Beautiful European Runs

5th January 2009

Grande Motte, Tignes, France

Take the underground funicular up from Tignes, Val Claret. You then take a cable-car to the top of the Grande Motte glacier at 3456m.

Beautiful European Runs

Finish: At the train station at Val Claret, a vertical drop of just over 1400m.

Route: Just head down. You can follow reds all the way down, finishing up where you started. Just follow the piste. Just remember you are at high altitude so it might take a bit more out of you than you reckon.

OK, Val d’Isère, France

Start: Top of the Rocher de Bellevarde, you can get there from the Olympique gondola from Val D'Isere or by the Funival funicular from La Daille.

Finish: By the river bridge in La Daille or back to the train station if you want to do it again.

Route: This is still a FIS race course, next month’s Ski World Championships competitors will use the OK for training. Although the race will be on the Face de Bellevarde which will be a training run for the Olympics.

OK stands for Oreiller/Killy who were two local Olympic champions - fact fans!

OK starts steep, then there are more technical stretches, but generally this is ..ok.

The Champagne Run, Vaujany, France

Start: Take the cable-car to the 3330m summit of Pic Blanc above Alpe d’Huez.

Finish: At the small hamlet of L’Enversin d’Oz beneath Vaujany.

Route: This is best-suited to experienced skiers. You cover a distance of at least 12km and drop 2230 vertical metres. So this really shouldn't be attempted by beginners or unfit intermediates.

When you cross the blue piste at the top of Vaujany’s area your thighs will be screaming – but amazingly you'll still have another 1000 vertical metres still to go

Küblis and Serneus, Davos, Switzerland

Start: The cable-car from Weissfluhjoch above Davos to the 2844m Weissfluhgipfel.

Finish: An impressive 12km and 2000 vertical metres to two small hamlets from which you can take railway back to Davos or Küblis.

Route: A brilliant last run of the day, where you can start with a hard-earned drink in a pub while you wait for the train to take you back to Davos or Küblis.

Head down from the top of Gipfel, go around Schwarzhorn and then on to Schifer where you can then go left to Küblis or right for Serneus.

Ventina (no.7 on the local piste map), Cervinia, Italy

Start: Plateau Rosa (3480m) on the border with Zermatt, Switzerland.

Finish: At the bottom station of the Cervinia gondola.

Route: Easy map finding - just head downhill, it’s a clearly-marked, easy trail.

Doing it once is hard (without stopping). Iron men and women do consecutive laps.

La Saulire-St Bon, Courchevel, France

Start: Take the cable-car up to 2738m to the ridge separating Courchevel from Méribel.

Finish: At St Bon 1100m. A good final run of the day.

Route: With a vertical drop of 1638m. Take the route from the top which starts steep then an ideal gradient all the way. Go down to Courchevel 1850, with the lift stations to your right, go under the bridge, and go left onto the Brigues run. Just before Le Praz go right onto the St Bon piste.

Once you've done this once or so, you'll know the way so you won't need to stop to consult the map.

Enjoyed this article?

If you liked this article, feel free to re-tweet it to let others know.
Thanks, we appreciate it :)