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This page is specially presented by skifrance.com for quick download and printing Send this link to your friends The skiing in France Welcome to one of the most popular web domains on our entire 126-domain Activelifestyle Travel Network. Skifrance.com is one of the most popular domains simply because France may well be Europe's number one destination for winter sports.Certainly it has the highest ski areas in Europe,and no one can deny that France always took the lead in developing new ski equipment and techniques, some of which have made skiing easier for the recreational, once a year, holiday maker. And anything that is good for the sport has also got to be good for France. As
well you might notice a real lack of bookable accommodation
on our French resort sites as compared to
our other resort domains.Skiitaly.com, skiswitzerland.com, skiaustria.com. All have a much wider
selection. However we are taking stepsto remedy that. We have leased apartments in Chamonix for the coming winter and are
looking for more in major French resorts. Any ideas?
Another thing that was good for France was the winter Olympics
12 years ago in Albertville. Has
it really been a whole decade?
Albertville in France hosted the winter
Olympics in 1992. The reward for staging the ultimate winter events is
better roads to many French resorts, improved infrastructure and faster
trains. Other than that though the benefits are hard to find.
Albertville, the headquarters for the events certainly has not turned
into another Innsbruck as a result of the games. Nor has the special
social standing bestowed upon, say, Italy's Cortina d' Ampezzo, been
awarded the resorts that actually hosted the Olympic action. We refer
here to the giants of the Haute Savoie, Val d' Isere, Tignes, Les Arcs,
the 3 Vallees and others. One does not hear much of their appointment to
the heavenly bodies of "global household name" ski
destinations. So what hath the holding of the Olympics wrought for the
hosts and for those they depend upon for their livelihood, the
International holiday skier? Well
our answer to that is a resounding-who cares! You see it is our opinion
that France, not just the areas we mentioned here, mind, but all of
French skiing, probably makes up the best selection of ski terrain in
Europe, and, arguably the world. When
it comes to actually setting ski to snow, France has got to rank as the
"top of the pops in the Alps". It can boast such
tremendous skiing that skiers of all categories and standards can enjoy
equally just about any resort one might care to mention. And when
one considers that France also joins forces with Italy and
Switzerland in more than a few instances, the International flavor and
diversity makes a strong case stronger. France
leads too in ski evolution. Consider where the first "ski
evolutiv" method was developed. Think of where you saw your first
mono ski. Snowboarding? Para gliding? They all pretty well saw their
first light of day on French mountains. And
who do you think provided the first free ski lifts and areas for
beginners in Europe? Uh huh, you guessed it? And while we are on
the subject, the term "après ski" is not exactly German
now is it? So lets show a little respect for the role France has played
in ski development shall we? France
should probably most be lauded for her development of resorts where
there were, in fact, no resorts to be developed. These areas are
commonly known as "purpose built" resorts, and as the name
suggests, were developed solely for the purpose of allowing holiday
makers to use the vast amounts of slopes on the surrounding mountains.
Built for skiers, they have every convenience save for that of a
"traditional" resort atmosphere. As
the developers have found out, many skiers miss that atmosphere.
But just look at the convenience. One can ski from almost your
front door, in compact, well-designed villages with almost no
"to and fro" walking time. There is plenty of
inexpensive apartment accommodation, and a small selection of hotels
too. And of course there is usually lots of tremendous skiing.
Why else develop a resort there? But France is not all purpose
built. There are of course some of world's most famous
"traditional" names to choose from. Certainly
no European skier worth his or her salt need be educated on the extent
and variety of the available skiing in France. There is indeed
everything, everywhere, and most European skiers already know that. But
this is the era of the World Wide Web, and we know that these humble
words will be read by tens of thousands of people from all corners of
the globe. And we are also confident that they will have never heard of,
say, Val Morel, or Autrans. We hope that the offerings within the
confines of this domain will help make your choice easier. Bill Fogarty |