Valloire

Located in the Maurienne Valley in Savoie, Valloire is one of those French villages that still feels like a real Alpine village, not just a resort with apartment complexes. The skiing is also bigger than you think: Valloire is connected to Valmeinier in the Galibier-Thabor area, with 99.4 miles of slopes, 90 slopes and 30 lifts.

In terms of altitude, the system is between 1,430 and 2,2460.6 feet, and a large part of the skiing is high – 70% of the slopes are above 2,0 feet. This gives better margins when winter is more doubtful. At the same time, the area has snow cannons in large parts of the system (about half of the ski area), which helps to keep the season together and build stable piste surfaces.

The terrain is clearly built for piste skiers: lots of blue and red, good flow for carving and quite easy to find your way around between different sectors (Sétaz and Crey du Quart are classic "home pages" from Valloire). When you want to collect vertical drop, there are plenty of runs to work with – the area offers several long descents with a significant height difference, which is noticeable in your legs if you drive many laps from the top.

For those who want a little more challenging skiing, there are also steeper black options, and there is at least an ungroomed black slope to use when you want to get away from the corduroy and feel more natural ground.