Aussois - slopes

Aussois is one of those wonderful resorts that, despite being very hard to get lost in, offers plenty of variety and a real sense of adventure for aspiring intermediates. Its 55km of slopes run down the south-facing side of the Pointe de Bellecôte to the village, and offer a mix of gentle green runs, flattering blues, racy reds and an away-from-it-all black run.

Its south-facing exposure over a vertical drop of 1,250m ensures Aussois’ popularity with young families - no chilly northerly pistes here – and provides a sunnier alternative to the rest of the Haute Maurienne’s resorts.

Despite its plus points, Aussois remains under the radar for many holidaymakers and its slopes are genuinely quiet and lift queues a rarity, which add to the overall relaxing holiday vibe of the resort.

But it’s not all easy-going cruising, for powder hounds and experienced intermediates up for the challenge, there’s some fun freeride terrain around the Balmes black, and the hike up to Col des Hauts is well worth the effort.

As ‘the resort in the sun’, Aussois is one of six resorts in the Haute Maurienne Vanoise region, which covers 350km of pistes and 200km of cross-country ski pistes. Of the other resorts, Val Cenis is the largest with 125km of pistes, including Europe’s longest green run, and is spread across three villages – Lanslebourg, Lanslevillard and Termignon.

At the western end of the valley, closest to Modane, is Valfréjus, purpose-built in the early 80s and rated for its off piste; it shares a joint lift pass with car-free La Norma for a combined 135km of slopes.

At the other end of the valley is Bessans, a mountaineering and biathlon base with 120km of cross-country trails, and last but not least is Bonneval-sur-Arc, officially one of the “Most beautiful villages in France”, with 20km of slopes and access to some fantastic high-altitude ski touring terrain.

Buy a six-day or more pass in Aussois and you’ll have access to a day’s skiing in each of these resorts, plus free travel on the S52 and S53 buses that serve the whole area, and the train station in Modane.

Ski highlights for all levels

Beginners:

For anyone starting out on skis or snowboards, there are two nursery slopes served by drag lifts right by the village. You can’t beat easy to access beginner runs when you’re learning.

When you’re ready for some bigger turns, at the top of the Grand Jeu chairlift are a couple of longer green runs, the fun Marmot park, and a long winding blue run back down to the village.

The Eterlou chair serves these longer green runs and provides a great opportunity to be ‘up the mountain’ to enjoy the views over the frozen Plan d’Aval lake and along the valley towards the Vanoise National Park, without scaring yourself silly on steep, exposed pistes.

Intermediates:

Is there any better feeling than the satisfaction of successfully making it from the top of the mountain to the bottom? We don’t think so, and Aussois provides the perfect place to do just that.

Whether you take the blue Armoise into the tree-lined Paérot, or push yourself on the red Bellecôte into the Cochette then the Choullière, you’ll be covering 1,250m of vertical, and with fast chairs to whisk you back up to the top, lapping variations of this is a lot of fun.

Above Le Panoramic mid station at 2,190m there’s a series of sweeping blues and reds to test your legs on before reaching the high point at the top of the Fournache chair at 2,700m. Definitely make a beeline for the north-west facing Stella run for a fast cruise with epic views.

Experts:

The on-piste highlight for experts is the top to bottom Balmes black run, while off piste the 1,700m descent from Pointe du Fréjus is well worth the hour hike. The mountain guides office in the village should be your first port of call.

If you’ve been thinking of trying ski touring, Aussois is a good place to start – there is a dedicated ski touring route from the village up through the forest to finish at the Plateau de l’Armoise (at 2,200m).

If you’ve got the touring bug, consider ski touring from the top of the ski area to La Parrachée refuge at 2,500m. Franck, the refuge guardian, has been there for 40 years and has some wonderful stories to share.

Ski schools and guides

The French national ski school, the Ecole de Ski Francais (ESF) offers lessons for all abilities, starting from age two and a half at the kindergarten on the nursery slopes right by the village. But it’s not just about learning to ski with the ESF, the instructors also offer lessons in freestyle, slalmon, biathlon, ski touring, snowboarding, telemarking, snowshoes, taxi-ski, snow scoot and yooner.

And yes, we had to look those last few up too: taxi-ski is for non-skiers – sit on an adapted ski and be guided by a specially trained instructor; a snow scoot is a stunt scooter designed for snow, with handlebars and two sleds front and back; and a yooner is a cross between a toboggan and a snow blade.

In Aussois, there are also three independent ski instructors: Angie Ski & Telemark, Myrtille Camus and O’soiski, who can offer more personalised lessons and bespoke guiding experiences.

Lift system

The lift system in Aussois is compact but efficient. The two main chairlifts, the Grand Jeu from the village to the mid station, and the Armoise from the mid station to the top, are fast detachable six-person lifts that quickly move skiers up the mountain and rarely see any queues.

Of the five other lifts three are button lifts (two on the nursery slopes and one to serve the steep black run the Roche), and two are fixed chairlifts.

Snow reliability and snowmaking

Did we mention Aussois faces south? On the one hand, this aspect is great if you prefer warmer days spent with the sun on your face, and is a valid reason why Aussois is so popular with young families (have you tried to warm up a shivering child caught in the shade being blown about by a chilly northerly? It’s not fun).

But the flip side is the slopes, particularly the lower ones, can turn slushy by early afternoon, especially later in the season.

However, there are 130 snow guns across 23km of runs, covering a selection of pistes from top to bottom and the resort gets, on average, 223cm of snow a year.

Terrain park and freestyle

There’s a cheeky little terrain park to the side of the Eterlou lift with a few kickers [checking…] and a boardercross alongside the Bellecôte, plus a couple of slalom pistes, but the freestyle action is firmly aimed at children in Aussois, with the Marmot park, a fun run through the trees ending with a mini speed trap, proving very popular.

Other mountain activities

Aside from the family-friendly slopes and easily accessible off-piste terrain, Aussois also offers a wonderfully peaceful 39km of cross-country trails at the Nordique du Monolithe area, between Aussois and Sardières. Named after the 93m high rocky needle, the monolith, that pokes out of the forest, the trails suit all levels and are tracked for both classic and skating styles.

Starting from Plan de la Croix, a 15-minute walk from Aussois, the trails get progressively more challenging the further you head into the woods towards Sardières. It’s also possible to book biathlon taster sessions at the Foyer Nordique.

Other alternative activities include snowshoeing (including a guided evening outing with mulled wine), dog sledding at Plan de la Croix, Nordic walking, and guided outings to see ibex in the Vanoise National Park.