Wednesday was cold, estimated -13C at high elevation, so we elected to have a mellow day with the likely unappetizing off-piste conditions.
It was probably a classic Euro ski experience. We rolled onto the Serre Chevalier lifts at the crack of noon and headed up into their alpine terrain. Base elevations are just below 5,000 ft and the highest lift was about 8,700. Despite a sunny morning everything off-piste was frozen solid, so we stuck to the pistes for a couple of hours and settled in for lunch at L'Echaillon restaurant. After foie gras, salad, duck and a killer dessert special, we emerged at 3:30 to overcast skies and dropping temps. So we skied down to the nearest base and took a shuttle bus back to our cars, totalling 10K vertical for the day.
By observation Serre Chevalier is good example of a lesser known area in the Alps that would still swallow a couple of Vails. There's plenty of advanced intermediate or better off-piste in the alpine that would have been delightful in either winter snow or warmer temps to soften things up.
But as at La Grave it last snowed Feb. 6. I would advise advance planned Euro visitors to check out trail maps and look for a good chunk of terrain over 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) if they want to ski packed powder conditions.
It was probably a classic Euro ski experience. We rolled onto the Serre Chevalier lifts at the crack of noon and headed up into their alpine terrain. Base elevations are just below 5,000 ft and the highest lift was about 8,700. Despite a sunny morning everything off-piste was frozen solid, so we stuck to the pistes for a couple of hours and settled in for lunch at L'Echaillon restaurant. After foie gras, salad, duck and a killer dessert special, we emerged at 3:30 to overcast skies and dropping temps. So we skied down to the nearest base and took a shuttle bus back to our cars, totalling 10K vertical for the day.
By observation Serre Chevalier is good example of a lesser known area in the Alps that would still swallow a couple of Vails. There's plenty of advanced intermediate or better off-piste in the alpine that would have been delightful in either winter snow or warmer temps to soften things up.
But as at La Grave it last snowed Feb. 6. I would advise advance planned Euro visitors to check out trail maps and look for a good chunk of terrain over 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) if they want to ski packed powder conditions.