Easter skiing (with pics added)

dustyfog wrote:Thx. Are there places to stay on the mountain ? The thing is given the size of the area, and different villages, its hard to tell what is of closest proximity to the Pistes? Are there ski-in/ski-out places? And finally, how would you compare this to say staying in Oberlech, and Lech-Zurs, slopes, prices etc. Generally, we are all about skiing and almost never care about apres so to speak, but charm of the locale of course is part of the appeal of travel.

Thanks

Well, its France and not Austria, so its hard to compare, as Austria is so much more efficient and tidy I find.
However, the village of Villeneuve is IMO the best place to stay, or maybe up in Monetier, as these are old fashioned places with a rustic feel and a village atmosphere, just more quaint and pretty than Chantmerle, the purpose built part, or Briancon a working town.

Price wise, for France it is relatively cheap, and probably on a par with much of Austrian right now. You can pay 2 euros for a coffee or hot chocolate, or in other places 3.50. A pint of beer will cost you 3.50 in happy hour or when its snowing in the right places, or 5 or 6 euros otherwise.
Large pizza is about 10 euros, and you can eat well up the mountain for the same price for one course.
A meal out in a nice restaurant cost us 23 euros per person for 3 courses, and it was excellent. Mighty fine.
Accommodation.....you can find an apartment cheaply for a week, say 300 euros for 4-6 people, but dont expect Lech type standards!
You can ski off any mountain to the valley, when conditions permit, so there is some ski in/out accommodation but not much. Most of it is a short walk or bus ride away, but for me thats never been an issue. I do however like piste side chalets, as we experienced in ADH in January, and would have a preference for that kind of place every time.

Serre Che is not everyones cup of tea. Its not a fast moving place, but it has a real charm of its own, and chilled out atmosphere, and some wonderful extensive skiing to go at too. Fortunately, not everyone wants that, which is kind of why its still so nice, as not too many people are aware of it, or want to try it.

Thx, it looks pretty vast, though trail maps are hard to judge since it seems the # of runs is not that many but they must be pretty long...

where is Serre Chevalier in relation to the place called Alpe d'huez, both are near Grenoble, it would be nice to see online a map of these locations .. maybe google maps can do something..i read about the Sarenne, so curious..

how would you compare the two places?

and again as you said best place to stay is the Villeneuve place for ski-in/ski out type or as close to that as possible for Serre Chev..

just curious..

dustyfog wrote:where is Serre Chevalier in relation to the place called Alpe d'huez, both are near Grenoble, it would be nice to see online a map of these locations .. maybe google maps can do something..i read about the Sarenne, so curious..

how would you compare the two places?

and again as you said best place to stay is the Villeneuve place for ski-in/ski out type or as close to that as possible for Serre Chev..

just curious..

Mate, there is 250km of pisted runs in the area, thats a big area to ski, especially compared to many of the ski areas in the States. There is also lots of off piste.

Serre Che is 4 main resorts: Monetier, Villeneuve, Chantmerle and Briancon. Villeneuve would be my choice as its central for access into the main ski area, has a lovely old village, and you can ski back down to base as well as anywhere. Monetier is also a nice old village, but situtated at one end, and the link can shut in bad weather which limits you to skiing the local area only. Briancon is the large town at the other end, not really a ski resort, but theres plenty on offer there as a diversion from skiing.

Serre Chevalier is about 45 mins to an hour further on from Grenoble than Alpe d'Huez, across the Col du Lautaret. The 2 are very different in terms of ski areas. Serre Che is basically 4 valleys all linked and in line, ADH is much more segmented, and you can ski to the different parts and back, but you always have to come back through the main central area. Both are excellent, I had superb skiing at both. ADH is higher, 1800m and feels like its right up the mountain. Serre Che has accommodation on the valley floor so you feel like you have to climb the mountain to ski.

The Sarenne.....read about it on my review of ADH. Its a long and beautiful run, but not what I had expected. It has a tough top first section with a stiff mogul field, and then it opens up into a long run with some short steep and difficult parts. I dont think its all its made out to be, but I have done it once and glad I did.

Serre Che has the Casse du Boeuf and Luc Alphand black runs, which are totally different - steep and wide open fast runs, great to open up on, and it also has the Cucumelle, a gorgeous red run.

Like I said, both resorts are totally different in style, layout and atmosphere. But both are places I thoroughly enjoyed, would return to, and would definitely recommend.

Dustyfog,
There is a map on here: http://www.j2ski.com/ski_resorts/Airports/Ski_Resorts_Near_Grenoble_Map.html

I use the Altibus map when I'm looking to see where the major resorts are:

http://www.altibus.com/carte.html

Ally

Thanks folks, read your blog on Alpe D'huez, so the Sarenne is not that interesting.

Thanks Ally G, those maps are a big help to get some perspective