Snow Forecast & History
View detailed snow forecast for Serre Chevalier at:
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forecast.com
Webcams - Serre Chevalier
Col du Lautaret 2058m
Monetier (Bachas) 2176m
Cucumelle
Col du Prorel
Serre Chevalier is one of the best places to ride in France. This great resort has heaps of major terrain: tight, open trees to weave, extreme drop-offs to get the adrenaline going, big bowls, countless banks and gullies, super-fast flats to push the hair back, hits everywhere, and a giant, natural funpark - all located next to a few unassuming, old-fashioned French villages (with a hint of the new here and there).
As one local rider once put it, ‘Who needs funparks when this place is a complete funpark at every level and distinction!’ It’s not the highest resort in the world, so snowcover can sometimes suffer, but things are usually pretty damn fine.
The boarding area runs along the Le Grand Serre Chevalier range with the large town of Briançon at one end and the old village of Le Monetier at the other. In between, the villages of Chantemerle and Villeneuve provide the most convenient access to the slopes and are the most popular with holidaymakers. The slopes around Briançon get a huge amount of sunshine although don’t get the snow cover of the other areas. Chantemerle and Villeneuve areas are the most popular and extensive areas, whereas you can always find some untracked spots in the less-popular Le Monetier.
A few years ago, the resort was purchased by the Compagnie des Alpes who own Tignes, Saas-fee, and Chamonix amongst others, and a lot of cash is set to be invested over the next five years to improve the already good lift system.
Once you’ve shredded all the trees you can head to La Grave in just 30 minutes, and Montgenevre isn’t far from Briançon.
Freeriding
Freeriders get to shred plenty of open, tight trees, gullies and deep bowls, as well as some long steeps, where advanced riders can busy themselves for weeks on end. Serre Chevalier is perfect soft boot territory, and those riders wanting wide expanses of powder without having to hike should check out the stuff off the Balme chairlift. When it's open, the L'Eychauda t-bar is the place to head, with plenty of powder spots off the Isolee black run and some huge cliffs. In Le Monetier there's some challenging terrain under the Yret chairlift that you can access off the Col du Vent black, but watch for slides.
Freestylers
Freestylers should basically session the whole mountain as there are too many hits to mention - it will take most riders at least a season to hit each jump only once. The place is a super-big, natural funpark, with lots of logs to grind, and loads of big jumps everywhere.
There's a terrain park and an icy halfpipe located in Villeneuve, the halfpipe is located at the foot of the mountain on the Mickey run above the Yeti bar. The terrain park is squeezed into the Plateau de la Rouge, but was moved higher and expanded for the 2006/7 season. They've earth-shaped the big booters and the basic layout for the boardercross, so you can expect a permanent intermediate and pro-line of kickers running alongside the Grand Serre chairlift and depending on conditions, they'll be adding the beginner jumps and rails .
Pistes
Riders are presented with as much alpine terrain as they could possibly need. There's plenty of top-to-bottom runs that can be taken a mach-1 speed. The black Olympique trail that runs to the base of Chantemerle is a full-on eye waterer when taken at speed.
Although advanced riders and competent intermediate boarders will manage, novices should give this run a miss (unless they have a death wish).
Beginners
Beginners should find the runs around Frejus more suited to their needs, with a number of long, easy runs that bring you back down the mountain into the village of Villeneuve, via some tree-lined trails.
Serre Chevalier has some super-fast drag lifts, often travelling a long way at speeds more suited to riding down, not up. Watch out for the sharp turns that some of the drag lifts make through the trees.
Remember though, if you can master Serre Chevalier's drag lifts, you shouldn't have any trouble in the rest of the world. Thankfully, there are plans to slowly remove them and they can easily be avoided until this occurs.
Eating
Your dietary needs are well sorted here, with a vast selection of restaurants and fast-food outlets to choose from, including a number of creperies. In Chantemerle, Le Petit Chalet serves top food at a top price, or there’s a few cafes that serve good value pizzas.
The Grotte Du Yeti in Villeneuve will serve you French delicacies like egg & chips, Le Bidule is highly recommened for fish lovers, and Nocthambule and Le Refuge are pretty decent.
Nightlife
Nightlife is not exactly kicking, although things do pick up later on in the evening. In Chantemerle the x-treme Bar is the place to head for (but not until after 10pm), and the Karaoke clubs stays open 'til the early hours. The Irish bar in the mall is good for an après beer, Kitzbuel Café only good for a pizza, and in the old town there is a cool lounge bar.
In Villeneuve, most people head to the Grotte Du Yeti (little England), Le Frog is okay, then it's on to Le Bam Bam nightclub. Le Monetier is very quiet so the Alpin bar is probably the pick.
Resort Statistics
Resort Type: Alpine
Winter: Dec to April
Summer: None
Lifts
Total Lifts: 68
Cable cars: 3
Gondolas: 6
Chair lifts: 20
Drag lifts: 39
Max people per hour: 68,000
Board Leashes required: No
Mountain
Total pistes/trails: 115
Total ride area: 155miles (249km)
Longest run: 6miles (10km)
Top lift: 2850m
Vertical drop: 1630m
First lift: 1200m
Piste suitability
Green runs: 42%
Red runs: 46%
Black runs: 12%
All text taken from the World Snowboard guide.
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