One of our very own in-house ski experts, Lyndsey (who started skiing at the age of 13 and has visited the French Alps more than 15 times), recommends her favourite blue pistes...
The 'Les Cascades' piste in the Grand Massif ski area
1. In the Grand Massif
There's a 14km blue run that I really like called ‘Les Cascades’ which links Flaine and the village of Sixt Fer-à-Cheval. It's a great descent through meadows and forests. It sits on the edge of the Sixt Fer-à-Cheval Nature Reserve - it’s not unusual to see mountain goats!
To get there, from Samoëns or Les Carroz, take the lifts to the summit of Les Grandes Platières in Flaine. Once you've skied to Sixt you’ll need to hop on the bus back to Samoëns where you can take the lifts back up...maybe to do it again?
See the Grand Massif Piste Map
Our view over the La Plagne part of the Paradiski ski area
2. In Paradiski
If you find yourself in La Plagne you should definitely ski the 'Tunnel' piste. As the name suggests, you go through a tunnel (Tunnel des Inversens) halfway down the piste which has multi-coloured lights!
To get there, from Les Coches, take the lifts to Plagne Bellecote. From there use the Belle Plagne and Roche de Mio gondolas to the start of the run.
La Folie Douce in Alpe d'Huez
The outdoor dance floor at La Folie Douce in Alpe d'Huez
3. In the Grand Domaine
Before I had my daughter I used to like to plan my skiing around my apres-ski. There's a great run in Alpe d'Huez which takes you straight to the front door of the Folie Douce mountain restaurant...which has an outdoor dancefloor! The DJs (and dancers) tend to kick off the afternoon at around 2.30pm.
From Oz 3300, take the Poutran gondolas, then the Troncon gondola. From here, take the ‘Couloir’ blue run and then merge onto the ‘Boulevard des Marmottes’.
See the Grand Domaine Piste Map
A photo of the La Marquise chairlift taken by Roger Moss (mountainpassions.com)
4. In the Tarentaise
There's a really picturesque run in Sainte Foy that's a personal favourite, especially at the end of a day. The views are really something. Also, the second half is treelined, so there's great shelter as well as beauty.
The piste is called the ‘Grand Solliet’ and it starts at 2425m by the La Marquise chairlift.
See the Sainte Foy Tarentaise Piste Map
The view from the Jandri Express lift
5. In Isère
In 2015, Les Deux Alpes built a run that took 20 years of planning! The 'Jandri' pistes connect across 2000 vertical meters of descent on blue runs. The resort also built the Jandri Express lift which became one of the world’s top 10 biggest lift-served verticals down from 3600m to 1600m. Keep an eye out, the resort are building a new Jandri lift for Winter 24/25 - it will half the journey time by a third!
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