Skiing in the Massif?

[Grumpy]

Has anyone experience of skiing (alpine) in the Massif (Super Besse, Le Mont Dore etc)? It's not too far from where I live and am tempted to try it!

Steve

[clarey c]

Hi Steve,

We are less than 2 hours North of there and I have just come back from Le Mont Dore with a whacking great bruise to show for it!  We went to Superbesse last year and, whilst Superbesse is great - Le Mont Dore, imho is a little bit better.  Neither resort is excessively touristy - which I liked and youngest daughter liked Le Mont Dore so much that she want back after 2 weeks.

I guess it also depends upon your level of competence.  I am very much a beginner but I found the whole skiing "thing" at either resort very enjoyable.

If you want to send me a PM and I can give you much more info.

[Wizzer]

We are about 20 minutes from Super Besse or 30 mins from Le Mont Dore.

I would say the skiing is better on the Super Besse side but the apres ski and ambience is better in Le More. For those people who prefer cross country skiing or to get out on snow shoes, La Stele which is on the road between Le Mont Dore and La Tour d'Auvergne is as excellent centre although the trails are very far reaching way out past Super Besse to Lac Pavin.

It certainly isn't like skiing in the Alps as the blacks are not too challenging but when the link between the two towns is open, the range of runs is not bad. When we were there on Christmas Day, we almost had the slopes to ourselves although lift queues do occur in school holidays.

There is also a good web cam which had live updates, so we can choose when to go: http://www.snoweye.com/?page=fr-massifcentral&detail=superbesse&big=25

The other thing to remember is that a SEASON long pass here costs around the same as a 10 day pass in some of the big alpine resorts!

 

[Grumpy]

sounds excellent, I'll keep my eye on the meteo and the webcams and maybe sneak a day over there soon!

Steve