Archive for October, 2009

french-winter-holidays-at-the-les-houches-ski-resort

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

French Winter Holidays at the Les Houches Ski Resort

Most ski resorts have an international character. The
architecture and facilities are often standard, and the
restaurants prepare international cuisines. Thus, this
question is reasonable: where can skiers get a true French
style holiday while skiing in the French Alps? If the skiers
will come into the Chamonix Valley from the west, they will
find the answer - the new ski resort of Les Houches.

The Les Houches is a traditional French village in which the
geographical domain is located between 950 and 1900 meters
above sea level. At the highest elevation, the skiers and
tourists will enjoy an encompassing 360-degree view of
Mont-Blanc. The ski area has a total of 55 kilometers with
22 well-maintained icy slopes with 10 kilometers dedicated
to cross-country skiing. Most ski runs meander through the
forest, making skiing even more pleasurable, while the
cross-country trails are located near the Chavants Lake.

The majority of the pistes at the new ski resort of Les
Houches are suited for beginners and intermediate skiers.
However, there is one slope for experts, the La Verte des
Houches, which is used for international ski championships.
Nevertheless, expert skiers may find greater satisfaction in
exploring the nearby regions. Fortunately, when in Les
Houches, the skiers will have easy access to the whole ski
region of the Mont-Blanc, which comprises a total of 700
kilometers of ski runs spread over 343 pistes. There will
most certainly be enough access to black runs for the expert
skiers.

More than a hundred snow cannons augment the snow and the
skiers will find excellent snow conditions. The skiers are
serviced by a modern lift system that has nine draglifts,
six chairlifts, one bubble lift, and one cable car. Aside
from skiing, the new ski resort of Les Houches also provide
facilities for other winter holiday activities such as ski
jumping, paragliding, ice skating, ice hockey, dog sledging,
and even helicopter tours. All of these fantastic amenities
make Les Houches competitive with other ski resorts. But
what makes the Les Houches ski resort uniquely French?

The new ski resort of Les Houches has an exceptional and
genuine Savoyard vista, which is reflective of the
peace-loving and independent French spirit. During the day,
the atmosphere is sparkling and animated and during the
night, the mood is relaxed and laid back. Thus, during the
day, the skiers can concentrate on conquering the slopes
while enjoying the spectacular scenery of Mont-Blanc and the
charming French architecture of Les Houches and during the
evenings, the skiers can relax and spend longer hours in
restaurants to enjoy French specialties such as farcement,
raclette, fondue, and tartiflette. Of course, there are also
shops, discos, cinemas, and nightclubs.

To experience French holidays at the new ski resort of Les
Houches, the skiers may choose any of the several methods to
reach this authentic French village. They can drive for
approximately eight hours, starting from Calais. Or they can
fly in through any of the six nearby airports, such as the
Geneva Airport.

O.B.S. company is currently working on Les Houches skiing
project. It represents possible Les Houches accommodation
and activities during Les Houches winter vacations in
France.

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The appeal and challenge of the French Alps continues to
haunt the heart and skis of skiing enthusiasts all over the
world. But some skiers who have been to numerous alpine
skiing vacations contend that alpine ski resorts all look
the same.

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Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Ski Resorts In France

The ski resorts of Les Arcs and La Plagne in France is
surrounded by spectacular mountain ranges and both ski
resorts attract phenomenal amount of skiing enthusiasts on
vacation in France and Europe. La Plagne is like a space
city, with its own suburban satellites and at least 2.5
million so called 'skier days' and is arguably the single
most visited ski resort in the world along with its link to
neighboring Les Arcs ski resort. With so many visitors to La
Plagne and Les Arcs, it follows that there are many hotels
and accommodations to cater to the skiers and tourists
alike.

La Plagne, is a 'third generation' French ski resort and it
probably influenced other French resorts like Flaine,
Avoriaz and Les Arcs to go for brave new world space age
architecture abandoning the traditional charming rustic
designs of ski resort architecture.

Skiing in La Plagne, you will encounter every conceivable
permutation of piste and off piste, from exhilarating
descents on the huge sweeping glacier at Bellecote (3,000m
or almost 10,000ft), to delightful cruising down quiet,
meandering, larch lined avenues to the charming villages of
Montchavin-Les Coches, Champagny-en-Vanoise and Montalbert.
In between these two extremes is La Plagne's biggest
attraction for intermediate skiers anxious to cruise till
they drop in the seemingly endless wide open skiing
adventure.

Having extended its empire to 10 different ski villages, La
Plagne is planning to send a tentacle across the valley
between Montchavin and Peisy Vallandry to form what will
arguably be the third ski domain in the world.

Les Arcs, whose connection by Eurostar train terminal at
Bourg St. Maurice makes it the most accessible high-altitude
French resort and has always been at the cutting edge of
skiing and snow boarding. It pioneered 'ski evolutif', a
technique for fast learning by progressing quickly from very
short skis to longer ones. It became the principle home of
the Kilometre Lancee in which daredevils on huge 237cm or 8
ft skis, clad in thin aerodynamic plastic suits and 'Darth
Vader Star Wars' style visors, speed down a special track at
breathtaking speeds of about 240kph or 150mph.

Similar to La Plagne, Les Arcs has acres and acres of good
cruising and its off piste opportunities are simply
fabulous. The Aiguille Rouge, which dominates the resort has
many challenging runs down its front face and is also the
starting point for one of the longest skiing descents in the
French Alps. The largely black run down to the charming
village of Villaroger is over 16km or about 10 miles long.
Can you beat that!

With such wonderful skiing opportunities, is it any wonder
why La Plagne and Les Arcs ski resorts claim to attract the
most holiday vacation skiers not just in France but in the
world as well?

Chris Chew is an avid traveler. More skiing articles at
Winter skiing Lake Tahoe
and New Zealand skiing vacation

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The ski resorts of Les Arcs and La Plagne in France is
surrounded by spectacular mountain ranges and both ski
resorts attract phenomenal amount of skiing enthusiasts on
vacation in France and Europe. La Plagne is like a space
city, with its own suburban satellites and at least 2.5
million so called 'skier days' and is arguably the single
most visited ski resort in the world along with its link to
neighboring Les Arcs ski resort. With so many visitors to La
Plagne and Les Arcs...

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