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Season in France

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Lokdog
Posts: 130 - Karma: 547
Looking at ski resorts in France to spend a season at, anyone got suggestions? Looking for big mountain/freeride type skiing.
Dec 28 2017 8:08PM
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Andbrer
Posts: 53 - Karma: 527
3 valleys/tres vallees or whatever it is in French. Hands down my favourite ski area ever. Massive area and you can get full area pass - has resorts such as courchevel, meribel & val thorens. Plenty of places to try find work. Just have a look at a piste map for the area its amazing
Dec 28 2017 8:23PM
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FIRAT
Posts: 534 - Karma: 1,351
I'm starting to like you Andbrer, you're so right!
Andbrer3 valleys/tres vallees or whatever it is in French. Hands down my favourite ski area ever. Massive area and you can get full area pass - has resorts such as courchevel, meribel & val thorens. Plenty of places to try find work. Just have a look at a piste map for the area its amazing
Dec 28 2017 9:09PM
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Hough
Posts: 8 - Karma: 99
Did my season in Val Thorens, really buzzing resort with sick terrain + it always has snow due to its height (2300m). You also have access to the largest ski area in the world with pretty much every type of skiing available. Tignes/Val d'Isere in the Espace Killy region are also pretty sweet resorts although they are a little bit more expensive.
Dec 29 2017 8:01AM
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hydd
Posts: 31 - Karma: 110
Big mountain/free ride? Chamonix is what ya want in France I’d say
Dec 29 2017 8:18AM
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powpatrol
Posts: 1678 - Karma: 10,903
hyddBig mountain/free ride? Chamonix is what ya want in France I’d say


Chamonix is basically the world mecca for freeriding,can be expensive however :(
Dec 29 2017 10:14AM
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BrawnTrends
Posts: 1102 - Karma: 2,438
For big mountain/freeride, Chamonix is the mecca for sure. But Val Thorens, Tignes and Val d'Isère (check Léo Taillefer's videos) are also really interesting.
These resorts are just usually more expensive to live in (but Chamonix is a real town, not just a ski resort).
Dec 29 2017 10:46AM
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3mania
Posts: 2611 - Karma: 10,328
Only down side to 3 valles is no trees around there, so when it's socked in conditions can be tough. Park is pretty sick though.
Dec 29 2017 11:57AM
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Lokdog
Posts: 130 - Karma: 547
Lots of interesting suggestions, any insight on which places would be cheaper? I've been looking at Cham, Les3Vallees and La Clusaz mainly, but open to anything.
Dec 29 2017 4:58PM
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Fuckthefuckoff
Posts: 651 - Karma: 891
LokdogLots of interesting suggestions, any insight on which places would be cheaper? I've been looking at Cham, Les3Vallees and La Clusaz mainly, but open to anything.


Cham is the cheapest. Jw do you speak French?
Dec 29 2017 5:24PM
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Lokdog
Posts: 130 - Karma: 547
broccoliraabeCham is the cheapest. Jw do you speak French?


Working on it, currently I can't speak very well but I've got plenty of time to learn
Dec 29 2017 6:06PM
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Hackster
Posts: 145 - Karma: -11
Cham is rather a mountaineer's choice than a freerider's choice. If that's your thing then go. The trams of Le Brevent, Grands Montets and Aiguille du Midi tend to get VERY crowded at times, testing your patience. For Freeride only you will get more skiing in when going to the other places suggested.

But definitely add La Grave to the list, it offers Cham-like gnar big mountain skiing but has tons of other options like Serre Che, Alpe d'Huez, Vars-Risoul, Puy St. Vincent or Les Deux Alpes close by. Great spring touring options too. Due to all those various options for an entire season you might be an overall happier camper there than anywhere else in France.
Dec 29 2017 7:51PM
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BrawnTrends
Posts: 1102 - Karma: 2,438
HacksterBut definitely add La Grave to the list


I was going to say la Grave in my previous post (obviously one of the top choice for freeride) but I'm not sure it's a good resort to do a whole season in. Or at least not in the way most seasonnaires see it.
Dec 30 2017 3:08AM
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dekadent
Posts: 7 - Karma: 8
Your first season I guess?
I wouldn't recommend Chamonix (spent 3 weeks there). Sure, the skiing is great, but the crazy queues combined with the constant need for getting on packed buses between the areas (around a 10-15min ride from Grand Montets - Flegére(Chamonix)) is not my idea of fun.

I spent the 12/13 season in Val d'Isére(L' Espace Killy), and had a crazy fun time. Superb skiing, no queues if you avoid the obvious places(bottom Solaise early) and a great partyscene. Perhaps not the best place for skitouring, although I can't really say since I'm not into that scene.
I can guarantee you wouldnt be disappointed with the setup. Decent opportunities for work aswell in case you don't speak French, many English/Scandinavian bars/tour operators around. It is really expensive though (uphill food etc.), but as long as you stay clear of 15euro pizzas you should be fine. For drinks, be sure to check out the 2euro bottles of drinkable rosé at Sherpa.

Heard great things about Val Thorens aswell as Serre Chavalier aswell, although I've never been there myself. Incase you end up in Valdi, gimme a shout and I'll try and point out some lines!
Dec 30 2017 5:55AM
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twatt_chaurus
Posts: 470 - Karma: 1,682
I'll be in Tignes/Val d'Isere for a month starting mid january, if you end up coming there we can have a few brews and shred some.

**This post was edited on Dec 30th 2017 at 9:49:19am
Dec 30 2017 9:46AM
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BrawnTrends
Posts: 1102 - Karma: 2,438
Morzine/Avoriaz also have a big english scene (most of the town is owned by Brits now, so speaking french is almost only an option), great parties, good bars, good skiing. Not exactly big mountain/freeride resorts but there are definitely some really interesting places to discover in Les Portes du Soleil.
Dec 30 2017 1:34PM
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Hackster
Posts: 145 - Karma: -11
BrawnTrendsMorzine/Avoriaz also have a big english scene (most of the town is owned by Brits now, so speaking french is almost only an option), great parties, good bars, good skiing. Not exactly big mountain/freeride resorts but there are definitely some really interesting places to discover in Les Portes du Soleil.


The Portes du Solei area is too low elevated for later in the season and despite having some terrain often low on snow. Been there numerous times.
Dec 30 2017 5:57PM
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Hackster
Posts: 145 - Karma: -11
BrawnTrendsI was going to say la Grave in my previous post (obviously one of the top choice for freeride) but I'm not sure it's a good resort to do a whole season in. Or at least not in the way most seasonnaires see it.


It most definitely is. And Briancon close by has an even bigger town vibe than Cham for not getting bored.
Dec 30 2017 6:03PM
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BrawnTrends
Posts: 1102 - Karma: 2,438
HacksterThe Portes du Solei area is too low elevated for later in the season and despite having some terrain often low on snow. Been there numerous times.


Granted we've had some shitty years, recently. But most of the French alps were hit by bad winters, especially last season (Les Deux Alpes' glacier had to close halfway through the summer because of the lack of snow and some serious ice melting problems). So hopefully this winter is the start of a new cycle as it already dumped 8 feet this past month in the Portes du Soleil area (I live here year round, so I've had my fair share of powder days already). Elevation isn't much of an issue for snow here because of the lake's microclimate, which means we can get as much snow as higher elevated resorts in the southern alps (if it snows...).
But I agree that we're not a big mountain/steep terrain freeride area.

That being said, Les Arcs is also a fun area.
Dec 31 2017 1:21AM
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Limitanie
Posts: 19 - Karma: 86
The great thing about Europe is that you can go almost anywhere for dirt cheap with trains. I was in Europe for 11 days this season and spent most of my time in Engelberg Switzerland (awesome mountain with tons of terrain and when I went in early December we had no snow here in Co but they had like 3-4 ft of powder which was sick). I did make a day trip over to Chamonix (cha-money-money) and that was sick but yeah like others said the queues can be outrageous. I know you said skiing in France but Engelberg is pretty close to Switzerland and is fucking sick, definitely would recommend a day trip at the very least. The train station is literally right at the base of the mountain so that's also a huge plus.
Dec 31 2017 9:40AM
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