ChrisC
Well-known member
We were supposed to ski La Grave everyday. However, the weather did not always cooperate. One day there was about 10cm of new snow in La Grave, but low cloud levels and high winds. Unfortunately, La Grave's lift did not open. Our guide called other guides/friends and found Les 2 Alpes and Alp d'Huez were similar to La Grave - windy, lift holds and only about 10cm new. However, Serre Chevalier had received about 30cm (and counting) and was mostly open. The choice was obvious - Serre Che it is!
Southern Alp Weather Patterns
This episode points to the unique weather patterns of the Southern Alps. Collectively, these resorts span a segment of highway of about 30 miles. However, their weather patterns vary -- partially to the height of La Meije (13,000 ft), the high point in the region. Serre Chevalier does best from southern storms (like this one initially) that affect Italy too. La Grave/Les 2 Alpes do well with western/NW tracks. And Alpe d'Huez can get clipped by northern disturbances that do not make it down to its neighbors. This is quite diverse for a relatively small region.
This report also demonstrates why a car is important and the ability to travel while staying in La Grave. The primary (and obvious) reason is that the lift is closed one or two days per week. Secondly (and importantly), the best conditions could be just miles away while you are skiing dust on crust or something. Since all these mountains have some decent challenges to offer, powder-hunting for new snow is realistic.
French Highways and Maintenance
Getting to Serre Chevalier was another story. Although only 15 miles from La Grave, there is a pass to cross to Serre Chevalier. Not huge, but significant enough. However, French winter highway maintenance leaves something to be desired -- the roads were a mess. Tour buses were stuck. Trucks stranded. Suprising, since this is the main road between Grenoble and Turin, Italy. I did not see any plows on our trip. In fact, the pass later closed for most of the day...finally reopening in the evening to let us back home.
Mountain
My British friends were quite pleased with skiing Serre Che for a day. My attitude was "Serre What?" for this is another huge Euro hill that I had never really heard, let alone a desire to ski. However, put a foot of new snow in an alpine bowl environment -- and I'm game.
Serre Chevalier is a sprawling complex (see maps). Essentially it is one long ridge with a vertical drop of 5000 with access points from several villages. Its unique compared to other Alpine resorts for its trees. The lower half of the mountain is below the tree-line (great news on storm days like the one I visited on) while the upper half is open bowls. Good combo! The negative about Serre Chavalier is its low elevation of approximately 4000 ft, but not a worry in the middle of winter.
Our guide recommended Monetier since it has some of the best advanced terrain, is less crowded than the main sector and located closest to La Grave on the highway.
Skiing.
When there is 30cm already and another another 20cm or so during the day, the numbers speak for themselves. It was epic. No pics since it was too snowy, windy and time-consuming. There are no friends on powder days so I had to keep up. The new snow got tracked, but not completely skied out. It was quite easy to simply traverse a bit more and have fresh lines. Also, I do not think a lot of hard-core types come to Serre Che so competition for nice lines is negligible. Some of the better routes are highlighted. Overall, the skiing was more high intermediate/low expert -- nothing too extreme -- with a couoir or two thrown in. Perfect for new snow without sorrying about getting buried by an avalanche.
Southern Alp Weather Patterns
This episode points to the unique weather patterns of the Southern Alps. Collectively, these resorts span a segment of highway of about 30 miles. However, their weather patterns vary -- partially to the height of La Meije (13,000 ft), the high point in the region. Serre Chevalier does best from southern storms (like this one initially) that affect Italy too. La Grave/Les 2 Alpes do well with western/NW tracks. And Alpe d'Huez can get clipped by northern disturbances that do not make it down to its neighbors. This is quite diverse for a relatively small region.
This report also demonstrates why a car is important and the ability to travel while staying in La Grave. The primary (and obvious) reason is that the lift is closed one or two days per week. Secondly (and importantly), the best conditions could be just miles away while you are skiing dust on crust or something. Since all these mountains have some decent challenges to offer, powder-hunting for new snow is realistic.
French Highways and Maintenance
Getting to Serre Chevalier was another story. Although only 15 miles from La Grave, there is a pass to cross to Serre Chevalier. Not huge, but significant enough. However, French winter highway maintenance leaves something to be desired -- the roads were a mess. Tour buses were stuck. Trucks stranded. Suprising, since this is the main road between Grenoble and Turin, Italy. I did not see any plows on our trip. In fact, the pass later closed for most of the day...finally reopening in the evening to let us back home.
Mountain
My British friends were quite pleased with skiing Serre Che for a day. My attitude was "Serre What?" for this is another huge Euro hill that I had never really heard, let alone a desire to ski. However, put a foot of new snow in an alpine bowl environment -- and I'm game.
Serre Chevalier is a sprawling complex (see maps). Essentially it is one long ridge with a vertical drop of 5000 with access points from several villages. Its unique compared to other Alpine resorts for its trees. The lower half of the mountain is below the tree-line (great news on storm days like the one I visited on) while the upper half is open bowls. Good combo! The negative about Serre Chavalier is its low elevation of approximately 4000 ft, but not a worry in the middle of winter.
Our guide recommended Monetier since it has some of the best advanced terrain, is less crowded than the main sector and located closest to La Grave on the highway.
Skiing.
When there is 30cm already and another another 20cm or so during the day, the numbers speak for themselves. It was epic. No pics since it was too snowy, windy and time-consuming. There are no friends on powder days so I had to keep up. The new snow got tracked, but not completely skied out. It was quite easy to simply traverse a bit more and have fresh lines. Also, I do not think a lot of hard-core types come to Serre Che so competition for nice lines is negligible. Some of the better routes are highlighted. Overall, the skiing was more high intermediate/low expert -- nothing too extreme -- with a couoir or two thrown in. Perfect for new snow without sorrying about getting buried by an avalanche.
/ 
What a ski dork I've been.