Serre Chevalier Area 2025 / 2026

A snowHead

near Clot Gauthier chair?

A snowHead

Just booked myself a UCPA freerando week in mid-Jan, I’m excited!

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You just have to love the French.

I was a tad shabby after dinner at friends' last evening and imbibing in maybe one bottle too many of 14.5 % Beaumes-de-Venise Côtes du Rhône, though luckily, I was drinking low-alcohol beer to start with, and a fair amount of water, as I wanted to get close to first tracks on the XC piste as it were, and I was aiming for an 09:30 start which is not at all early, unless you're French in which case it's about an hour too early Laughing

And after recharging my XC-ski-pass in the hut and a few pleasantries with the team, it was about 09:40 when I started, and as you can see from the photo below, only a handful of people were ahead.

I thought I'd read that there was not enough depth of snow to cut the grooves for classic cross-country but as you can see they were there.

I did three laps of the circuit around the field between Monetier and Le Casset and more people were out there hoping to avoid paying for their session by parking up there, but the "team" knew that might be the case, being a Sunday, along with the conditions being so much better than elsewhere, and they were catching a fair few people out doing a "control".

The field is a great example of how the snow stays on the flat as the sun is so low and does not melt, whereas on the South side as soon as it gets a little steeper, there is no snow.

After the field, I went further up the valley to Le Casset and was well fecked after climbing the slight rise, but motivated at the thought of the fast return back to Monetier, and again, conditions were superb.

Once back in Monetier went to SNO for a pitstop coffee and everywhere was rammed, the "Petridish" as we call it (the outdoor baths) of the Spa, you could see loads of the tops of heads/bodies in there, and once leaving Monetier there were so many coaches that had come over from Italy with skiers.

So @Boris, conditions are great for XC and hopefully will not change that much.

Outlook is for more unsettled conditions for the coming week, and we could see dribbles all week, but nothing substantial.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Weathercam, thanks, although conditions don't really my inability to XC ski Laughing

Looks nice and sure boy will enjoy it and I'll make sure he gets a pass!

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Yesterday at times it was snowing quite heavily but then would ease right off.

We took the dogs out parking just outside Guibertes as I've been waiting for some bad weather to test a jacket and do some photos, and climbing up towards the forest up the various terraces I was really surprised at the depth of new snow.

It was also interesting in that when we run up in the forest traversing high I always comment how the trees would offer excellent skiing on those days that are risk 5 after a big dump, when I often ski in the Bois de Granon from Val Claret, though not too sure if we'll ever get days like that again, and where we parked up, if possible after a dump of course, would be a great place to start from.

Based on that we hit some of the usual suspects this morning with the skins as snow above 2,250 was very good indeed, though below especially near Frejus a lot of stones, but Le Bez again skied superbly and bearing in mind we're on touring gear.

Finished the morning with one last line off the Eychauda ridge just as the light was getting a little flat.

Could be more of the same tomorrow in maybe better light, as hopefully will still be in good condition, and still untracked.

Not really worth mentioning the forecast as forever keeps changing!

And again just no-one else around!

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After all it is free

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Bit of snow falling above mid station, but raining in the valley (Monetier)

Everywhere noticeably busier today, 'the holidays' have started!

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Went up the hill quite late circa 11:00 from Pointless and took the new drag a fair few times and with a bit of canny traversing scored some pristine corduroy that late in the day.

But below Frejus was pretty dire, but then really nice on Le Bez below Côté Chevalier, just had to get to it!

Way busier and the usual demographic of out of control idiots that think they can ski, had to hold myself back from pushing one guy into the trees to teach him a lesson as he was tearing pass kiddies out of control, thinking he was in a schuss with his poles at 70° pointing up into the air..... You know the type rolling eyes

Anyway better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

As for the forecast, let's just say it's going to snow at some point Toofy Grin

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@Boris, well sorry to say, that after I had a lovely XC last Friday, I then went out again this morning expecting the worse, and indeed conditions were pretty torrid and quite depressing how in such a short space of time the cross country piste is in such a bad state.

Also probably not helped by it being busier than normal even for this time of year as a lot of Nevache is closed, and today I was mixing it up with around 25 Val Claret young Club skiers.

I think today the main issue was that there had been no overnight pisting and it had taken a hammering with the weekend traffic along with rain and a few days of freeze thaw.

Let's just hope we get a top-up of snow on the valley floor in the next couple of days, otherwise we'll be running out of options.

As by the end of the week it's back to solid sunshine.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Fresh snow higher up meant some good skiing off Clot Gauthier, and in Cucumelle area this morning. Skier's left of Cucumelle now starting to open up, although extreme left still not enough snow. The pistes themselves are busy. Back to work!

A snowHead

Any info on Montgenevre? I'm heading over there on the 27th, looking at webcams it seems as though the current snowfall is mainly south East of the Col in the italian section of the MW. The South facing area of MontG looks particularly thin.

A snowHead

The main body of the hill is currently fine, probably 5cm or so top up today. Pistes quite nice, no low level slush, no ice at all.

South side is indeed quite thin, and there are polished areas, not ice. No real off piste as yet.

Due to snow some tomorrow and then Christmas Day…….

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

thanks!

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Went to Parc Colombier this morning arriving at 09:30 and was one of the first to make tracks on the one km XC circuit they have there, which they do try and keep in tip-top with deep rails for classic XC as well.

Was expecting more local head-bangers to be out, but was very calm and only when I was leaving an hour later were more "tourists" turning up.

Could see a light dusting on the South side of the valley behind us so maybe a few more cms up there.

Just driven to Briançon and the Luc is closed, as I've mentioned elsewhere why they didn't have cannon going on that (and Casse) earlier in the month when they had them going on Le Bez.

And they're still charging top $ for passes Evil or Very Mad

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Also arriving Saturday- as long as there’s some snow to ski in I’ll be fine

Biathlon boy can cope if tracks are shite

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Not much more to report, day off today after falling heavily yesterday on the XC track yesterday after catching my pole in the netting, could have been so much worse, no real issues walking on the flat and downhill, but up the stairs & gradients, tis painful.

Was admiring how much snow at altiude there seems to be, looking up the valley up towards Têtes de Sainte Marguerite, but a long walk to get there and poor snow.

I'm sure those of you coming out are looking at the various forecasts for one that you think might deliver something, but alas not looking great.

We might well see what it's like up the hill tomorrow depending on how the heads are as a bit of a thrash tonight, and then is it actually worth buying a ticket for my daughter tomorrow but the €18 debutante which gives access to two of the Mea drags and two Pointillas might be an option but then there's the Frejus Chemin to deal with and the hordes.

@Boris, ironically the XC piste by the biathlon Stade looks superb as we drove past, with my daughter asking how come they've managed to make snow there but not elsewhere, and good question and one that I couldn't answer.

After all it is free

Looks like the high pressure arrived today as the skies cleared throughout the day, and it's now very clear with the stars putting on quite a show.

Pistes were ok today, but with lots of traffic they are getting scraped of snow in places, and there are still a lot of stones/rocks about, and neither of the major runs (CdB / LA) in Villeneuve/Chantemerle are open yet. Hopefully with the high pressure comes colder nights and they can make some more snow to top things up.

On the road to SC now, thanks for all your updates. Looks like a day trip to Via Lattea would be worth it for some powder. Any thoughts on how far east is worth driving?

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@Fortycoats, presume you've read my "Mini Road Trip" thread?

That's ski-touring, if you want lift served fresh, then your options are Montgenevre / Clavierre but not too sure how much they received, and at this time of year will be very busy, as Italians flood up there in droves.

If you want to be sure then a road trip to Abries / Ristolas would be great, you could also combine that with St Veran, if you really are interested then I could provide more details.

I'm half thinking about going back again tomorrow, though I'm not too sure how the sun and warmer temps we've had today have affected the snow. That said, I could go into the forest on the North side.

I'm afraid the pistes and lifts will be very busy this week. I dropped the OH and my daughter off yesterday at Pointillas at 09:10, just as the Club Med hordes arrived, and they decided against going up the hill.

Road has been very busy as it's the Saturday between the two big holidays, and that's traffic not necessarily leaving or arriving here but heading to other resorts like ADH and Deux Alpes. The barometer is whether there's gridlock on the road down from us later when it's dark, but that tends to start around the 29th.

As an aside went into the 1420 last evening at 18:45 and it was busy* though many left by 19:30 for their dinner, so that's a taste of this coming week, though we're booked in there for NYE for a Gastro evening and the DJ is planning to play until sunrise, though somehow don't think we'll still be there by then, though did remind me of once we did NYE at my friends hotel in La Grave and after breakfast we went for a walk in the village and people were still staggering out of a couple of bars Laughing

*not standing just all tables and seats pretty well taken

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Thanks @Weathercam, thats some good detail.It'll all be lift- served for me. I read your mini tour report and it didn't make me any braver about going off the beaten track!!

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Can confirm. The queues on the hill are … significant… even in Monetier which is traditionally a quieter sector.

However the weather is beautiful, for sitting on the terrace with a refreshment.

We took advice earlier in the thread to buy the &Joy (season passes) and it has paid for itself today.

Think our plan for next few days is to go up super early, have a blast, and then enjoy the sunshine.

There are indeed queues, but 15-mins was probably the longest one we had.

Snow better at Briancon end of valley I think, generally holding up well. Few pinch points which are icy

Weather is fab - may have burnt my face

You know it makes sense.

Didn’t enjoy today, got stuck on lift for 40-mins, lots of ice and earth patches. It’s all ok and plenty of skiing to be had, but more snow desperately needed

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

We're staying well away from the pistes until the weekend, when hopefully a large % of people go. In the meantime, I've had a couple of superb ski-tour sorties (see Retour d'Est thread).

The OH didn't fancy ski-touring there as it's quite a long day due to the approach, so she's been running, though finding the terrain & conditions a little challenging in places. And my daughter has a fair amount of freelance work she'd rather do than face the current conditions up the hill.

This morning I went to the Hamster wheel that is the Parc Colombiers, a one km XC circuit, and had the pristine corduroy all to myself, though the parking was very busy with people leaving their cars there overnight, and by the time I left it was rammed as many families go there to walk their tiny ones and let them play on the snow-canon mounds.

There seems also to be so many non-skiers around, we were chatting and general consensus amongst us was a 60/40 split between those skiing and those merley here enjoying their break in the mountains in the beautiful weather.

And that sunshine brings out the classic french coifeured ladies (often still smoking) taking pole position on the restaurant terraces.

Tonight it's the big spectacle in Chantmerle and we're walking from here as last year we were on the bus for nearly an hour, this year it's not the excellent drone display but sounds like a digital version of Son et Lumiere projected on the Luc Alphand Piste.

And as for the forecasts I'm not commenting as what will be will be rolling eyes

A snowHead

Sadly some of us are on our side be week a year holiday and don’t have luxury of being able to pick and choose what we do.

It is what it is I get that, just making the best of what we can

A snowHead

@Boris, has the boy been XC ?

My Swedish mate arrived Sunday and I know he's been out on the tracks up your way, but I should imagine they're pretty hard pack & icy so timing will be key. Too early to avoid the hordes and will be icy yet by the time they do soften up many more people out.

Some feckin runners had decided this morning that the XC piste at the Parc would make for a good running surface Evil or Very Mad

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Weathercam, Has anyone tried to XC ski the pump track??? Shocked

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@leggyblonde, I saw the signs to it this morning but don't know what/how it looks in the winter.

They have a few cannons there, and usually they have snow sculptures there as well, just think this season they've really cut back on the snow making, and there's a lot of BS being given out, such as temps have been too was warm etc, if that was the case then how come they gunned Le Bez and the huge beginners area up from Pointillas but not the Mickey and the Casse, which they've finally been gunning the last couple of days ?

Sorry sounding like a scratched record but when people like @Boris, are out for their week and paying top $ for their pass it's so bad they haven't prepared many more pistes if only to take the pressure off elsewhere.

Old man's rant over Laughing

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@Weathercam, I totally agree here. No doubt they have 'environmental' concerns due to the water consumption too, but if they can do it for the Club Med, then they can do it for the rest of us. wondering if I should have bothered with the season pass now? I'm not usually a glass half-empty kind of girl, but I am concerned about some of the recent decisions by CDA.

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@Weathercam, gone out this afternoon, will report back on what he says

It doesn’t help that so many resort runs are closed, so putting more people and pressure on the one one open. Some snow making wouldn’t go amiss to keep a few other runs open, they all have snow on them, just a few bare sections.

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@Weathercam, pretty nice actually - was the review

Said he chatted to guy at range to arrange some shooting time

After all it is free

@Hells Bells, I don't think it's Club Med they're doing it for but the new MMV Serra Neva apartments that are part of the massive holding company, hence thew development of Pointless etc, which also owns CDA*, and with another two buildings planned!

And they even now have their own dedicated bus on the newly resurfaced road and new access bridge, ironically called the Pointillas Express Laughing

*La Caisse des Dépôts

And @Boris by the Stade there are the best XC piste conditions and again because they've had the cannons going on since beginning of the season!

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Compared to what I was expecting, the snow conditions on piste are not too bad. Not great, mind you, but better than I was fearing. A couple of years ago Christmas week was worse (or perhaps I don't mind the ice so much now that I have new piste skis?)

Saw some people putting in about 10 boot-top powder turns after having toured up the (closed) Eychauda draglift.

I'd of course prefer a few days of powder, but at least I get to ski on sunny days with the family.

Help!!

Serre Chevalier Area 2025 / 2026

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