Le Carroz - our go to ski resort

 Although we've really enjoyed staying in Samoens for its variety and vibrancy, Camping Le Giffre provided us with a really great first base for our adventure, and we've also loved staying in the quieter village of Sixt Fer-A-Cheval too our go to skiing resort has been Les Carroz.  It is a bit more accessible to Flaine and also quite different from Flaine in that it offers tree lined avenues / pistes and it is also often a little bit quieter than other areas.  The snow in Les Carroz also seems to be just a bit more welcoming but maybe that is just our opinion?

We have some favourite runs - the Plein Soliel blue which leads into the Timalets red offers a great long run from the top of the Kedeuze gondola and often we do this two or three times as a starter for our day.  Sitting in the Kedeuze gondola on the way back up can offer a bit of warmth as well as a nice rest, not that we've needed the warmth very often as we have had so many bluebird days.  See the youtube clip of this below.

Les Carroz also offers an alternative way to go from top to bottom of the Kedeuze via the Combe blue run.  This run has the benefit of offering an even longer run as it winds its way through the trees and it also has a number of tributary runs for example the red Zorta which we have really enjoyed too as it's a bit steeper but still really wide and generally has had good snow coverage.  See some you tube clips below of these runs.



As many who have skied will know the mountain resteraunts can be quite pricey and so we usually have a picnic lunch with us when we're on the slopes.  It can also be time consuming to come down the mountain at lunchtime.  So during our time in Grand Massif we have become quite familiar with the various Sal Pic Nic's (indoor picnic rooms) which the French resorts provide usually near each of the main stations.  They are not always the easiest to find, I guess they're not the most important in driving the local economy, and often we have had to ask a number of resort employees to locate them and usually they are down in a bunker type environment with no view.  But at Les Carroz the Sal Pic Nic is really good, both easy to find and offers a great view inside and out.  There are many other outdoor picnic places in Les Carroz and the photo's below offer views from some of these.




N.B. We have also learnt that skiing through lunchtime and then having a later lunch about 2pm can offer quieter slopes during these times and also the ski schools tend to stop for their picnic lunches between 12.30 and 1.30pm so it can mean the picnic places, both indoor and outdoor are quieter when we stop at 2pm.  I suppose this is a benefit of being here for the season, we don't necessarily have to ski all day everyday and can choose the quieter times which is especially good during the school half term holidays, basically all of February.

One of the things we would like to do is to take Homer to the different villages of Grand Massif and potentially to stay overnight in them if we can - so we can get a feel for the place in the evening as well as skiing it in the day.  Where possible we have driven to the resort to have a look around and when we went to Les Carroz we liked the look of the village, although it is quite higher than anywhere we've stayed so far, but we didn't manage to find a suitable place to stay.  Search for Sites, the app we use as a starter (it is great for campsites, Aires and places where wild camping is allowed) isn't suggesting anywhere that's easy but we'll keep on trying.  Maybe as it warms up in March it will become more possible, that is certainly something we're planning in terms of Flaine - which is even higher and therefore much colder as well as offering tricky mountain roads to get there.  With experience I'm getting a little more confident in taking Homer up mountain roads although I still feel a bit anxious doing it especially when the road gets thinner and there is little in the way of protection from the edge, which can sometimes offer a long drop to the bottom.  I don't fancy rolling Homer down the mountainside!!! 😶😬😱




This blog was written by Chris



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