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Europe offers some of the most extensive, extreme and beautiful skiing anywhere in the world. Tom Robbins, powderhound and deputy travel editor of the Observer newspaper, picks five of the very best Click to view Top 5 European Ski Resorts.
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Best for Powder (La Grave, France) |
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 Experts only. There’s only one lift in La Grave, yet for freeride skiers the world over this is the place to name drop. Unspoilt by pistes or patrols of any sort, this vast and pristine valley offers 2,000 vertical metres of some of the most extreme and beautiful off-piste skiing on the planet. You'll cry when you see it. |
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| La Grave is the only resort in Europe which combines lift access with totally unpisted, unpatrolled and unprotected terrain. You ski here entirely at your own risk and unless you genuinely know what you are doing the chances of coming to grief are high. Virtually no one here skis without a professional guide and - unless you have really got to know the place well - you would be mad to so. |
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 Arnie Wilson, editor of the Ski and Board magazine, and the man who has probably skied in more resorts than any other, says one run here, the classic Pan de Rideau, was the hardest of his life – "so utterly terrifying I would never want to do it again."
But if you can ski and ski well, La Grave is about as close as you'll get to ski heaven. A lone lift rises from the small and non-descript village at the foot of the valley, its’ cold steel cables pulling to stations at 1,800, 2,400 and 3,200m. From there a couple of drags take you to the summit - Dome de la Lauze - at 3,550m. |
Off-Piste Paradise |
 It’s a slow assent but one of the most spectacular you will ever experience. The lift itself is a classic, its 1970s-styled pods done up in primary colours and all travelling in bunched groups of five.
As it pulls you over the vast mélange of trees, shoots, cliffs and snowfields that is the valley even the most laid-back and experienced of skiers feel a rising sense of excitement, tinged with an edge of trepidation.
There is no such thing as marked decent from the top of the north face of la Meije, the mountain whose jagged summit towers over the valley. “La Grave and the massif de la Meije are not a ski resort”, notes the SkiersLodge, one of the best hotel and guiding services in the area.
“A typical ski descent offers limitless variety from tame to steep terrain commencing on a vast glacier, proceeding down spectacular open bowls, winding its way through small chutes, crossing glacial morains into seemingly endless steeps and deeps in the serenity of the forest … it can also lead you to the Freaux Couloir, a 900m, free floating elevator drop to the valley below”. |
Not Every Run Spells Death |
 So exactly how good a skier do you need to be to enjoy la Grave?
The answer is that you need to be confident in all snow conditions but not every route down is life threatening. For the extremists there are plenty of shoots you can only access with ropes and “no fall” spots on which a mistake will cost you your life, but it is not necessary to ski these routes to enjoy the place. And if, after a day or two in the valley, you are feeling in need of a bit of piste to cruise on, it’s easy enough to drop down the other side of la Meije and into the ski area of Les Deux Alps.
Accommodation in La Grave is cheap, cheerful and fairly basic. A small, traditional village, there are no nightclubs here and people make their own entertainment, sitting round and talking about the death-defying descents they made during the day. You can pre-book with a firm like the SkiersLodge or just turn up and check in to a hotel or bed and breakfast.
If you are staying for a while, consider sleeping one night on the mountain itself at the Refuge Evariste Chancel (00 33 4 76 79 92 32). A small wooden restaurant and sun-deck, it’s one of only three pit-stops on the mountain and serves great rustic grub. If you book ahead or are genuinely stuck you can spend the night. |
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Resort altitude: 1,450m
Lifts: 1 (pus a couple of drags)
Pros: Off-piste Mecca
Cons: Harcore riders only |
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| Pictures courtesy of www.SkiersLodge.com |
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