Southern French Alps: Off-The-Beaten-Path Ideas

[jamesdeluxe]

It had a different vibe to 3 Valleys and Tignes/Val. Which was kind of my point. Such a great vast ski area without the associated ‘mega’ downsides.

I define a mega resort as having an extensive lift-served/assisted footprint that's both wide and deep with the infrastructure (lodging, lifts, F&B, etc.) to handle thousands of guests. Serre Chevalier certainly qualifies and all of us who've been there over the past two seasons can confirm that it has far fewer industrial downsides than 3V and Val d'Isere.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

For the more obscure places, you may have to explore by yourself. James has made an art form of this, especially at more intermediate pitched places where the avalanche risk is low. (...) Powderhounds lured me to Lauchneralp last year.

I stick to exploring offpiste by myself at intermediate-pitched places for two reasons: a) comfort zone and b) to avoid what happened to you at Lauchneralp!

 

[jamesdeluxe]

I noted your comment in your report that in 2023 the lift pass was not reciprocal between the two - Vars/Risoul. I wonder if that has been fixed?

You may have missed this clarification above:

The Mexican Standoff that occurred during my visit was resolved a year ago -- here's the translated article that explains the background of the disagreement.