Montgenevre, France (english)

La versione Italiana di questo articolo la trovate qui

Montgenèvre is my ski resort of adoption. I have always loved the informal atmosphere (such a difference from the other villages of the Milky Way!) of this French resort. Montgenèvre offers beautiful slopes, perfect snow, good value for money.
It 's the "south gate" (I would have said West gate ... bah) of the Milky Way so, if you want, from here you can go skiing also in Claviere, San Sicario, Sestriere, Sauze d'Oulx and the latest acquisition, Pragelato.


About 20 lifts and approximately 70 km of slopes (they say more than 70 ... but honestly I don’t think so).

Monginevro, Area Gondrand

Where can I start from? I think that we can talk immediately about runs.
The resort is divided into two areas , looking to the village from the Italian border, on the left we have the  Chalmettes, Rocher de l'aigle and Gondran areas, on the right the Chalvet.

Montgenevre, the ski area. In violet my favourite runs.

for a better resolution map clic here.

The former are certainly the largest, most diverse and, unfortunately, also the most crowded areas. Here are the tracks not to be missed:

 Soureon: all in one go!

• Soureon: better known by the name of the chair that serves it, Rocher de l'Aigle: a red run to do all in one go, diverse, with always perfect snow. On the other hand, be prepared to a long, cold (sometimes to the breaking point) lift with a quad chair.

On the left Les Rhodos

• Les Rhodos: two beautiful blacks separated by a short plan to regain your strength. Strive to do your best: people on the chairlift Brousset on your left are watching you!

If you want, you can combine the two tracks and get over 2500 meters from the Rocher de l'Aigle up to the chair lift Brousset.

The area of the Chalvet is in some way the most intimate soul of the ski area, with long slopes often almost deserted. The lifts here are quite old although the new Telemix Serre Thibaud has revived the entire area. It seems that the tranquillity of this area of the resort is bound to finish since the next expansion plans include the construction of new lifts here.
My favorite tracks:

• Les 3 Forneous: it is known as one of the most outstanding tracks of the Milky Way. A supreme Black run. After being recovered by the very slow chair Chalvet, turn right and there it is: a beautiful wall dive, without any break. If you still have enough strength, at the end, you can go ahead with the run that leads down to the village or, alternatively, take the skilift that climbs up the side of the run to repeat it or to do a fresh snow run for a change. However, it’s a run that almost everyone can cope with: the snow is powdery all year round

• Baisses: yes it is a simple blue track, but you can relax on what is little wider than a street and admire a North American-like setting (really!)..

For the après-ski Montgenèvre does not offer that much. Many bars facing the slopes of Chalmettes allow you to relax with a drink after a long day, the main road is enough crowded, while the pretty Old Town is sadly desert or almost desert. In the evening, there is a cinema that often offers programming in French and sometimes in Italian too (half of the owners of second homes here are Italians), while at the Pub Chaberton you can listen to live music. There are several restaurants but no one of them is particularly interesting. The restaurant within the new 4-star Chalet Blanc Hotel boasts a Michelin star. I've never tried it but I suspect it’s very expensive. Consider a few minutes drive to Claviere (or better Cesana) for good food and reasonable prices. Alternatively, in France, the town of Briancon is about 20 minutes.

Chaberton mountain dominates the ski area.

Skipass
UPDATE 2014

The painful notes: for years Montgenèvre has been the resort offering great prices for skiing. Unfortunately, in recent years the prices have risen and that led to the current (and unusual) situation where a daily Montgenèvre pass (only for French lifts) costs more than the Italian Milky Way one (valid for an almost triple number of runs). But we can say that the it’s an average cost (for the 2013-2014 season €37 for Montgenèvre alone). The skipass that includes the whole Milky Way is quite expensive (€47).

Skitrotter tips

• If you are coming to ski just for a day, you can park almost on the slopes (yes, even on holidays!). Get in the village through the street right after the obelisk. About 30 meters after the bend to the right, you will find a road, always on the right, leading to the parking lot of the football field (usually indicated). The parking lot, often half empty, is very close to the cableway of Chalvet, a few meters from the main ticket office;

• You’d better avoid the two (and only) mountain restaurants: the queues sometimes are sooo long. In the village there are several more comfortable restaurants from this point of view. Alternatively, get off in Claviere through the famous Colletto Verde run and choose one of the restaurants of the Pian del Sole: the Col Boef chairlift will take you back to France (it is included in the Montgenèvre ski pass).

• UPDATE 2014 Pass Montgenèvre – Claviere/Mountains of the Moon: it is well worth spending a few more euros to add the beautiful slopes of Claviere (this skipass is available for 2 or more days passes). Don’t consider the expensive International Milky Way skipass: if you want to ski in the “Olympic mountains" take the car and start the exploration of the area from Cesana Torinese (20 minutes).

Info

Info
Montgenèvre, Hautes-Alpes, France
Altitude 1800-2630
By car: 95 km from Turin (A32 freeway to Oulx, then state road to destination)
By train: Oulx station then bus.
Airports
Turin Caselle (108 km)

www.montgenevre.com



Neighbourhood

Sestriere (20km), Sauze d'Oulx (23 Km), Bardonecchia (32 Km), Serre Chevalier (25 km)

Visualizzazione ingrandita della mappa

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