Nearest resorts to AlpBase

Puy-St-Vincent/Pelvoux | Serre Chevalier | Risoul/Vars | Mongenevre
La Grave | Les Deux-Alpes | Alpe-d’Huez

Puy-St-Vincent - Piste Map “Best Family Resort Of The Year” – Golden Ski Award 2004
Distance from AlpBase.com: 10 minutes drive – our local resort

Pelvoux: Distance from AlpBase.com: 5 minutes drive – our nearest local resort

What’s it like?
Based in Vallouise we are sandwiched between Puy-St-Vincent (PSV) to the south and Pelvoux to the north. Located in a lovely setting at the head of the Vallouise valley, with cross-country pistes, quad biking and 7 local restaurants, Pelvoux is perfect for beginners in search of a real “mountain vacation”. But be aware Pelvoux is a very small resort with just 1 main chairlift and 12 alpine ski runs.

Really the main event is definitely PSV, which we will talk about now. Okay we have to be brutally honest here otherwise we lose all hope of impartiality …..er..it’s brilliant! No okay, failed. Here is what the bible says (The Reuters Guide – Where to ski and snowboard 2005): “Puy-St-Vincent’s ski area may be limited but we like it a lot….. it offers a decent vertical, including steep stuff. Provided you pick your spot with care, it makes an attractive choice for a family holiday – an underrated little modern resort with some serious slopes”.

Puy-St-Vincent has two centers, at 1400m. and 1600m. It has an excellent variety of runs and is located within its own microclimate that produces both good snow and sunshine in large quantities. There are some great off-piste tree runs for snowboarders, the night skiing runs throughout the season and the locals are friendly. People like the fact that it is not huge because that is what makes it simply a nice place to ski.

The slopes between 1400 and 1600 are gentle. Most of the skiing is above 1600m. A fast quad chair rises above the tree line to about 2000m and from here you can go back down on some thrilling reds, or the green takes a less direct route back down. Alternatively, continue up via a long chair to the top station of 2700m, serving open reds and genuine black runs.

PSV is one of the more challenging resorts in France - the black runs, particularly the Rocher Noir, are renowned for their steepness and are guaranteed to excite even the expert skier. But PSV is really an intermediate skier’s paradise, with a variety of enjoyable slopes both above and below tree-line. For those wishing to tackle more testing runs, there are some challenging reds from La Pendine at 2700m and a long run through the larch woods back to 1600. The friendly ski school instructors make learning to ski in PSV a happy and fun experience. The nursery slopes of the resort are centrally located at 1600 with an excellent snow record. Puy-St-Vincent is great too for children, winning “Best Family Resort Of The Year” – Golden Ski Award in 2004.

We also find PYS gets a lot of snow because of its northerly orientation, and keeps its base right through until the end of the season. That’s the reason The English Ski Council held their annual championships at PSV from 2002 to 2005 inclusive. In an average year the lifts are shut down at the end of April. But you still get the sun till 3 p.m., and it definitely feels warmer than say Chamonix. In 1991 when there was a real lack of good snow anywhere in the Alps, the French ski team went to Puy-St-Vincent because it was the only place with decent conditions. Interestingly enough, it is always the resort of choice when there is bad or windy weather in the region.

PSV is cheaper pro rata than the big local resorts – the savings start from € 20 for an adult ski pass compared to up to € 30 elsewhere. So you could save up to € 50 per adult per week’s skiing. Having already done a photo shoot from PSV for a UK-based corporate we can safely say that the views towards the Barre des Ecrins (4,101m) are simply stunning.

Finally, if you are into cross-country skiing there are pisted trails (both skating and traditional) at both resorts. PSV has some great prepared trails between 1400m and 1700m from green to black in difficulty. Cross-country ski tracks can also be accessed by walking a few minutes from pretty much any of our winter accommodation.