Best skiing near Grenoble

A snowHead

Next year one of my big competitions in the sport I do when not skiing will unfortunately fall in the school Feb half term. Boo hiss. Fortunately it is taking place in the forest of Chambaran, only 20 minutes away from Grenoble airport. Hurray. I cannot persuade my husband and children that they would like to ski at New Year or Easter instead, so am concocting a wild plan which involves 6 days of ski holiday on the Saturday to Thursday somewhere close by, then on the Thursday evening decamping to my competition venue for the Friday-Monday. Competition involves elements that husband and child b do not enjoy so they would like to head home or continue skiing. Child a is ignoring us altogether. This plan is making my head explode already. We can drive out, but it would seem them flying from Grenoble and then me driving the car home on my own would be the best plan (I will have skis, ski boots, and adventure racing gear with me, so bags and bag loads of stuff!) Alternatively, they could hang around for a few days maybe skiing or rock climbing for a bit and wait for me to finish and then we all drive home together.

My question mainly is which would be the best ski resort for 3 reasonably good skiers for 6 days? Alpe d’Huez? Somewhere else? I am not that familiar with this part of the Alps. Also, how easy an airport is Grenoble to deal with? I made the mistake of flying into Chambery once and vowed it would never form part of one of my plans again! It is too hit and miss in the winter because of its location and weather variables.

Thanks in advance - really would prefer to ski another time, but this is the plan I’m stuck with, so it’s the plan I have to make!

A snowHead

@davidof is the man for this question - he'll be along soon!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

It sounds a perfectly feasible plan to me if you decamp to the competition on your own. Lyon airport would give you a lot more choice than Grenoble and perhaps easier transfers for them back on Saturday. If they rent skis and pack sensibly they'll not have too much baggage to take to the airport. You'll then have a gloriously quiet drive home.

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I'd avoid Grenoble airport on a Saturday, particularly around half term. As @origen says, Lyon is a good alternative and probably only about 30 to 40 minutes drive further away from the Oisans resorts.

As an alternative to flying, it's relatively easy to get the TGV from either Grenoble or Lyon back to Paris, then Eurostar.

Alpe d'Huez is certainly a reasonable consideration, as are its satellite villages of Vaujany, Oz etc., but again as @origen says the expert on this region is probably @davidof.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

There are 2 excellent options, next to Grenoble, half an hour from Grenoble.
1. Les 7 Laux.
2. Allemond.

Les 7 Laux is a hidden gem; one of the best kept secrets in the French Alps.
Half an hour by car from Grenoble centre, and very good public bus service.

Here's an extensive trip report (in German, use google translate)
https://www.alpinforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5392575

And a smaller report in english
https://www.tripreporter.co.uk/les-7-laux/

Chamrousse is equally close to Grenoble, but for the more advanced skier Les 7 Laux is better.

Option #2 is Allemond.
Small authentic village in the valley below the humongous ski area of Alpe d'Huez.
In 2020 they built a superfast modern cabin up to the ski resort of Oz-en-Oisans.
Downside: the village is low (only 700 meters) so often the valley bottom is green.

Allemond is also just 30 minutes by car from Grenoble centre.

Trip report with lots of photos
https://www.alpinforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5373246

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Orelle might work for you. It's a tiny place, but is the secret '4th valley' of the giant 3 Valleys ski area. You could also stay in nearby Saint Jean de Maurienne, and perhaps even mix up your days and ski La Toussuire and Valloire.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

Chamrousse is also there...

Chamrousse and Les 7 Laux are comparable in that they are both very near (half hour) from. Grenoble. But Les 7 Laux is far better for anyone intermediate and upwards.

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And don't forget Vaujany, which is often overlooked, faster access to get to from than ADH.

@pandora, and presume it's Adventure Racing, what's the event, teams, bikes / kayaks?

Mates used to do it a lot in teams, and last ski season was touring with a mates brother and he is evidently something else on the Adventure Racing scene, Michael Lemmel, and he founded the Swimrun in Scandinavia and the Scilly Isles, quite someone!

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Are we not missing a glaringly obvious resort here in Les 2 Alpes?

I'm not the biggest fan, but it should be included in the discussion no?

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@davidof, "Next winter will probably be a poor snow year"

a bit beyond the 3 day confidence limit that, non?

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

If your family is flying home, and flights not yet booked, you could go ANYWHERE from which you can make the one-way drive to the venue for your competition. Aosta, for example - escape the French half term and the family could fly home from Torino. Planning everything round Grenoble airport and nearby resorts is letting the tail wag the dog.

A snowHead

@Origen, I agree with this. I'd look at holiday dates closely. I skied the last week of half term this year and it was not too bad but right in the middle can be a queuefest.

However this year even January was busy as many low resorts were closed or had poor snow forcing skiers, esp. locals, to go high.

A snowHead

@under a new name, that's the difference between weather and climate. The French Alps are too far south and too close to the ocean and pick up the warm south westerly air flows when the Atlantic is warm - just track the ocean temperature charts to know what kind of winter it will be in general. It has dipped below the 2024 levels recently but is still warm.

https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/sst_daily/?dm_id=natlan

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I was in Chamrousse during the German Carnival Week in 2024 (and i think was half term also), and I didn’t find anything particularly bothersome in terms of lift queues.
I think there was only one day when I had to wait about 7–8 minutes because of the ski school rush — otherwise, the waiting time was usually just a couple of minutes or even less.

I think one of the advantages of Chamrousse and Les 7 Laux is their proximity to Grenoble. The locals know the area really well, from weekends ant day trips, so When Grenoble has school holidays, many locals prefer to head to larger resorts, so these areas are often less crowded.

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I've noticed some crazy low priced flights to Grenoble at half term (stuck with this date if my son's coming)... is Alpe d'huez worth a visit then, rather than the usual options form Geneva?!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

i do not think that Alpe d'huez will be more crowded as the resortsa around Geneve, if you mean Flaine, PDS etc
it will be also full, but this year it will be almost everywhere.
Last December-Christmas Week after the big snowfall Alpe d'huez was really crowded, especially round the village and in the way to the Tunnel etc
But the slopes to Oz, Vaujany etc was pleasant "empty".
I know the Christmas vs HT is incomparable, but definitely PDS and Flaine will be more crowded this week

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Putting finger in air and checking which way the wind ... if you want to stay near Grenoble then I'd definitely go for one of the satellite villages of alpe d'huez, which have good energy over that week.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Lots of ideas, thank you. Eh oh!

️ I will take a look at them all.

I must confess I hadn’t really considered family heading off to an airport in the opposite direction, as I simply thought ‘I’m going that way, I could drop them off on the way.’ I know I could go anywhere, but I really want to maximise family ski time whilst also getting to the competition in as fit and ready state as possible, rest and sleep are very important in this event (so much so I write a sleep planner detailing even when I can fit 20min naps in!) It seemed to make sense not driving too far out of my way to drop them off at an airport, but I suppose they could always make their own way somewhere else instead.

We are stuck with half term regardless of which other countries have holidays on that week, as son is coming up to GCSEs so we cannot take him out of school, and husband will not consider New Year (1. he has a gig booked and 2. he says New Year is some sort of special skiing hell anyway even worse than half term) or Easter (too late for him.) I personally will ski anywhere at any time. As long as there is snow and aperol I am pretty happy.

@Weathercam it is a kind of adventure racing, not the same sort as your mates though. It’s a cross between orienteering and endurance riding on horseback. This particular event is the only ultra version of it in Europe, it is around 100km and begins at midnight, it’s known as one of the toughest events of its kind in the world. Because of the location, terrain and date next year, it’s expected to be tougher than usual. We like it tough. Eh oh!

The last time we did one in the snow, my friends and I won the team event, despite getting lost in a dense forest in the snow for several hours at 3am. The snow was quite disorientating - we use nothing more than a hand drawn map, compasses and stopwatches to navigate by, no gadgetry allowed. We are fairly well known in our own circles for this sort of stuff Eh oh!

.

After all it is free

What the heck are those emojis? I didn’t put them there!

@pandora, wow, that's a relaxing little hobby you've got there. Shocked

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I believe Ski Beat has some decent deals at Alpe d'huez Very Happy

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Over 50 ski trips to 12 different countries on 3 continents, and someone still remembers the time I got really flipping cross at a tour operator for very good reasons. Put another record on rayscoops, this one’s been stuck for 16 years. There’s a good chap.

You know it makes sense.

If I were the OP's husband I'd prefer to stay in a nice apartment, finish the week skiing in the normal way, then get a transfer to the airport on Saturday ( or Sunday if I could find Sunday/ Sunday accommodation. @Layne is quite right about the difficulty of finding odd days at that time of year). I'd also be keen to avoid crowds.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

If you like it tough then why not La Grave. The lift is mended again. But you would need to join a guided group to ski the tough routes. Or you can ski over the top from Les Deux Alpes for a quick visit down the two main valleys, as long as there is visibility (too easy to go the wrong way and ski over a cliff otherwise).

A snowHead

No one mentioned Serre Chevalier ?

A little bit further to drive (...just over 2 hrs from Grenoble). Though ImHO the skiing is arguably better than the better known Les 2 Alpes or Alpes DHuez. Good selection of tree lined runs. Alpine slopes upto 2700m. Some traditional villages and lots of cheap apartments. Plus it has retained some genuine French charm.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Serre Chevalier seems like a good suggestion. I've heard it's not as crowded in half term as the more northerly resorts, although I've no personal experience of that. Probably easy enough for the family to just ski a full week as normal then get a transfer/bus to an airport (Turin is likely easier for Serre Che than Grenoble).

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@Shakira, it will depend on whether or not local schools (Aix-Marseille) region or Paris holidays occur at the same time. Lots of owners from the southern regions use their apartments then, so the resort can be busy, but Turin is the best airport to use. Plenty of lift-served off-piste too.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

in the Week 14-21 Feb, if you mind this Week as HT, are also the Zones A and B. Meaning Grenoble and Marseille also but not Paris.
I have no idea how worse can be if the Week is the same with zone C (Paris). Is there really a difference?

Theoretically S-Chevallier will be not so crowded as PDS ,Flaine and the othe big resorts...experience from someone?

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@turms2, Serre Che is the resort of choice for many in Aix-Marseille. Many own apartments in the valley. It also means local schools are off too.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@Hells Bells, i thought so. However its interesting to know how will be compared to PDS, FLaine, 3V or La Plagne , Tignes etc. because from the north (German, Belgium, Holland etc) its too far

After all it is free

@turms2, we have a lot of Belgian visitors but not so many Dutch or Germans. All of my summer guests so far and three of next winter's bookings are from Belgians, including one 2 week booking for February. Several Belgian owners in the residence as well. I haven't skied in the other resorts at half-term and haven't skied in SC for a long time, so can't compare from my own perspective.

@Hells Bells, never thought that Belgians will go so far...for Germans and Dutsch i was almost sure.

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@turms2, we've just got another booking this afternoon from another Belgian couple. Laughing

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Best skiing near Grenoble

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