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France - A skiing nation with plenty of superlatives! The Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in the Alps, the Vanoise Express the biggest and fastest double floored cable car in the world, and Les Trois Vallées claims to be the largest ski area in the world. Ski France!
Savoie:
The large ski areas of La Plagne, Val Thorens, Tignes and Valmeinier are located in a semi-circle around the Vanoise Massif in the southern Savoie Alps. Although there are still some gaps between the ski areas, they will one day be joined to become the largest winter sports territory in the world.
Isère:
A winter sports region can hardly be more varying. This one reaches from the marginal mountain ranges of the French Pre-Alps to the Écrins Massif, the majestic high mountain scenery of the Dauphiné.
Maritime Alps:
The Maritime Alps mean sea and high mountains in one breath. It is the distinctive contrast between deep blue sky and snowy winter landscape that creates the special attractiveness of the most southern winter sports area in the French Alps.
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The French ski regions rank amongst the largest, highest, and most spacious worldwide. Second to none is the ski area Trois Vallées, with over 600 kilometres of piste and 200 ski lifts. It consists of the connected three valleys of Courchevel, Méribel, and Val Thorens/Les Menuires. At 2,300 m, Val Thorens is the highest ski resort in Europe.
The ski area, Les Portes du Soleil (in English: The Gateway to the Sun) can also be enjoyed. It offers 650 km of literally unlimited pistes, the 12 connected resorts are partly in Switzerland. Depending on which direction you decide to go in, you can get a glimpse of either Lake Geneva or Mont Blanc or enjoy yourself in the deep snow or in one of the 9 fun parks.
Further combined ski regions are La Plagne and Les Arcs (420 km, 169 lifts), as well as Tignes and Val d'Isère (350 km , 97 lifts). The largest glacier ski regions are found in Tignes (2,100 - 3,350 m) and Les 2 Alpes (1,300 - 3,560 m).
Additionally, France is home of the highest mountain in the Alps, Mont Blanc (4,792 m). At the foot of the mountain lies one of the winter sports hot spots, Chamonix, scene of the Olympics in 1924. From here, the second highest cable car in Europe goes up to the Aiguille du Midi (3,842 m). This is the starting point for one of the longest and most spectacular deep snow ski runs in the world, the glacier run (20 km) through the Vallée Blanche down to Chamonix.
Other Winter Olympics took place 1968 in Grenoble (Alpine competitions in Chamrousse) and 1992 in Albertville (competitions in, for example, Tignes). |
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