French Alps

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Image:Alps in the Chamonix Valley, near the Mer de Glace.jpg

The west face of the Petit Dru above the Chamonix valley near the Mer de Glace.

The French Alps are those parts of the Alps mountain range which lie in France. They are within the regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur and Rhône-Alpes.

The specific subranges of the Alps that are at least partly in France include (from south to north):

Mont Blanc is the highest point of the French Alps (and of the Alps as a whole).

Notable towns include Grenoble, Chamonix and Chambéry.

Image:Chamonix Valley Panorama.jpg

Panorama of Chamonix valley

[edit] Ski areas

The largest connected ski areas are :

Les Trois Vallées (Courchevel, Méribel, La Tania, Brides-les-Bains, Saint-Martin-de-Belleville, Les Menuires, Val Thorens and Orelle) : 338 pistes, 600 km of pistes.
Portes du Soleil (Avoriaz, Châtel, Morzine, Les Gets, Saint-Jean d'Aulps, La Chapelle d'Abondance, Abondance, Montriond, Swiss resorts) : 288 pistes, 650 km of pistes not entirely connected.
Paradiski (La Plagne, Peisey-Vallandry, Les Arcs) : 239 pistes, 420 km of pistes.
Via Lattea (Montgenèvre, Italian resorts) : 214 pistes, 400 km of pistes.
Évasion Mont-Blanc (Combloux, Megève, Saint-Gervais, Saint-Nicolas-de-Véroce, Les Contamines Monjoie) : 183 pistes, 420 km of pistes not entirely connected.
Espace Killy (Tignes, Val d'Isère) : 137 pistes, 300 km of pistes.
Grand Massif (Flaine, Les Carroz, Morillon, Samoëns, Sixt) : 134 pistes, 265 km of pistes.
Les Aravis (La Clusaz, Manigod, Croix Fry, Merdassier, Le Grand-Bornand) : 133 pistes, 220 km of pistes not entirely connected.
Les Grandes Rousses (L'Alpe d'Huez, Vaujany, Auris-en-Oisans, Oz-en-Oisans, Villard-Reculas) : 117 pistes, 236 km of pistes.
Serre Chevalier : 111 pistes, 250 km of pistes.
La Forêt Blanche (Risoul, Vars) : 104 pistes, 180 km of pistes.
Les Sybelles (Le Corbier, La Toussuire, Les Bottières, Saint-Jean-d'Arves, Saint-Sorlin-d'Arves, Saint-Colomban-des-Villards) : 96 pistes, 310 km of pistes.
Valloire and Valmeinier : 83 pistes, 150 km of pistes.
Grand Domaine (Valmorel, Saint-François-Longchamp) : 82 pistes, 150 km of pistes
Espace San Bernardo (La Rosière, La Thuile - Italie) : 73 pistes, 150 km of pistes.
Les Deux Alpes and La Grave : 69 pistes, 220 km of pistes.

(ski areas ranked according to the number of marked runs; figure more reliable than the traditional number of km given by the resorts themselves). (2005).

The other large alpine ski areas are:

Le Val d'Arly (Praz-sur-Arly, Notre-Dame-de-Bellecombe, Flumet) : 150 km of pistes.
L'Espace Cristal (Les Saisies, Crest-Volland) : 80 km of pistes
Villard-de-Lans et Corrençon-en-Vercors : 125 km of pistes
Valberg - Beuil les Launes : 90 km of pistes
Espace Lumière (Pra-Loup, Val d'Allos) : 170 km of pistes
Superdévoluy - La Joue du Loup : 100 km of pistes