Buying powder Courchevel

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Buying powder Courchevel

Our Ski Instructors have been teaching skiing in Courchevel for 25 years. A lot has changed over the years, but the resort remains one of the best in the world. Our team has shared their top tips and insider secrets in our guide to Skiing in Courchevel. With over km of meticulously groomed pistes in the Three Valleys region, the skiing opportunities are endless. The terrain is diverse, featuring beginner zones, intermediate paradises, and thrilling black runs for the advanced. Plus, endless off-piste possibilities for those craving untracked powder. With fast, modern lifts, incredible snow cannon coverage and reliable snowfall throughout the season, all set against the beautiful backdrop of the Vanoise national park. Encompassing 18 green pistes and 40 blue pistes — including dedicated beginner areas in Courchevel , Courchevel Moriond and La Tania — Courchevel is a great place for beginner skiers. In Courchevel , the beginner area can be accessed via the Jardin Alpin bubble, getting off at the G3 mid-station. Want more info? This guide gives a full rundown of great runs for beginners in Courchevel. The best pistes for Intermediate Skiers. Intermediates can enjoy perfect corduroy on cruisey blues and gentle reds the whole week with wide-open slopes and impeccably groomed pistes. With 12 black runs and endless off-piste routes, advanced skiers will have plenty of steeper terrain to explore and put their skills to the test. We think the best are:. While often overlooked for some steeper resorts, Courchevel has incredible off-piste terrain. And the best thing about it? Check out our blog on off-piste skiing in Courchevel for more suggestions on routes to explore. Our team can always help you find the best snow and ski it safely. Still, if you want to add some variety to your holiday, many other options are on offer. Courchevel has plenty of great options. When the sun is out, our favourite is a late afternoon drink on the sun terrace at the Bel Air in Courchevel Their secret recipe tastes incredible but packs a punch, so we would stop at 3. Every day they host their usual dance party, complete with cabaret-style dancing from lunch until the lifts close. Pedestrians or beginner skiers can also take this down to the bar. Keep an eye on the time and get the last lift back up. Rest and Relax at Aquamotion. The outdoor pools are magical mid-winter. We could describe this, but pictures are worth a thousand words. Scale new heights and go Climbing. Aquamotion also has a great climbing wall. All equipment is provided, including shoe rental. The Forum in Courchevel is a great place to while away a few hours after skiing or on a day off. As well as an 8-lane bowling alley, several bars, restaurants and snack bars. With countless fine dining restaurants and many Michelin Stars in Courchevel, choosing a restaurant in this price bracket is incredibly tough. There are many more expensive restaurants within the valley, some with more Michelin stars. But the Azimut makes the cut because of the combination of delicious food and knowledgeable, warm service. It also remains surprisingly affordable for a restaurant of its calibre. With one Michelin star, the Azimut serve delicious and creative dishes with a Parisian flair and a local influence. The service is impeccable, without the stuffiness of more traditional establishments. A post shared by Blue Papaya Ski bluepapayaski. Everything they do is beautifully prepared and served with a smile, making it a great setting to try the local cuisine and get your cheese fix. The Elephant is a relaxed and welcoming pizzeria-come sports bar specialising in woodfired pizzas topped using local produce. In addition to pizzas, they also serve your usual pub food — burgers, pasta, steak, and salads — done well and cooked from scratch. You can entertain the whole family with a pool table, table football table, darts board, and regular live music. Set on the slopes above , running alongside the piste of the same name, La Cave des Creux is a popular and bustling restaurant with an ornate interior and a well-placed sun terrace, perfect for spring sunny lunches. While the setting is quite remarkable, the food and atmosphere are what make this place sing. Focusing on local produce, they serve a mix of regional specialities, Asian-inspired dishes, and sharing platters. This is one of the more expensive options, but perfect if you want a bit of a splurge. With a large south-facing terrace and a cosy interior, complete with a log fire, the Bel Air is perfect for sunny days and when the weather draws in. Their traditional, simple and tasty food ranges from a tartiflette to steak, pasta, and their roast chicken and chips with a cracking tarragon sauce are famous amongst locals. The Bel Air is a Courchevel institution, so it gets busy, and booking is advised. Last, but by no means least, is Le Bouc Blanc , situated on a plateau at the top of the La Tania bubble. The Bouc Blanc is popular with locals, which is always a good sign. They serve large portions of hearty food, with super speedy and friendly service — all at a very affordable price. If you like the privacy and convenience of a hotel break, here is a selection of hotels to suit different budgets and various needs or wants. Nestled on the slopes of Courchevel is the Grandes Alpes Hotel. This 5-star hotel offers a luxury stay with personalised service — putting guest satisfaction first. The hotel offers nine apartments with 30 luxury bedrooms and suites. Ideally situated right at the foot of the piste in Courchevel , Fahrenheit Seven is a stylish 4-star hotel a little different to most in the valley. Part of a small group of boutique hotels, they offer double, triple and family rooms. Le Portetta combines traditional decor with boutique touches in what you could call Alpine Chic. It has a fabulous sun terrace and bar area, welcoming skiers home after the day on the slopes. This 2-star hotel is well situated, just a few minutes from the slopes in , with comfortable rooms, free wifi and a buffet breakfast served. Staying in Courchevel is never cheap, but the Olympic offers excellent value in a great location. Chalets are a popular option for people looking for a home away from home. With both catered and self-catered options and high-end luxury chalets to more affordable chalet hotels, there is a chalet option to suit every party. Here is a selection of some of our recommended chalet options in Courchevel. Alpine ski specialists Oxford Ski Company , create tailored ski holidays, including luxury chalet breaks. They offer both catered and self-catered options, spanning all of the villages in Courchevel. Their experienced and knowledgeable team will help create the perfect holiday, including selecting the most suitable location and that all-important chalet setting to ensure you have a fantastic holiday. A post shared by Oxford Ski Company oxfordski. Family-run chalet company Le Ski has delighted guests in Courchevel for over four decades. They have 16 catered chalets in , with options for parties of different sizes and budgets — from an intimate chalet for two to a bed chalet, perfect for big groups. They offer the traditional chalet service synonymous with ski holidays in France, including breakfast, afternoon tea and a three-course meal with unlimited wine, five nights a week. They do all the heavy lifting with flights from the UK and transfers included in their package. You just have to make it to the airport on time. British tour operator, Skiworld , offers affordable catered ski chalet holidays. They have four chalets to choose from in Courchevel — three in Courchevel Village and one in Courchevel They serve breakfast, afternoon tea and a three-course meal six nights a week. Their package also includes flights and transfers, offering great value. This 6-bed modern chalet boasts high ceilings and stunning views — perfect for families or small groups. A post shared by chalet. Pre-Christmas or January breaks are your best bet to dodge the crowds and make the most of good deals on travel and accommodation. They also benefit from more daylight hours, making the days seem longer. However, there are some offers to be aware of that can save you some money:. You can find more information on the passes or buy them online here. We recommend SkiSet for ski hire in Courchevel. They have shops in each village of Courchevel and offer an exclusive discount for New Generation guests. You can find Ski Set at the following locations. An interactive guide to Courchevel in your pocket. This brand-new app will be your guide to accompany you during your stay in the resort. It can provide real-time information to help you explore webcams, weather forecast, opening of the slopes and ski lifts, shuttles…. Download the Courchevel app for Apple or Android. Available for both iOS and Android, this user-friendly App provides a wealth of information and features to enhance your experience. Download the Three Valleys app for Apple or Android. Traditionally most people fly to Courchevel. The closest airports are Chambery, reachable in 90 mins, or Lyon, Geneva or Grenoble, all about 2 hrs 15 mins. Courchevel Airport Transfers Snowlinx. The train is the cheapest option from the airports, but again, this will involve several changes, and the trains are somewhat infrequent. Another option, which can prove cheaper if a number of you travel, is driving. The motorways in France are usually quiet, which makes them fast and hassle-free. However, you have to factor in the cost of the tolls along the way. The other thing to consider if you drive is where to park. From London St Pancras International, you can take the Eurostar to Paris before switching trains to bring you closer to the resort. For further guidance on adopting sustainable travel choices, visit the Snow Carbon website, a valuable resource to help you identify more environmentally friendly routes. Why Choose Courchevel? Where to ski in Courchevel The best pistes for beginners Encompassing 18 green pistes and 40 blue pistes — including dedicated beginner areas in Courchevel , Courchevel Moriond and La Tania — Courchevel is a great place for beginner skiers. Creux — previously a red run, but since re-categorised as blue, Creux sets off from the top of Courchevel, with a steepish top section, before it mellows out into a beautiful and playful little gully. Chapelets — this gentle red includes a steeper section at the top before levelling out. It meanders down with an incredible backdrop taking in the Dent de Villard. The best pistes for Advanced Skiers With 12 black runs and endless off-piste routes, advanced skiers will have plenty of steeper terrain to explore and put their skills to the test. We think the best are: Suisses — a challenging black which heads down from the top of Saulire, often with a mogul section off to one side, if bumps are your thing. Eclipse — built for the World Ski Championship. Eclipse is an iconic run from the Col de la Loze to Le Praz. Piste M — after a gentle lead-in, Piste M quickly gets steeper, taking you from the top of Saulire to the plateau near the top of the Verdons bubble. The best off-piste While often overlooked for some steeper resorts, Courchevel has incredible off-piste terrain. Some of our favourite off-piste routes include: Les Avals — the valley off to skiers right of Courchevel This stunning valley offers pillow lines and sections of different gradients for off-piste skiers of different levels and abilities Roc Mugnier trees — to the left and right of Roc Mugnier Saulire couloirs — from the top of Saulire several steep couloirs run parallel to the Grand Couloir Check out our blog on off-piste skiing in Courchevel for more suggestions on routes to explore. View this post on Instagram. Top Family Ski Resorts in Europe. Your Guide to the Best Skiing in the 3 Valleys. Courchevel Resort Guide.

Buying skis and snowboards in Courchevel

Buying powder Courchevel

We're excited for winter and numerous snow adventures, and a new pair of skis. Whether you're buying for the first time or your set up has seen better days, read our guide before you buy. Our advice for shopping online for skis is kind of like shopping instore, but there is a lot more self-assessment involved. Therefore, honesty is even more important. Don't shop for skis for the skiing you would like to do, rather than what you actually can do. Focus on waist width first, as this will narrow down your options and then you can focus on category more of that below. For online purchasing things to consider are:. Whilst your skiing ability and where you like to ski will be big determining factors on the skis you buy, what each type of ski means is worth knowing so you immediately know what category of skis you fit into. All Mountain As the name suggests, these skis are for skiing the entire mountain and this is by far the most popular type of ski. Designed to handle anything and everything you can throw at them, including powder, ice, groomers, steeps, heavy snow and everything in between, they are a jack of all trades ski, master of none. However, if you're only going to own one pair of skis, this is what you want. All-mountain skis generally have a mid-fat waist, and the key to them is to know where you'll ski most, as the category splits down into All Mountain mainly off-piste and All Mountain mainly on-piste. Piste or Carving For those that like the classic feeling of arcing a perfect turn over an edge, then piste skis are for you. They have narrower waists and short turn radii. The beginner-intermediate skis in this category are designed to make learning how to turn easy, and as you progress they get stiffer, more powerful and more aggressive. If you like charging hard and only really ski piste, these are for you. Park and Pipe Often called freestyle skis, these are for skiers who mostly ski the park on jibs, rails, and jumps. This category is incorporating more rocker patterns and different shapes, and these skis are mostly always twin-tipped with thicker edges. If you're into big kickers and booters you'll want a slightly longer ski, if jibbing is your thing then go shorter. Powder Designed for pow-pow days, these skis are wide and most often have some form of rocker plus a relatively soft flex. The tip and tail are not always the widest parts and many are versatile enough to handle mixed conditions and harder snow. Big Mountain For charging big lines at high speed with big airs. Vary in width, these powder-oriented skis are for ripping up the headwall at your local mountain. They are stiffer often with more rocker in the tip than the tail. Touring Touring skis are as much about the up as the down. These skis incorporate lightweight constructions with cutting edge technology to ensure they work as much on the uphill as the down. They come in a huge range of sizes and widths designed for different styles of touring. When buying your first skis, you must first consider the ski shape. In the past all you needed to think about was the length, but now technology has moved on in great strides. Basically the shape of your ski helps improve your skiing based on the terrain and style you are skiing, so it's important to understand. There are three main types: camber, rocker, and flat. Many modern skis give a combination of these. Camber This is the traditional profile for skis and snowboards and is the slight upward curve in the middle of the ski when it's laid flat. Camber offers precision on groomed terrain with harder snow, as you unweight the ski at the tail end of the turn, cambered skis rebound to the natural profile, propelling you into your next turn. Skilled skiers often prefer camber in the skis to deliver more 'pop'. If you ski mostly in resort you'll probably want a ski with camber for optimum grip and stability on hard snow. Rocker Also known as reverse camber, it is camber turned upside down, with the curved rise of the tail and tip on your ski which helps lift the ski out of the powder. It also allows for less edge catching and faster turning. This profile doesn't perform well in icy conditions and on harder snow, but if you spend lots of time in deep, untracked snow then rocker is a great choice. Flat It is a ski that is flat when laid on a table, you won't see any air, and is more commonly a shape for snowboards than skis as it helps with manoeuvrability more than camber. Sidecut Refers to the inner curve of the ski and is often expressed as a radius in metres. It's crucial to consider this when buying your first skis, as the deeper the cut the tighter you'll be able to turn. Skis with deep sidecuts are great for slalom, but will be less stable at speed. A less deep sidecut allows skis to make long fast arcs and keeps them afloat and closer to the surface. Carbon Carbon is used whenever stiffness is required without the expense of weight. A ski with a narrower waist will be quicker edge to edge and more at home on the hard snow of a groomed piste. A wider waist width provides the ski with increased float in powder and will also tend to increase stability in chopped up, difficult snow conditions. As the narrowest part of the ski, this is the place all ski model decisions begin. Here's a quick breakdown of the common ranges and what they are best for:. Great for carving, they transition quickly and easily from edge to edge. If you mostly ski on-piste and occasionally drop into the trees, this is the width for you. You'll get some float in the new snow, but you won't compromise your piste skiing. You can hold your lines on-piste but you'll have much more fun in the choppy and powdery conditions. An ideal width if you like backcountry. Not ideal piste skis in any sense. Whilst there are a number of brands out there making skis, these are the ones that have stood the test of time, kept up with the latest technologies and trends, and therefore stand out as worth looking at:. In the nineties their Bandit and Scratch ranges would help invigorate the era of freeskiing and to this day their team riders win numerous medals. For those of us looking to emulate our heroes they offer a wide variety of alpine skis, and luckily for us their technology and innovation trickles down from the very high-end lines through to even the beginner designs. Their skis are typically well made and noticeably high-quality. They combine traditional craftmanship and high-tech innovation creating high-end skis, surprising the ski world in the sixties with the now legendary zebra ski pattern. The industry mocked, the public loved them. In the seventies they made moves into the world of alpine ski-racing and have won numerous World Cups, World Championship titles and Olympic medals. Their solid reputation is in carving skis that hold an edge nicely, they are known for their durable and reliable builds that generally target expert skiers and off-piste lovers, which is why some beginner skiers may find them a little challenging to control. Coming into its own in the sixties, when Olympic ski champion Jean-Claude Killy signed with them endorsing a new metal and fibreglass ski: the Killy They went on to launch a whole range of skis and today they consistently deliver quality product that skiers of all levels like to use. HEAD website. Their skis are produced with an emphasis on versatility, providing the perfect blend of playfulness and performance. Their skis are well built, durable and great value for the technology you'll have beneath your feet. They created the first powder ski more than 30 years ago, and are very popular with recreational skiers as well as competitive athletes. Currently Atomic manufactures just about every style of ski for every style of skier. They continue to invest in technology and apply it readily to their products, which is why you will see many Atomic skis on the mountain. K2 Founded in in Washington state, they expanded into making snowboards in , and are the first company that specifically engineered products for women, starting in with K2's Women's Alliance. Arguably the most recognised US brand, they are credited with creating the first fibreglass ski. Every product is well researched, well designed and its range of offerings caters to all levels from beginners to experts. K2 website. Known for innovation and cutting-edge technology, they also are the biggest manufacturer of ice hockey sticks. Fischer's success with ski manufacture is in making power models that are ideal for those with technical skill that like speed - not necessarily targeted at beginners. A specialising in skiing equipment, specifically skis and accessories. Its backcountry friendly skis and boots make it popular among the more adventurous skiers, it is a clear leader in the all-mountain market and is strong in the touring world too. Named after the alpine chough, the black birds with yellow beaks and red claws, the company designs skis to tackle 'any and all downhill adventures'. Again not necessarily a brand for beginners, they are known for their high-altitude skis and their backcountry skis are considered some of the best on the market. Their immediate and well-deserved reputation makes them a brand worth checking out all the same. For online purchasing things to consider are: availability - don't do tonnes of research and get all excited about a ski that is sold out everywhere in your size price - definitely something to consider whether you're buying second hand or new, it's all too easy for your budget limit to keep on rising bindings - some skis come with integrated bindings, but if yours need to be drill mounted you'll need to know your boot sole length so they can be mounted before being shipped to you colour and graphics - you may be skiing these skis for a few seasons to come, so you need to like the look of them be patient - you may not land on the right skis for you as quickly as in-store with help from a shop assistant, but there's so much info online, so do your research and you'll feel more empowered read reviews and buyers' guides. Width - what else to know As the narrowest part of the ski, this is the place all ski model decisions begin. Whilst there are a number of brands out there making skis, these are the ones that have stood the test of time, kept up with the latest technologies and trends, and therefore stand out as worth looking at: ROSSIGNOL Born in the French Alps in , they went from small local wooden ski maker to having over 8, pairs of skis leaving their warehouses every day by the s. ATOMIC website K2 Founded in in Washington state, they expanded into making snowboards in , and are the first company that specifically engineered products for women, starting in with K2's Women's Alliance. Start Planning. Start Exploring.

Buying powder Courchevel