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Skiing in France? or other winter activity?

Anyone have any experience skiing in France? Any suggestions for a very short diversion to experience the Alps? I am going to post a similar question on the Switzerland page.

Skiing or otherwise, I should note. I don't think I can convince my kids to ski, but I might be able to sell them on a sledding excursion.

The perfect excursion for me would be similar to the half-day I spent at Alta by myself to let the skis run a little after taking it easy at Park City and Solitude with others. Those two days were great, but I ended the last day with sharing a beer and a toast to the mountain at Alta. Unfortunately I am not in the aerobic shape I used to be in, but I should manage intermediate slopes relatively easily. I've skied Jackson Hole but I am not in JH shape right now. If there were some large bowls like the back bowls of Vail, I might convince the family to join me as I think they could manage it and would have fun. A torch parade might be fun too.

As an aside, I understand RS is all about european summer travel (with a few notable christmas or otherwise winter weather excursions). There are so many great deals to europe during the winter and the alps just call out to be explored during the winter too. IMHO, RS has missed the mark in covering these destinations outside of the peak summer season. Walking Mont St Michel with hardly anyone there during the winter presumably is so much better than the crazy peak times during the summer.

Posted by
9436 posts

I've never skied in France, but since there are no responses yet, I thought I'd mention Chamonix. A wonderful town and ski resort in the French Alps. RS describes it in his France guide. We've been there twice and really enjoyed it. They offer other winter activities in addition to skiing that your kids could enjoy.

Posted by
21155 posts

France is ground zero for fantastic skiing. Morzine is one spot (Portes du Soleil mega-resort). Val d'Isere, Les Deux Alpes, Les Arc, the Trois Vallee mega-resort, and good old Chamonix are all candidates.

Posted by
3398 posts

A really nice place where lots of families go (including our European relatives) is Nendaz in Switzerland. There are slopes of all levels form beginner to basically jumping off of a cliff. It's part of a larger ski area that is interconnected by a single ski pass and gondolas (if you want to do that) called the 4 Valees. It includes Nendaz, La Tzoumaz, Verbier and Veysoynnaz (sp?). You could ski for a year and not do the same run twice! The lower runs at Mont Fort in Nendaz are similar to the bowls in Vail. The higher you go the more challenging the skiing. It's worth it just to ride the various gondolas up to the top for the views to the Italian and French Alps.
Nendaz is a lovely town high up in the mountains overlooking Valais just south of Zermatt. It's a lovely corner of Switzerland that is not very touristy and mainly frequented by Europeans.