Serre Chevalier

option number one. quench your thirst for new places :mrgreen: . probably better snow too.

I'm back to Serre Che in Jan and hoping the snow falls like last season (the day after we arrived!). I snowboarded in 2Alps the year before and enjoyed the resort - its strange that near complete beginners can ski from the very top on easy runs. Also if conditions aren't great, then more likely to get better conditions in 2Alpes.

Friend of mine took helicopter to Alp D and enjoyed his day there. Dont go ski where you already know on the one day - try something different to Sauze / Sestriere in my opinion.

In that case, I am going to give PSV a go. Looks quite a tidy little place, perfect for a day out. I just dont fancy Les2Alpes and I think I would want a week at Alpe d'Huez to make the most of it.

Do lots of people on J2 ski in France? I have never been, some of the resorts look beautiful. Perhaps I am being silly but my first winter holiday In Austria was a bit of a nightmare, there were 100 french students staying there, and they rampaged the hotel every night, they all stood around the hotel bar and would not let any-one else get served. Then the ski bus, they just pushed and shoved, it was a nightmare. I am just afraid they are all like that. Daft I know but I just can not get it out of my head :lol:

RoseR

I go to France with a large group (30-40)most years. We like it for a number of reasons incl:

- plenty of large, well-connected ski areas, with lots of skiing suitable for everybody in the group;
- lots of high altitude resorts so snow sure;
- lots of ski-in, ski-out accommodation that can take large groups(great if you have kids in tow);
- good food (though sometimes you do have to look for it).

On the other hand ............

- villages are often soulless concrete messes - very unattractive;
- drinks and food can be very expensive;
- apres ski is usually useless (not that big a deal when you have the kids with you)
- rudeness can often feature!

Its a matter of deciding what your priorities are and finding out if a particular resort matches up. One bad experience shouldn't really put you off.

Hope this is of some help :lol:.

RoseR wrote:Do lots of people on J2 ski in France? I have never been, some of the resorts look beautiful. Perhaps I am being silly but my first winter holiday In Austria was a bit of a nightmare, there were 100 french students staying there, and they rampaged the hotel every night, they all stood around the hotel bar and would not let any-one else get served. Then the ski bus, they just pushed and shoved, it was a nightmare. I am just afraid they are all like that. Daft I know but I just can not get it out of my head :lol:

Rose, what France does well is build big (really enormous) ski stations. These are fed by large apartment blocks containing lots of folks. As Wanderer correctly points out, they are soulless concrete messes by and large.
However, not all of French skiing is like that. There still exist real French villages, with a proper population and life outside of skiing.
The resort in the title of this thread is a good example. Several villages linked together on snow, each with their own identity.
Many French villages which have ski areas still have agriculture as their main industry, and have avoided the "ski factory" approach common to the Tarentaise resorts. To experience French skiing, ask around, do your homework and avoid rent-a-crowd )

Tony,

I have ski-ed a few days, on and off, at Puy St.Vincent.It is an attractive resort with quiet pistes on weekdays.. A lot of the skiing is tree lined. It has a good snow record.It is an ideal resort, in my opinion, for a day's visit.

Geoff Smith

Geoff Smith wrote:Tony,

I have ski-ed a few days, on and off, at Puy St.Vincent.It is an attractive resort with quiet pistes on weekdays.. A lot of the skiing is tree lined. It has a good snow record.It is an ideal resort, in my opinion, for a day's visit.

Geoff Smith

Sounds perfect, thanks Geoff.

As for the French thing, I have said it before and I will say it again, French skiing holidays are ruined by the French. From people I know who have been, they say the locals in Serre Che are as nice a bunch as you will meet, but believe me, the attitude on the piste and in lift queues changes the second you cross the border into France. Over in Sauze/Sestriere, everything was very chilled out and relaxed, but step onto Montgenevre, and you get people skiing across your skis, banging into you in the lift queue, barging past, pushing in, etc etc. From my many experiences of France in general, I would say this is par for the course. This is why I find Austria in particular and Switzerland and Italy so refreshing.
In addition, the French just dont understand apres ski.

However, there are a number of French resorts I would like to visit, once I have taken out a mortgage extension to buy the coffee with of course!

I think when you choose where you want to go, you have to consider so many things. When I make lists of places I want to go, strangely the French ones seem to end up getting lower on the list compared to the Italian, Swiss and Austrian places, although Serre Che has been a target of mine for some time. I just hope I dont find the usual stereotypical French attitudes down there, although believe me - I can give as good as I get!

Rose - more Brits ski in France than any other country in the world: Fact. I guess you would be stupid to ignore that.