Winter & Ski Home Ski Resort Reviews Alps Orcières 1850

The perfect choice for young families?

In the Southern French Alps within the Ecrins National Park, and readily accessible from the town of Gap, Orcières 1850 is a purpose-built ski village above the old village of Orcières 1450. The south-facing slopes catch lots of sun, but some very significant snowfalls generally ensure a long season. Although it’s a long journey for skiers driving from the UK, airport transfers are surprisingly realistic for those taking budget flights into Genoble, Marseille and Turin.

The terrain is predominantly graded Red, with a few Blues and even fewer Greens, making things look pretty demanding. In practice, though, it's mostly far less daunting than might appear on the piste map. There’s plenty of cruising potential, on pistes which are generally wide enough to provide everyone with plenty of room to go at their own pace, rather than feeling pressured to leave their comfort zone. The occasional long, smooth undulations, though, are best tackled with a bit of speed to avoid polling. The altitude currently tops off at a healthy 2725m at the Col des Freissinières , where snow quality can be exceptional and which has a real sense of remoteness. And there will be even more of both once the long-awaited plan to create a cable-car link to the nearby Roche Brune (2956m) is finally realised.

The purpose-built ski village of Orcières 1850 has a high proportion of privately-owned apartments, some of which are now showing their age – but which also tell you something about the quality skiing on offer. The village centre feels relatively compact, and you may not notice all of its range of accommodation unless you explore the area overlooking the sector dedicated to the excellent children's ski-school.

On reflection, we’d have to say that Orcières' strongest appeal is undoubtedly to young families – particularly where both parents are committed skiers , who want their children to learn quickly in a safe environment and to acquire the confidence and skills to share the passion. To this end, it would be hard to find a more reassuring start than the Piou-Piou dedicated ski-school area for small children. This covers an impressive 2Ha, well removed from all distractions (apart from proud parents peering at their offspring from beyond the perimeter fencing).

Meanwhile, the parents will enjoy the entertaining pisted terrain, much of which will encourage those who are less skilled to go for it and raise their game. Best of all, it's a solid value option for everyone.

The drive from Gap to Orcières 1850 is not one we'll forget. The landscapes of the Southern French Alps, at the gateway to Provence, can be unnerving for a travelling skier, convincing you until you begin to climb that surely there's no snow to be had nearby. This time we're driving through it long before the ascent to the village, and the scene is just pure picture-postcard. As we climb, though, we're seeing less and less. As we enter the village in thick mist we're peering at every sign for the name of our hotel. It appears to us just in time, at the top of the resort.

The next morning we awake and gaze from the balcony at the fresh accumulations of snow on the mountains which surround us. We never tire of moments like this. Better still, the exit door of the hotel ski-locker room feeds directly onto the piste for a 30-second drop down to Drouvet 1 ‘télémix’ lift carrying both chairs and gondola-style cabins. We grab a cabin, and after transferring to the lift's successor (Drouvet 2) arrive at the summit of Le Drouvet (2655m) feeling in every sense uplifted and ready for anything.

Alighting from the high-speed Drouvet 2, one of two télémix lifts.

With broad smiles on our faces we launch off along a nearby ridge on Les Bouquetins, a long Blue-graded cruise which connects to another (Les Vallons) for a steeper Red-and-Blue drop which eventually takes us all the way back to where we began. After taking the same lifts back up, we peel off the ridge onto Les Clots, a Red-graded blast which we have all to ourselves on the run back to the base of the Drouvet 2 lift. This time we spend time taking in the scenery, which is fast acquiring a surreal quality as a thick white carpet of mist builds in the valley floor far below.

A pause from skiing high above the clouds, as the village and the entire valley disappear from view.

Since we’ve obviously found Ski-Heaven, we take the Blue-graded Les Pépés and savour the above-the-clouds moment. The sense of space up here is a real revelation, with wide pistes and very few tracks to disturb the previous night’s efforts by the grooming crews. A couple of gentle hauls up to Le Drouvet on the La Croze des Hommes chair is followed by a couple of Red descents on Les Crêtes and Bartavelle, before we go for a change of scenery.

The snow quality (and quantity) around the Col de Freissinières in late March...

The Les Lacs chair takes us some way towards the Col de Freissinières (and also accesses Le Gourou, a truly long and winding Red), but for now getting there means dropping down to pick up the Le Gourou chair for the final haul up to 2727m. Eventually there will be a cable-car even higher to the 2956m Roche Brune, and new Red-graded terrain, but we're not compaining; the ride is magical, as we glide in near-silence past huge walls of pristine snow. At the top La Jalabres spears off into a steep Red descent which brings us to the base of the lift for another haul, by which time we're feeling the call of the nearest mountain restaurant.

Diners enjoy the sun terrace of the Chalet de Rocherousse.

So we glide off on a succession of Blue cruisers – Freissiniêres and Sirènes – which will take us down to the Roche Rousse, and the promise of a hot meal on a spectacularly-sited sun terrace.

As for the afternoon, well, we take it easy, particularly on the final leg, as we encounter soft conditions and enter the still-rising mists. But we've had a wonderful day’s skiing in truly epic scenery and the following day we return to do it all again.

© Roger Moss