The off-piste ski area of La Grave in the French Hautes-Alpes has a unique atmosphere that attracts skiers from all over the world. But, as British ski instructor CHARLOTTE SWIFT explains, a question mark hangs over the future of this French mecca. March 2014
NEWS began to emerge recently that the current lease for operating the lift at La Grave will run out in 2017.
Denis Cressiels whose company currently runs the system is hoping to retire, and this will present all sorts of problems for the continued running of the La Grave lift.
From the perspective of someone living and working in the neighbouring resort of Les Deux Alpes, the addition of La Grave on our doorstep, just across the summit of the Lauze is a huge
advantage.
It’s a truly magical place.
While we already have a massive amount of lift accessed off piste skiing on our side of the mountain, the whole landscape and ambiance changes the minute you arrive over there.
Les Deux Alpes is all about ‘resort’ skiing – The pistes are groomed and marked and most of the off piste is avalanche controlled, and with 35,000 beds it’s bustling, noisy and brash.
La Grave is the opposite. It’s not what you would call a traditional resort. It has no
more than 5,000 beds, it’s quiet, a bit hippy-ish, and filled with passionate, experienced skiers and boarders. In short, it’s a wonderful contrast!
Of course La Grave is not all powder fields and steep couloirs, although you do have those; the Vallons de la Meije, although very long, is not terribly difficult and it’s possible to take fairly moderate skiers down it. I do this fairly regularly.
This enables many good intermediate skiers can taste the magic of La Grave, see the avalanche chutes, and revel in the sheer size of the place. It’s truly a different skiing experience for anyone who goes there. If we were to lose the ability to sample this magic the world would be a poorer place.
The idea that the lift and the mountain at La Grave might be turned from the last unpisted, ungroomed, unpatrolled but lift served ski area in the world into a regular ski resort style place is in my eyes truly appalling!
It’s great as it is, it’s like skiing was when I was a kid in the 50s and 60s – quiet, not many people, and those skiing have to be able to ski well enough to cope with all sorts of conditions. Sadly, this might be the reality in the future.
The reality is that the Telepherique lift itself is old and will probably need replacing before too long, which would, of course, be incredibly expensive. There are also rumours of liability issues. This means that whoever takes over the lease will need deep pockets – deeper than the small village of La Grave can manage, even though almost everyone who lives there makes their living in some way from the Telepherique.
The likelihood is that the only people with deep enough pockets will be a large lift company like the Compagnie des Alpes who now own Les Deux Alpes.
Not all the extra investment on our side of the mountain has been sympathetic to the ‘feel’ of the resort, and the idea that a very large company like this might get hold of La Grave and make ‘improvements’ which could change the unique atmosphere of the place is very sad indeed.
I seriously doubt that any large company would leave La Grave as it is – it’s simply not profitable enough.
All we can do is hope that in the meantime something or someone happens to allow La Grave to continue as it is for generations to come. I am richer for being able to ski there, and so is everyone else who has this privilege.
* Charlotte Swift is a professional British National Ski Teacher who has been working in Les Deux Alpes for the last 22 years and independently as Easiski for the last 14 years. For more information go to:
www.Easiski.com
www.Easi-Apartments.com
Categories: France, Resort News & Reports
Having had the chance to snowboard down la grave the last couple of years,ive been interested in this story from when i first came across it on the internet a while back,I’ve just came back from a road trip around france having spent the night in la grave and catching the lift to see what it is like up the mountain during the summer,i did ask the lady running the hotel about the lift shutting down,trying to understand what she was saying,I’m pretty sure she said about someone has just took over the lease,i was just wondering if you had heard this and if it was true
Many thanks