French Alps- Tips for a Spring trip to SERRE-CHEVALIER?

I took the suggestion responses to an earlier post of mine and joined the
group trip to Serre-Chevalier in March! We're staying in Briancon
(1 boarder, 1 skier). Having never left North America to go snowboarding
I had some questions and am looking for any advice;


1) LIFTS - there seem to be a lot of DRAG LIFTS (surface lifts) here. A
snowboarder's worst enemy! Any tips for riding these? I have ridden a few
of these in the past, but its usually a 50% chance that I actually make it
to the top. Will I find the lifts here easier or harder than the norm?
I will likely ski primarily above the tree line and it seems that half of
the lifts up here are surface. Are they T-Bars, J-Bars or POMA?

2) SHUTTLES - someone warned me to check the bus schedules which I will do.
I also noticed that most of the expert terrain (bowls and steeps) seem
to be all the way to the right (Monetier). Is it easy to take a bus
to Monetier from Briancon in the morning or home from there in the afternoon?
Or is it good fun traveling on our own from peak to peak?

3) OFF PISTE - I typically like off trail (off piste) skiing the most. In
western North America I spend the bulk of my time in the trees searching for
powder, seeking out moguls, or traversing bowls for fun drops. Any warnings
about off piste skiing or some tips on fun areas to look for?
How is the skiing below the treeline? Are those inviting trees I see on the
map or are there a lot of ditches and ravines to get stuck in?

4) ICE? - In many sunny resorts in Western North America (Vail) the non-groomed
runs in Spring are frozen solid until the sun warms them up by around 11:00.
Is this common in the Alps or does it stay below freezing most of the time?

5) WEATHER - What should I expect at the higher elevations in March?

6) FOOD AND DRINK! - most importantly, the apres ski scene! Any must see
bars/pubs in Briancon or other areas that I should visit? What about your
favorite places to eat in Briancon? Where would I find a younger crowd
hanging out? (20s and 30s)


We're really looking forward to this trip.
Thanks very much for any advice you can pass on,

-todd

I took the suggestion responses to an earlier post of mine and joined the
group trip to Serre-Chevalier in March! We're staying in Briancon
(1 boarder, 1 skier). Having never left North America to go snowboarding
I had some questions and am looking for any advice;


1) LIFTS - there seem to be a lot of DRAG LIFTS (surface lifts) here. A
snowboarder's worst enemy! Any tips for riding these? I have ridden a
few
of these in the past, but its usually a 50% chance that I actually make it
to the top. Will I find the lifts here easier or harder than the norm?
I will likely ski primarily above the tree line and it seems that half of
the lifts up here are surface. Are they T-Bars, J-Bars or POMA?

Along the valley there are not that many pomas - and they are all fairly
easy to ride with a board - most drag lifts in France are quite boarder
friendly - it's in Itlay that you want to worry. Plenty of chairs and
bubbles

2) SHUTTLES - someone warned me to check the bus schedules which I will
do.
I also noticed that most of the expert terrain (bowls and steeps) seem
to be all the way to the right (Monetier). Is it easy to take a bus
to Monetier from Briancon in the morning or home from there in the
afternoon?
Or is it good fun traveling on our own from peak to peak?

You're right about Monetier, that's where, in my opinion is the best
terrain, and also very few people, plus gets the most sun late into the
afternoon - you can take lifts over to Monetier and then get the bus back -
it's not too bad, but you'll have to push and shove to get on sometimes -
again depends how busy it is

3) OFF PISTE - I typically like off trail (off piste) skiing the most. In
western North America I spend the bulk of my time in the trees searching
for
powder, seeking out moguls, or traversing bowls for fun drops. Any
warnings
about off piste skiing or some tips on fun areas to look for?
How is the skiing below the treeline? Are those inviting trees I see on
the
map or are there a lot of ditches and ravines to get stuck in?

Again terrian in SC is superb - again depends on your own ability and snow
conditions - I first started going there from La Grave in 98 - have a couple
of very old web pages that I put up about some of our trips over there - and
you can see what the conditions were like when we were there in March - so
much snow that we could not make it back over the Col Du Lauteret and were
stuck in SC for the evening
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gavin.b...graveframe.htm
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gavin.b...graveframe.htm some of the
pages are a bit mixed up but you should get an idea.

Tree skiing in Monetier is fantastic - when conditions close out la Meije in
La Grave that's why we go over there - you can pick your descent - however
as we were with guides we tended to hike / wade through the deep stuff to
get to the more advances terrain.
Since our first visits over there, we have done some major single and three
day tours all around the area. Last year a superb day tour climbing up the
Monetier Glacier and descending down a couloir that started at 3,600 and
finished at 1200 below Mont Pelvox - we've also done many day tours from the
Col Du Lauteret up to Galiber and beyond - again all this is in March /
April



4) ICE? - In many sunny resorts in Western North America (Vail) the
non-groomed
runs in Spring are frozen solid until the sun warms them up by around
11:00.
Is this common in the Alps or does it stay below freezing most of the
time?

It's all about timing finding the best conditions - hence a guide is
advantageous - basically first thing in the am will be ice and then as the
sun works on it so it will slowly turn to mush - but hey it could snow all
day


5) WEATHER - What should I expect at the higher elevations in March?

Again, come prepared - could be a week of uninterupted sunshine with temps
at 70 or blizzards


6) FOOD AND DRINK! - most importantly, the apres ski scene! Any must see
bars/pubs in Briancon or other areas that I should visit? What about your
favorite places to eat in Briancon? Where would I find a younger crowd
hanging out? (20s and 30s)

Briancon and the main satellitte villages Villneuve etc are good - Monetier
is a bit quiet - I don't know exact places because we tend to come over from
La Grave and then go back - plus don't exactly eat & drink on the mountain!


We're really looking forward to this trip.
Thanks very much for any advice you can pass on,

-todd

"WeatherCam" wrote in message ...

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gavin.b...graveframe.htm some of the
pages are a bit mixed up but you should get an idea.


Wow, those pictures of you guys in the trees at Serre Chevalier are great!
It sounds like you had a guide to find that. We are supposed to have guide
services available at the hotel for advanced skiing which we will take
advantage of.


Briancon and the main satellitte villages Villneuve etc are good - Monetier
is a bit quiet - I don't know exact places because we tend to come over from
La Grave and then go back - plus don't exactly eat & drink on the mountain!


Yes, I agree. We eat in the morning and at the end of the day. No use
wasting prime powder hours sitting around.

Thanks for the info,
-todd

"toddjb" wrote in message
om...
"WeatherCam" wrote in message
...

Yes, I agree. We eat in the morning and at the end of the day. No use
wasting prime powder hours sitting around.

And boy can you waste some time waiting to be served!!

We had a day trip to last Wednesday from Les Deux Alpes to Serre Chevalier
and having an 8 year old with me lunch is a requirement. We tried
L'Echaillon above Villeneuve, which I can thoroughly recommend anybody not
to stop at. It took 15 minutes to coax a menu out of the very disinterested
waiting staff. Then we were totally ignored for another 15 minutes - so we
left.

The experience was almost repeated to the letter at a large restaurant right
down at the base of Villeneuve, this time we waited 20 minutes. The staff
here, I don't recall the name of the place, obviously attended the same
charm and service school as L'Echaillon's did. We walked out of this one as
well!!

Net result was no lunch but at least they did not get my money.

Clive