After 1.5 days at Isola's high-octane weekend ambiance, I headed 40 minutes directly west through the Tinée Valley to Auron, a more low-key traditional French ski town. Entering the village, I still laughed seeing signs in the middle of winter directing you to nearby Nice -- it seemed so incongruous:
In yet another instance of "the trail map doesn't tell the whole story," Auron has 83 miles/135 kms of marked trails, 2,800 vertical feet, a lot of off-piste and legit black terrain, along with a north/northwest orientation that allows skiing into May -- shocking given how far south it is. While the surrounding landscape isn't as dramatic as Isola (it felt more LCC-ish), locals argue that it offers a better overall skiing package. Open as a ski area since 1937, Auron celebrated its 80th anniversary last year.
I checked into my lodging for the next two days, the cute Hotel Écureuil (Squirrel) with a monstrous but affectionate house pooch:
For the previous week, I'd been keeping my eye on a storm that had been forecast to drop ten inches the day I arrived and it came in just as advertised with a solid foot over most of the mountain and upwards of 16 near the top. Of course, I would've liked to experience Auron under sunny skies but don't argue with a powder day, especially one with bone-dry powder and this close to the Mediterranean. At the top, sightlines were tough but marketing director Pascal kept us moving toward lines near trees.
Me:
Pascal:
We stopped for lunch at one. After a couple days of delicious but filling standard French winter fare (lots of cheese), I tried eating sensibly with a salmon salad.
As the day went on, we noticed that the storm was coming in upside-down. As mentioned, the accumulation until lunch was nice and dry, but was turning heavier by mid-afternoon, noticeable mainly when we ran into moguls skiing back to the lifts. Still, I was getting lots of nice knee-deep turns.
By 3 pm, our legs were shot and we headed down to the village, but not before getting a couple de rigueur photo ops at the summit -- a shame that you can't see the gorgeous backdrop behind this sign:
They also have this frame with a permanent camera where you take the photo, type in your e-mail address, and it's sent immediately (good for the ski area too as they can now send you resort information).
But the day wasn't over. That evening, we went out for some nighttime slednecking with a bunch of locals, 45 minutes up the mountain. I hadn't ridden a snowmobile in decades but it all came back. Going up 2,000 verts with some steep sections was challenging.
We stopped at the mid-mountain Grizzly restaurant for a fantastic meal:
In yet another instance of "the trail map doesn't tell the whole story," Auron has 83 miles/135 kms of marked trails, 2,800 vertical feet, a lot of off-piste and legit black terrain, along with a north/northwest orientation that allows skiing into May -- shocking given how far south it is. While the surrounding landscape isn't as dramatic as Isola (it felt more LCC-ish), locals argue that it offers a better overall skiing package. Open as a ski area since 1937, Auron celebrated its 80th anniversary last year.
I checked into my lodging for the next two days, the cute Hotel Écureuil (Squirrel) with a monstrous but affectionate house pooch:
For the previous week, I'd been keeping my eye on a storm that had been forecast to drop ten inches the day I arrived and it came in just as advertised with a solid foot over most of the mountain and upwards of 16 near the top. Of course, I would've liked to experience Auron under sunny skies but don't argue with a powder day, especially one with bone-dry powder and this close to the Mediterranean. At the top, sightlines were tough but marketing director Pascal kept us moving toward lines near trees.
Me:
Pascal:
We stopped for lunch at one. After a couple days of delicious but filling standard French winter fare (lots of cheese), I tried eating sensibly with a salmon salad.
As the day went on, we noticed that the storm was coming in upside-down. As mentioned, the accumulation until lunch was nice and dry, but was turning heavier by mid-afternoon, noticeable mainly when we ran into moguls skiing back to the lifts. Still, I was getting lots of nice knee-deep turns.
By 3 pm, our legs were shot and we headed down to the village, but not before getting a couple de rigueur photo ops at the summit -- a shame that you can't see the gorgeous backdrop behind this sign:
They also have this frame with a permanent camera where you take the photo, type in your e-mail address, and it's sent immediately (good for the ski area too as they can now send you resort information).
But the day wasn't over. That evening, we went out for some nighttime slednecking with a bunch of locals, 45 minutes up the mountain. I hadn't ridden a snowmobile in decades but it all came back. Going up 2,000 verts with some steep sections was challenging.
We stopped at the mid-mountain Grizzly restaurant for a fantastic meal:
