Serre Chevalier


Serre Chevalier is a major ski resort in Southeastern France, in the Hautes-Alpes department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Located near Écrins National Park, the resort encompasses a large skiing area, with of slopes and favourable weather, boasting 300 days of sunshine a year. In Serre Chevalier, of the slopes are covered by snow cannons to supplement natural snowfall. It is owned by Compagnie des Alpes.
Serre Chevalier consists of the town of Briançon, with the villages of Chantemerle, Villeneuve, and Le Monêtier-les-Bains. World Cup champion ski racer Luc Alphand was born and lives in the valley below the resort.

Ski area

The maximum elevation for skiing is at Telesiege Yret at above sea level, and the minimum is, a total vertical drop of. One of the outstanding features of Serre Chevalier is the wooded nature of the slopes. The timber line is at, yielding about of vertical drop of tree-lined slopes.
The slopes are managed by Compagnie des Alpes. There are 61 lifts: 1 cable car, 5 gondola lifts, 20 chairlifts in total, 10 high-speed detachable chairlifts, 10 fixed-grip chairlifts, 28 surface lifts, 3 ski tows, as well as 4 magic carpet lifts.

Summer

In the summer Serre Chevalier is enjoyed for hiking, cycling, mountain biking, climbing, rock climbing, sledding, kayaking, paragliding and sightseeing. Four lifts are open to take hikers and mountain bikers up the mountain. There are 10 trails between 2500 and 1350m.
Serre Chevalier organised the MTB French championships in 2008, the MTB Trial French championships in 2009 and the BMX European games in 2010. The location was also used in the 2011 Tour de France when Stage 18 finished at the summit of the nearby Col du Galibier. Luxembourg climbing specialist Andy Schleck won the stage with a long solo breakaway from the finish and finished the Tour second overall, losing to Australian cyclist, Cadel Evans.