Sensational Serre Chevalier

From Le Chazelet, we descended back down to the Romanche valley, continuing east over the Col du Lautaret to the Villeneuve-la-Salle where we bought a day pass to the ski resort of Serre Chevalier. Very similar but not quite as big as Sestriere, the ski resort of Serre Chevalier connects the villages of Briançon, Chantemerle, Villeneuve-la-Salle and Le Monêtier-les-Bains by 250km of trails serviced by 55 lifts!

We parked the car within 50m of the ski terminal. After purchasing our ski pass we walked straight onto the yellow egg shaped gondola that took us from 1400m to 2050m in about 15 minutes.

A short ski down to the next chairlift which then very smoothly took us to 2400m. Still not at the top, we followed the boys down to the Grand Serre chairlift that deposited us at the highest point we would get to 2500m. As you could imagine we had awesome 360 degree views of snow capped mountains in perfect sunny conditions!

From the top we skied down onto the BoarderCross track - a fun narrow twisty trail. The boys couldn't resist the chance to be competitive! While we took the opportunity to take a coffee break, the boys headed off in search of the black runs. Once the girls energy levels returned we went exploring via the BoarderCross track of course! The trails here were beautiful - wide, lovely snow and deserted! We just couldn't believe how lucky we were. It wasn't long before we returned to our coffee stop for our planned lunch break with the boys. The view was sensational.

Post lunch we once again split up. Our journey took us over the Col du Propel to explore the FunnyCross track. Much like the BorderCross, we enjoyed skiing this trail several times. By this stage it was 3pm and the early signs of tiredness were creeping in. Another short snack break on the Col helped slightly but Andy and I knew that it was time to head for the car as more cracks were appearing. Luckily the route back was well signposted counting down the distance to go. It was a long but easy run descending into the woodlands. By this stage the snow at the bottom was both slushy and sticky and we were glad to reach the car. Our feet and bodies were in need of a rest.

 

 

The drive back to La Chazalet was quiet! After a shower and recovering, the boys cooked us dinner - raclette! Another popular Savoie dish involving lots of melted cheese. It was delicious especially with  red wine and the perfect way to complete a sensational day on the slopes!