Being a relatively new skier I almost didn't write this because what would I know, when this is only my third trip (previously a week in Söll and a week in Tignes). But given the lack of threads about Orcières and how great a week we have had, I thought I should share.
We had originally booked Borovets for the same dates but when it got to the end of December with no snow and long range forecasts plus a contact in resort predicting warm weather for the next few weeks we got cold feet and decided to change.
Our requirements were affordable accommodation and childcare, ideally half board, snow looking good, enough blues to give me some variety and enough overall for more experienced husband. Beyond that we weren't too fussy, but knew the affordable childcare could be difficult. After some googling I found the Belambra club in Orcières, in the Southern Alps, which already had good snow (110cm at top, 30cm at base) so we felt confident it would be good 2 weeks later when we arrived. And childcare was included in the half board price from 4 months plus, as were lift passes. The hotel is ski in/ski out off the green Marmotte (caution for beginners, the end of this run is quite steep). We changed our flights to Marseille and hired a car as there were no transfer options for our flight date. There is a public transfer from Marseille most Saturdays in the season as per the resort website. It was a 2.5 hour drive and the roads were clear.
The Monday was our first day on snow in 7 years! Saving for a wedding, having children, covid... It was snowing heavily most of the day but we enjoyed finding our legs on the low level blue Charpenet and greens Marmotte, then headed up Rocherousse to explore a bit. This was not a good choice, visibility was very poor and the runs up here are less steep (being unable to see, we chose the first one we saw, which happened to be the flattest, Sirènes) so we ended up exerting a lot of energy to get down with the combined poor visibility and large amount of powder. Oops.
Tuesday it was still snowing on and off and the snow was lovely, but visibility was still poor most of the time. I had booked three private lessons for myself to try to correct the mistakes I knew I was making, and the first one was today. I booked through ESF and Lise was fantastic - patient when I was afraid and she has improved my skiing and confidence a lot. We stayed low for my lesson and did drills which I love as they can really help to understand what is going on with your body and what needs to change. After my lesson we had a lovely lunch at L'Ourson which serves the best vin chaud (and at €15 their plat du jour is a bargain for the quality compared to other lunches we have had). Then we headed up the Rocherousse again to try to change our minds about it, and then up the Manrouse drag lift. The visibility still wasn't fantastic but it was a lot better and the Haut Chardonnets piste was a better choice than Sirènes. The lower part of Chardonnets is quite flat like Sirènes, so we stayed right and took Le Goulet for a nice run home.
Wednesday the sun shone all morning and we went to the top of the Drouvet to enjoy the views. Bouquetins has the best of these but is narrow and fast, and being blue, attracts a few people who maybe shouldn't be there and end up snowploughing the whole way down, becoming obstacles for others. As one of those people who don't like edges, I didn't particularly enjoy this run along the ridge, but it led to my favourite area of the resort around Col de Méollion with some lovely runs down to resort for my lesson. We were heading high and aiming for reds today and I was nervous but Lise was patient and I felt good by the end of the lesson.
Thursday the OH had decided to hire a snowboard and book a private lesson today, also through ESF (he got Marcel who was apparently brilliant and teaches the other instructors). So we had a slow morning down low on Charpenet (which is a lovely wide piste with plenty of room for everyone). Today Lise wanted to challenge me so we stuck to reds and worked on adjusting my turns for different snow and gradient. She persuaded me onto the unpisted black Les Portettes which was definitely a challenge full of bumps but I made it, and we did some carving on the gentler slopes. I really enjoyed my lessons and I'm so glad I spent a little more for the private lessons instead of following a group snaking down the mountains all week.
Today we went up top (using the cabins on the telemixes as it is so cold today) and I braved Bouquetins again, and found it a little less terrifying, then down the steep Méollion, then back up and we headed for Les Vallons (blue) and Les Vallons Jartoux (red), probably our favourite runs, which were quiet every time we have taken them and my favourite skiing of the trip, with us having the whole piste to ourselves we could ski the perfect line and hit high speeds. The pros were also practicing on Camile Ricou alongside so we enjoyed watching them for the few seconds they were visible. The snow is noticeably harder today and made me really appreciate the lovely soft powder we had at the start. Then back to the hotel to the wee ones, and that is probably my skiing over, with sledging and swimming planned for the rest of the trip. Unlimited access to the swimming pool and ice rink are included with the lift pass. I haven't managed to ski every piste though only one or two are closed, but I have enjoyed 5 days and seen massive improvement, especially in my confidence.
The resort is compact though we are right at the top so going out for anything involves climbing the hill/stairs again. There are some escalators depending on where you are going.
The Belambra accommodation is basic but the food is lovely and dinner very varied and the staff are all very helpful and friendly. I think they know us as the English family lol because there aren't many here who aren't French or Belgian. Many people tell us they don't speak good English but they are willing to do so and know enough to communicate a little, and I speak some French so we have had no issues. Staff in other restaurants and all lifties that we have encountered have also been helpful and lovely.
I would definitely recommend Orcières especially if you know the snow is likely to be good (it is mostly south facing so perhaps we have been lucky, but they have quite a lot of snowmaking capacity too), a great resort for beginners and intermediates I'd say, and the Belambra has been great for us as a young family. I hope you enjoyed reading and I didn't make it too long any questions I'll try to answer
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Interesting I was going to post a report of our day trip there yesterday, which I'll do later, but a great ski station!
I had an absolute cracker of a day*, as did the OH and daughter, but it was so cold at altitude.
*after they called it a day
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
I was most impressed with the area from my perspective which is a somewhat different view from the OP as I was concentrating on the off-piste potential.
We decided on Orcières Merlette as we had to drop our dog off at the Super Vet in Gap at 08:00 and then collect him at 17:30 so a ski trip was the obvious thing to do in that time.
I'd done a bit of research and Orcières Merlette seemed the obvious choice at 1,850m as we had our daughter with us, so ski-touring was not viable. The recent snow also made me wonder what potential, judging by the maps, the station could offer.
Have to admit to being a tad disappointed on our arrival as it was very skied out, but the day before was a Wednesday and many are able to ski mid-week and Gap is only 50mins away.
I've not skied in a new resort for a while, but I soon sniffed out stashes and I think we were in luck when a lift opened that was not open the day before, and I still had plenty of untracked to ski when I headed back to see the family at around 14:00.
And you can see the chairlift was not exactly busy!
Then after a quick refreshment, I went exploring again, and found some interesting terrain, and opted for some slack-country, a short 20min skin that gave me a lovely untracked line.
Like I said above it's good to sniff out where some of the better terrain can be, and the whole of Orcières has massive potential, although South facing it's nigh on 3,000m at altitude.
On the other side of the valley is some great touring and the small station of Ancelle.
A little video of some Orcières Merlette slack-country
I did have a long chat with a local instructor going up on a lift, and he said that they do not have too many FreeRiders and good skiers, so there's always plenty of off-piste to be had. I should also add that on the whole the majority of terrain was what I would class in the safer category, in fact I don't think any of the people I saw off-piste were carrying avy kit, but that is so often the case in smaller French resorts.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
any questions I'll try to answer 
