves paying around 3 euros for a coffee - 4 in one place, and 2 in another. I don't drink beer until I have finished skiing, but Stewart was paying 5 or 6 euros for a pint up the mountain. Spag Bol was 8.5 euros, a decent Nicoise salad was 5.50, a plate of chips was a horrendous 6.90 in one place which we then avoided, and we found the best ever chips for 4 euros next door!
I had a decent ham and cheese toastie for 4 euros, and you can get well priced food down at Bar La Grotte at the bottom of the Aravet lift too, but it means having to take the lifts back up the mountain after lunch.
You can return to the valley on the lifts or ski off the green tracks, or if you are up for a challenge, take the fantasticly fast and steep Casse du Boeuf black all the way back down. This was as good a way to finish a days skiing as I have had!
This is the Fangeas run that links the Chantmerle sector above the board park down to the Villeneuve sector, and this was as busy as it got:
Having not been able to make it over to Briancon last year due to high winds closing the link, we had 2 afternoons with my mate Steve (who's wife prefered to chill out after lunch) and Mrs H over there.
The top section is wide open above the trees, and offers some truly wonderful views and great fast skiing on wide blues and reds, as well as some awesome off piste too. There is also the longest natural half pipe I have ever seen, something like 1.5 miles in length - good fun!
The Remparts/Grande Gargouille red that runs the length of the Prorel gondola is a particularly nice red through the trees; again almost deserted and very fast when you let the skis run. Grooming was particularly good all over the mountain we found. This is the Grande Gargouille run:
and some of the offpiste over at Briancon:
The final day saw glorious weather yet again, and we aimed to cover off any final runs we had not yet done. This included some really steep but great off piste down the back of Serre Chevalier and Eychauda - this is me just before I disappeared under the rope and down the back:
I found we were all skiing totally relaxed, having a laugh, looking for jumps and bumps more, and trying almost anything we could come across, including a bit of sliding about on trays - NO, not THAT kind of tray.....
But sadly, like all good things, they have to come to an end. A week always seems to go so fast, and you are having your final beer at the edge of the piste before you know it. Bar La Grotte has a nice relaxed atmosphere at the end of the day, well at least it does at this time of year:
A pint of Amstel is 3.50 euros in happy hour here which makes it worth heading to.
So the sun finally went down on a brilliant week, and for me another excellent season. Things have changed in my life recently, which means my final trip over Easter will probably have to be cancelled now, and I have a lot to put into place and get up and running before I can once again head out onto the slopes for another season. Its going to be another long summer without skiing for me, but I long for the day when I can come flying down another piste again. Lets hope its not too long.
