Alpine Break

Resort Skiing

We tend to ski mostly at Vars and Risoul which are linked together and create a large varied skiing area. Risoul is more family orientated and is mostly in the trees, Vars is more open and has steeper off piste as well as the speed skiing piste where Philippe Billy recorded 243.902 kmh and Christian Taillefer managed 212.139 kmh on a mountain bike!

Another resort that we really like is Crevoux. There are only two drag lifts there but they drag you up nearly 1000m and there is a huge amount of off piste to be skied on the way back down. This resort is tiny and cheap, 7€ for a day pass, but the best place to be after a good snow fall.

Les Orres is not too far to drive and for resort skiing it is great with a good selection of pistes and nice restraunts on the hill. There is also a back bowl which hardly ever has any tracks in it as it seems to lead to nowhere, but it does eventually come out back on the main road up to Les Orres where the free shuttle busses will stop and pick you up.

Ceillac is another little resort with a cheap lift pass. Ceillac is a great setting off point for a number of ski tours, and 5€ will get you up the chairlift knocking about 400m off your climb.

Puy Saint Vincent is also worth the short drive. With all the piste being north facing it generally holds the snow well, it is steeper at the top but is mainly a family resort. It is also possible to drop over the ridge at the top into the neighbouring Narreyroux valley down some great steep couloirs and still traverse out to the lifts at Puy 1400.

The map below shows the locations of the resorts that are near to us here at Alpine Break. Click on a skier for more info about the resort and its distance from Le Chateau

download it to view in Google Earth

Ski Touring

The ski touring in both the Queyras and the Ecrins is fantastic. There are a number of websites that have information about the ski touring in this area that are very useful if your French is OK. Even if your French is not that good they are worth a look.
SkiTour.fr - Queyras
SkiTour.fr - Ecrins
Bivouak.net - Queyras
Bivouak.net - Ecrins

We have a selection of guide books here for you to look at. If you would like to have your own copy to look at before coming out then we reccomend the ones below.

We can also book an English speaking Mountain Guide for you if you so desire.