{"id":480,"date":"2014-08-11T11:36:11","date_gmt":"2014-08-11T09:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainpassions.com\/wordpress\/?p=480"},"modified":"2020-04-12T10:43:51","modified_gmt":"2020-04-12T08:43:51","slug":"ski-chamrousse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mountainpassions.com\/winter\/ski-resort-reviews\/alps\/ski-chamrousse\/","title":{"rendered":"Chamrousse"},"content":{"rendered":"
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T<\/span>he route up from Grenoble, via Saint-Martin d\u2019Uriage, feels increasingly further removed from the bustle of urban life down below. In fact, driving the forested upper sections remind us of similar wayward approaches to ski areas in the wilds of western Canada. We find that pretty encouraging. Eventually we pass large groups of cross-country skiers heading back to their parked cars near the Domaine Nordique (cross-country skiing) lift-pass office, a sign that we\u2019re almost there. Things get a little confusing when we encounter signs to the various ski villages, but we make it to our base in Arselle with no real problems. Low-rise, timber-clad apartment blocks set among pine forest make this an attractive development, not least since it offers us sweeping views to ski-de-fond clearings and the mountains beyond from our apartment\u2019s large, south-facing balcony.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\nWe awake to find a veil of cloud drifting lazily across the valley below, bringing a magical sense of detachment to the mountains.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\n\"Snow-making
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Snow-making ensures the safe beginners slopes are always available.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\n\"Chamrousse
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The efficent Chamrousse gondola.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Setting out to explore the pistes above Chamrousse<\/h2>\n
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The following morning we awake to find a veil of cloud drifting lazily across the valley below, bringing a magical sense of detachment to the mountains. While Gronoble is no doubt overcast, up here we\u2019re going to be skiing in bright sunshine. Better still, despite bitterly cold temperatures there\u2019s barely a breeze, which is good news for snow conditions.
\nThe Arselle chairlift hauls us rather sedately from beside the ski-school area up through the pines to join the blue-graded Bachat Bouloud piste serving a chairlift whose name it shares. This second lift gets us rather higher, and a little closer to the heart of the ski area, from which – if they plan their route on the piste map – intermediate skiers can head all the way round to Chamrousse 1650 without taking another lift. For now, though, we\u2019re happy to work our way around while seeing what\u2019s on offer above the villages. A gentle run down Perchette, a cruisy blue-meets-green piste, brings us into Chamrousse 1750 \u2013 a popular spot with a d\u00e9butante area, two chairlifts and a nearby pair of draglifts.<\/p>\n

We take the high-speed B\u00e9rang\u00e8re chairlift, which gets us even higher but still little more than half-way to the 2250m summit of La Croix. We exit the lift onto the upper Liaison Roche-Recoin blue piste, to join the red-graded Schuss des Dames. By now visibility is failing as the cloud in the valley has crept higher, but the run is easy to follow as it snakes and swoops around the craggy contours of the mountainside. We have a ball in the misty silence, and are tempted to continue all the way down to a pair of draglifts for a haul up to do it all again. Or maybe ski Fus\u00e9e, the run\u2019s blue-graded counterpart.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In fact, we do neither, instead peeling off before the lowest section onto another useful link-run, the pleasingly-named Travers\u00e9e du Rat (\u2018Rat-Run\u2019), which fires us onto the red-graded Jardins. This long, relatively gentle traverse brings an opportunity to drop down to another high-speed chairlift (Gaboureaux) \u2013 take this and you can transfer half-way up the mountain to the Les Amoureux, another high-speed chairlift heading up to La Croix. Alternatively, you can do as we do and carry on down into Chamrousse 1650. The village originally developed around the La Croix cable-car, which took skiers all the way to the top of the mountain in a single haul from 1953 until it was replaced by a high-capacity gondola lift in 2010. The base station is now regarded as something of an historic monument and is preserved, unlike the top station, which disappeared during re-landscaping of the prominent site.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\n\"Skiers
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Skiers admire spectacular views towards Les Grandes Rousses and Oisans mountain ranges.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\n\"Lacs
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The red-graded Lacs Robert piste and its chairlift.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Scenic cruising, Chamrousse style.<\/h2>\n
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By now the sky is clearing, so we board the gondola to enjoy the views during the smooth ride to La Croix. Stepping out again into temperatures of around -12C has real shock-value but the panoramic, above-the-clouds views are sensational. From here there\u2019s a long, long blue-graded descent which with a bit of careful navigation would take us all the way back to our base in Chamrousse 1700. But there are other options. We haven’t come all this way simply to head back to the apartment just yet, so we decide to press on beyond La Croix to the Lacs Robert piste, which although steep is actually one of the easier reds we\u2019ve skied. All the same, it kicks off in style \u2013 to our right are spectacular views towards Les Grandes Rousses and Oisans mountain ranges, while falling away to our left is the huge snowy bowl of Les Lacs.<\/p>\n

After a photo pause we make the left sharp turn and tackle Lacs Robert, which falls away steeply before easing slightly at the turn-off point for the Couloir de Casserousse, an epic, black-graded descent to Chamrousse 1400. Snow conditions have closed during our visit, but we\u2019re now skiing beneath the return chairlift. As we approach the bottom of the run we\u2019re surprised to see ahead of us a large army camp beside a group of snow-covered small lakes. It\u2019s a bleak and inhospitable spot and we\u2019re genuinely impressed by the troops\u2019 hardiness, but are happy to be joining the lift and heading back up into the sunlight.<\/p>\n

By now we\u2019re growing hungry too, so from La Croix we ski the top section of the Olympique Dames black piste before transferring to the red-graded Simond for most of the remaining run down into Chamrousse 1650.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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