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Bars
and Clubs
Serre Chevalier is a relatively quiet place, but
go to the right places and you'll have a blinding time
Briancon 1200
Briancon is not Soho, but nevertheless you can have
a good beer and a laugh!!
The Drum - Kareoke and such happen here occasionally,
but don't expect to find anyone but French people.
La Cave - Very 'quaint' don't get wasted - this is a
family place.
The Rosbif Bar (at the bottom of the main lift)
- lively, large apres-ski bar attracting a wild bunch
of tourists and locals.
The Gotcha bar - Dutch hovel that sells cheap beer and
saw-dust. Dancing on the tables obligatory.
Bar Central - wouldn't be out of place in Paris with
a small, cosy, place-to-be-seen atmosphere.
West Mountain - new cowboy-themed bar with a large stuffed
moose-head on the wall and plenty more sat at the bar
(need a taxi to get there).
The Tucson - lively evening bar which offers a navette
service home!
The Eden Bar - busy local bar, pastis flows freely but don't expect
a word of English.
Chantemerle 1350
The Extreme Bar - has WiFi now and a computer to use for those without a lappy. (It's free). Has live music frequently, although steer clear of the hard core dance DJ nights, purely for the French youth..
The Irish Pub - good place to go on Wednesdays, Irish folk songs
sung with French accepts is an extra bonus.
Escapade - very French club, but has Karaoke for those that way inclined
Hotel Plein Sud - very small hotel/restaurant bar with a chilled atmosphere. Can be fun.
Le Bistro - new restaurant with a nice bar and loungey area. Serve tapas and sushi at apres time... mmmmm!
Adret hotel - a Skitopia run place with cheap drinks for seasonaires & occasional live music
Villenueve 1400
Baita - many a night ends in the Baita nightclub. Pricey like all nightclubs, get to know the staff & you're normally sorted though. Has occasional themed nights
Loco Loco - Cool tunes but very small
Mojos - opened last year (2005) & run by an English couple. Small bar, but quite a haunt of seasoned saisonaires & locals. Sometimes has DJs in to amp p thte atmosphere. Great food and Werthers vodka shots.
Le LB Bar - The best hangout in Villenueve, great bar staff good
prices deathly cocktails (try the flatliner...)
La Grotte - (has lost the Yeti bit) is now owned by an English couple who have been managing it for the last couple of years. Have refurbed it this year, adding a rooftop terrace & small restaurant/lounge area. This is no smoking & child-friendly with books and games. Café-style food during the day (including all day brekkie and burgers) - all very reasonably priced. Large screen TVs everywhere, free wifi, live music most nights, bar snacks for apres with acoustic sets everyday. Messy nights especially when the Harper Brothers play on Friday nights - heckling is encouraged. New loyalty cards this year for punters.
Bam Bam - Don't expect to come away with your wallet intact (£6
a pint after 1am!)
Le Frog - restaurant/bar, with the bar being a proper bar (showing football etc). It's part of the tour operators pub crawl. Nice restaurant too
Monetier 1500
L' Alpin - nice apres atmosphere
Rif Blanc - only place to watch football and so packed usually
Zoe Bar - dark and with strange things on the walls- you can drink
them apparently...
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Off-piste*
Serre Chevalier
is off-piste heaven on the right days, but be very careful
- get caught out and you'll find yourself on the wrong
side of the mountain and the walk back from the road
to Grenoble is a long one!
Monetier
The Montagnole - [A word of caution: at the end of the
season this has a habit of avalanching - not one face,
the whole valley. You have been warned- it really is
better to take a guide].
From the top of the Yret Chair follow the piste for
30 metres or so and drop off the back of the mountain
where it says 'Danger Cliffs'. They aren't joking about
the cliffs so be careful. From there on you are on your
own. Totally out of view of lift attendants and only
10-15 people do this a day. You can't help but go the
right way - it's a glacial valley and so you just follow
it down and exit off at post five on the tabac run.
Yret Face - Follow the piste for 60m but keep your height
and you can drop down on the face you came over on the
chair. This is a 30 degree plus aspect and is also avalanche
prone so pick your line well.
Cibout - Take the Cibout chair then traverse across
to the tree line. Drop down the face onto the Tabac
run and over that into the trees and rejoin the Tabac
later.
All the pistes here are flanked by trees and you can
have some excellent tree runs down them all.
Villenueve
Tete de Balme - take the Balme lift up and after you
exit turn for Villeneuve. From there you just have to
choose your spot to descend on the Cucamle side.
The Cucamle - take the Balme lift up and you can't miss
the Cucamle - it's right in front of you. You can board
to it as far as you can get then it's a 20-30 minute
hike to the top. Descend on the valley side (towards
the towns) as there are rocks on the other side.
L'Eychauda - It's a nasty drag to the top but from there
its a small ledge drop on the face and a clear and long
run down. You can rejoin the piste as early or as late
as you like.
Briancon
Prorel - Take the Prorel I or II and Mt Prorel is on
your left. Pick the right line to ascend and descend.
The most popular face does avalanche quite frequently.
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Moguls
The Luc Alphand run is
one of the most popular in Serre Chevalier, therefore
it moguls up faster than you can say mogul mastery.
It's really nasty on a board so beware!
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Speed
When it's in good condition
the Luc Alphand is very, VERY fast
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Snowparks
New park this year, which hopefully will be better maintained than last year's effort. There's a halfpipe down in Villeneuve on the Mickey slope, and, if we're honest, it still pretty much takes the mickey, itself.
There is also a natural half pipe over behind Mt Prorel.
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Events
All the major French championships
visit Serre Chevalier at some point. There are usually
four contests a season.
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Famous
Visitors
This is the home of Luc
Alphand, who won the Olympic downhill when it was held
in France in 1992. The guy is treated like a God and
there is a real cult of personality going on. Hurrah
for the British though - it's also the resort of choice
for Bud Gallimore.
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Away
Days
A seasons pass gives free days in other resorts, so you can go to Alpe Duez, Les Duex Alpes, (only 45mins drive), Montgenevre and Sestriere, Puy St Vincent and new this year 6 days in Courmayeur.
Not far away is
La Grave - Europe's largest off piste area. One 30 minute
lifts to the top and you choose your own route from
there. DON'T do this without a guide - at 3550m this
is mostly glacier and you will fall in a crevasse if
you're not careful. However if you don't go soon after
a good snowfall it won't be worth it. Paying £60
for a guide and pass to bounce over other people's frozen
tracks isn't muich my idea of fun.
Sestriere is only 45 minutes away by car and from there
you can access other Italian resorts. They do have some
fantastic off piste and because it's higher then Serre
Che it generally has better snow. If it's windy though
forget it - the high winds mean plenty of lift closures.
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Shopping
Briancon has its own Geant (think Tesco but
French) which is good value. If you have a vehicle, it's always worth going to ED, which is in the industrial estate on the road towards Gap, (there also a Champion). It's cheaper than the big supermarkets. Of course there's always the saisonaires' favourite, Aldi, which is on the main road before you hit Briancon.
Serre Chevalier has its
fair share of good board/ski shops and the deals to
be had at the end of the season are incredible to the
tune of board/jacket/baggies/bindings for under £400.
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Internet
Cafés
These are now everywhere
in Serre Chevalier - usually in the Tourist Offices.
However clocking in at £10 for two hours it ain't
cheap! Best bet though is to not pay by heading to either the Grotte or the Extreme and using their WiFi - borrow a mates lappy if you dont have one.
Hotel Plein Sud now also has wireless access.
More
details
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Eating
Out
There is no shortage of
great places to eat in Serre Chevalier. Pizza still popular along with traditional French cuisine. Ca Basa in Chantmerle does great pizzas, as does a man in a van on route to Villenueve [he sells wine as well ;-)]. Most of the hotels will accept on
spec diners turning up and asking nicely.
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Mountain
Restos
Cafe Soleil above Chantermerle
is fantastic and good value considering. DON'T drink
the water though - just take my word for it. Bachus
above Monetier does great sandwiches.
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McDonalds
One in Briancon - avoid
the 280g burger though (those who've had it know why..).
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Shopping
Day
Geant in Briancon again.
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Transfer
Day
At less than two hours
away from Turin i'ts a godsend. There are usually few
problems.
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Après-ski
Events
You can always rely on the Yeti,
Underground and LB bar for some great theme nights. The LB bar is
usually the bar of choice as it offers such ridiculously low prices
for season workers (15fr for a BIG vodka coke!). You can always
try the night skidoo-ing as well. I'd recomend it to anyone (with
a death wish).
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Living
If you have to
find your own it's expensive. But it's a resort so what
do you expect? If there are enough of you and you are
willing to forego a bit of privacy you can get 4-6 berth
apartments in Villenueve town for £380 pcm. There
are also plenty of places in St. Chaffery (unfortunately
located next to the Gendarmerie).
Apartments
are easier to locate in the larger town of Briancon.
Here they will generally be larger and cheaper and based
on a cost per month rather than cost per person per
month. the only problem with being based in Briancon
is that as it is a big town and the ski buses of Serre
Chevalier are notoriously awful you may find yourselves
in a with a long walk to and from the lifts. Also since
Briancon is only at 1200m the snow disappears about
mid-March and so there is no possibility of boarding/skiing
all the way down into the town.
There are several smaller villages in the valley which
are worth checking out. Puy St. Vincent, St. Chaffrey
and Le Bez are both on the hill opposite the runs. The
bus service does run through them all, but they are
rather out of the way for apres-ski events. You can
expect a walk if you are out late.
There are estate agents in all the towns so it is just
a case of getting there early and matching your requirements
to your budget. You can expect to pay about £280
for a reasonably sized apartment or section of a small
chalet which will sleep two, three or four, depending
on how friendly you are.
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CdS
Search
If you’re thinking of doing a season in Serre Chevalier then
why not search through the Club
des Saisonniers to see who else has worked there and what advice
they may be able to offer.
Discounts
There are numerous benefits
available to members of the CdS.
Join
Anyone who has done a season or has a firm offer from
a tour operator may join
the Club des Saisonniers.
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[Thanks to Gail Karn for latest updates & to Stephen
Isaacs & Celia Gates previously]
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