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TRAVEL GUIDE: On the piste in France

Thursday, 25 February 2010

Ask any skier or boarder whether they prefer a summer or winter holiday and, nine times out of 10, they’ll say you can’t beat a winter holiday.

Being an avid skier myself, this year I took my wife and two kids to a village in the French Alps called La Clusaz. We had previously stayed in hotels organised by tour operators, but after seeing a “luxury chalet in the heart of the Alps” advertised online, we decided to give it a go. Sharing a chalet with three other families appealed to us as we knew the kids wouldn’t be bored. Chalet Panoraic advertise a free bar, great food, a hot tub and a ski in-ski out location right on the piste. Owners Simon and Lisa Clarke arranged everything for us including ski passes, ski hire, lessons and transportation to and from the airport. All they ask is that you bring a bottle for the bar.

We were met at Geneva by their driver and the normally one-hour transfer took two hours due to the snow. I wasn’t complaining though, as I knew this would lead to perfect skiing conditions, which it did. The traditional alpine chalet was spacious, warm, comfortable and lively with an enthusiastic young team of staff at our disposal. The food was no-nonsense, traditional and unfussy French cuisine with an ‘elbows on the table’ policy. Children ate at 6pm at their own table, whilst the adults were served canapés at 7:30pm, followed by dinner at 8pm. The food, prepared by Simon, was exquisite and was served with local French wines and Perrier.

The slopes were perfect for both beginners and intermediates with a wide variety of green, blue and red slopes. Whilst there were at least six greens for beginners, the blues and reds were more challenging than other places I’d been to. All of the areas we skied were quiet with no waiting at any of the lifts. The kid’s private tuition was excellent value at €70 per day for two hours. Pierre met the children at the chalet and left them off wherever we wanted on the mountain. There’s a variety of different types of tuition on offer. Prices and service levels vary between the different types.
The lift passes for the Aravis sector were €153 per adult and €109 per child but for an extra €8, I was able to upgrade my pass to cover both Aravis and neighbouring Le Grand Bornand. The Chalet also provided us with free passes for the ski bus.

Other activities we tried included night-time skiing and tobogganing down the mountain on what could only be described as a wooden dog! Whilst I picked up an injury on ‘le chien’, the hot tub helped to ease the muscles back into shape.

The chalet cost €795 per adult and €645 per child. Overall, I’d say it was a highly enjoyable week of sun, snow and ski. Good value and highly recommended.

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Besides snow, the perfect resort needs good runs, lifts, food, accommodation and apres-ski. The stunning scenery around La Clusaz, in the French Alps, is the cherry on top for MICHAEL KELLY

Then there’s access: on our previous ski holidays we have faced the torture of bus transfers of up to four hours from the airport. La Clusaz is in the Massif des Aravis ski area, in the Haute-Savoie region, which is about 50 minutes’ drive from Geneva. Our flight from Dublin arrived at 9.15am on a Sunday, which meant we could have been on the slopes by 11am. Instead we opted for a few hours’ sightseeing in Geneva and still arrived in the resort before teatime. A tour company that we found on the internet (its details are in the panel, right) transferred our group from Geneva to La Clusaz in a comfortable minibus for €130.

If you’ve had the misfortune to walk any distance in ski boots carrying skis and poles, you will know that finding accommodation near the ski lifts is another vital component of a successful holiday. Anything more than a five- or 10-minute walk turns into a Shackletonesque trek that will leave you exhausted before you even click on your skis.

Thankfully, we found a charming little two-star hotel, the Christiania, that was the very definition of central. Our bedroom overlooked the centre of the village and was across the road from the Caisse Centrale, where you can buy ski passes. We couldn’t quite ski to the front door, but a short walk through the village brought us to the two main télécabines (cabin lifts) for the resort, La Patinoire and Beauregard.

There are plenty of places where you can rent equipment when you arrive. We popped into Goy Sport, whose staff were friendly and didn’t even look for a deposit. Expect to pay about €110 a week for skis, poles and boots for an adult.

No amount of planning, strategising or scheming can guarantee perfect snow. We went to the highest ski area in Europe one year in search of quality white stuff, and even there they had to turn on the cannons to make fresh snow. It made us wonder if we had embraced the sport at a time when global warming was in the throes of killing it off completely. Were we doomed to ski on artificial snow for the rest of our days?

As luck would have it, our trip to La Clusaz coincided with the best snow the resort had in nearly 10 years – God was in his heaven and all was right with the world again. As with most modern resorts, La Clusaz has extensive snowmaking facilities, but nothing can beat the feel of real powder under your skis.

It’s a relatively low-altitude resort – the village is at 1,100m, and the mountains rise to 2,600m, so the best time to visit is probably in February or March.

La Clusaz has access to five linked ski areas, with a total of 84 slopes and 54 lifts. It’s probably best suited to intermediate skiers (“intermediate” is probably a generous description for the snowploughing descents that Mrs Kelly and I attempt each year): it has just seven black runs, plus about 25 each of reds, blues and greens.

We found the best snow at Massif de Balme, the highest of the village’s five peaks, at 2,600m, which you get to along La Motte, a charming green run through a forest. All the views in La Clusaz are stunning, but it’s worth trekking to the top of Massif de Balme for a breathtaking panorama that includes the majestic Mont Blanc, in the distance.

Because this area is made up of mainly challenging red runs, and as it doesn’t get sun until late afternoon, it is much quieter than the rest of the resort.

Another slope that merits a mention is the red run that links L’Aiguille (2,257m) and Balme: take the chair lift to the top of L’Aiguille, then ski the Fernuy run all the way down.

We also enjoyed the genial Guy Périllat blue run, which takes you from Massif de Beauregard (1,690m) all the way home to the village – a nice one to finish off the day.

Adrenalin junkies such as my friend Dee were also well served: she skied red and black runs to her heart’s content – and when she got bored with that she did a tandem paraglide from 1,700m with her skis on.

There are other snow-related activities you can try out, including speed riding – a terrifying combination of skiing and paragliding – heliskiing and night skiing.

There are also great off-piste opportunities, though, being a relative novice, I wasn’t inclined to try them – except for one afternoon when I fell off a button lift and had no choice but to go cross-country back to the piste; Mrs Kelly, who was on the lift behind me, stepped over me deftly in creases of laughter.

As we didn’t book our accommodation until the last minute we had to go half-board. Premonitions of dodgy nightly buffets made us very nervous, but we need not have worried: the food was spectacular.

A five-course meal was served by friendly staff in the hotel’s comfortable dining room each night. We were stunned to be tucking into sea bass, foie gras and pigeon, particularly as the hotel had only two stars.

Fellow diners told us they had been coming to Hotel Christiania for 30 years. It’s not surprising. In fact, La Clusaz generally seems not to buy into the seasonal price hikes that often beleaguer French resorts.

Our experience of the village’s restaurants was limited to lunches, but we were impressed everywhere we went. (We can particularly recommend Ugo’h Café, at 248 Route des Grande Alpes, 00-33-4-50631366.) Local specialities include diot (Savoyard sausage), farcement (savoury cake made with potatoes, bacon and fruit), polenta and regional charcuterie and cheese. Locals are obsessed with fromage , so it’s not a resort for the lactose-intolerant.

The local economy still relies heavily on income from sales of Reblochon, Tomme de Savoie and Chevrotin cheeses, so make it your business to try cheesy dishes like tartiflette, raclette and fondue. The village also has an array of bakeries, patisseries and chocolate stores.

Our group of mainly thirtysomethings had long since lost our ability to party into the wee hours, so the relative lack of nightlife here didn’t bother us.

We still enjoy apres-ski, of course, and particularly liked Bar le Salto (91 Montée de la Croix, 00-33-4-50633701), which is owned by a French-Scottish couple – and, conveniently, is at the foot of the Crêt du Merle chairlift – and Les Caves du Paccaly (10 Passage du Vatican, 00-33-4-50633739), which serves steaming bowls of mulled wine.

I normally find it depressing to go to the trouble of travelling only to find yourself surrounded by the people you left behind. But La Clusaz’s visitors are predominantly French and Swiss, so we heard scarcely anyone outside our group speak English all week.

The French call La Clusaz their best-kept secret. Visit soon, before the hordes find out about it.

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