Serre Chevalier for Snowboarders
Our thanks to Cat Hart, former France-based seasonaire and contributor to snowboarding blog BoardStylist.com, who in this guide casts her eye over the Serre Chevalier Valley from a snowboarder's perspective.
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Glen Duncan, Chez's DJ, snowboarding beneath the summit of Serre CheavlierWith trees, steeps, bowls, piste and park, Serre Chevalier has everything a rider could possibly want, and in abundance. Add to that traditional French charm, an average 300 days of sunshine per year and some lively après bars and and you have a pretty sweet snowboarding destination.
The bars are also a great place to have a chat and find out where are the best places to head to on the mountain, or rather mountains. And what mountains they are! In addition to providing spectacular scenery, they also offer fantastic terrain for all levels of rider whether you prefer cruising down groomed pistes, hitting the park or powder hunting off piste (if venturing off piste you should always hire a professional guide).
The main terrain park can be accessed from Villeneuve and consists of three main lines for different levels of rider including jumps, boxes, rails and other features. There are also two boarder cross courses and a fantastic natural terrain park (Le Mélèzone) located within the trees and built entirely from wood. There are also loads of fun hits to be had just cruising around the pistes and the resort is regularly described as being one giant fun park.
| “with so much awesome riding to be had, you'll want to save your energy for the slopes!” |
It's a great resort for freeriders, with loads of easily accessible bowls, cliff drops and wide open powder stashes for those wanting to venture off piste. It's also renowned for its trees and has more gladed areas than any other resort in Europe.
Serre Che, as it's known locally, has a number of good bars to keep the moderate beer monster boarder merry, the most popular of which include La Grotte, Le Frog and Mojo's, all of which can be found in Villeneuve. For those wanting to party into the early hours, Le Club nightclub (also in Villeneuve) is open until 3am (Thurs, Fri & Sat), but with so much awesome riding to be had, you'll want to save your energy for the slopes!
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