La Rosière is
a small, friendly and well catered ski resort in the Haute Tarentaise, Savoie region of France.
The village differs from most other ski resorts in that it is south facing
and sited on a plateau, rather than in the bottom of a valley.The resort
is high at 1850m which, along with its aspect, gives fantastic views both
up and down the Isère valley.
La Rosière is on the opposite
side of the valley to Les Arcs with Arc 2000, Arc 1950 and Mont Pourri clearly
visible. La Rosière holds the French snow record for a ski resort
due, it is said, to the proximity of Mont Blanc. It is also one of France's
sunniest resorts (La Rosière Tourist Office literature says it receives
the same amount of sun, on average, as Carcassone!). La Rosière is
a very friendly, safe, family- orientated resort offering good piste skiing
as well as great off-piste and ski-touring opportunities. La Rosière
connects with the Italian resort of La Thuile, giving an extensive ski area,
"l'Espace San Bernardo", over, and on both sides of, the Little
St Bernard Pass.
La Rosière is the last village in France on the D1090 (was the N90) road over the
Little St Bernard Pass. During winter months, the pass is closed so the
only traffic in La Rosière is local, with no through traffic.
La Rosière's ski area connects with that of La
Thuile on the Italian side, giving combined pisted runs of around
150 km over l'Espace San Bernardo. These cover all levels of skiing from
beginner (there are nursery slopes in the middle of the village) to expert.
There are also extensive opportunities for off-piste skiing and ski-touring
in both resorts and over the pass. The lift pass covers both resorts -
a pass for five days or longer also allows a day's skiing in Les Arcs
(accessible by road or by furnicular from Bourg St Maurice), Val d'Isère,
Tignes, La Plagne or Valmorel for 23.50 euros or Sainte
Foy en Tarentaise (a little village but big skiing!) for 12.50 euros.
Other resorts easily accessible by car include Courchevel, Méribel,
Les Menuires, Val Thorens and satellite villages to such as Les Coches,
Peisey and Nancroix.
Skiniks.com has apartments in the centre of the village. Most are in Les
Terrasses de La Rosière. The apartments sleep 4-6 people and
are well equipped. Apartments have televisions, hi-fi and DVDs and most
apartments are also equipped with dishwashers. The apartments are close
together giving scope for larger groups, if required. On the ground floor
of Les Terrasses are a bakery, supermarket, delicatessen, pharmacy, ski
shop, gym/ fitness centre and 2 screen cinema. There are other shops,
bars and restaurants in the main shopping centre, which is about fifty
metres away. The commercial centre in Les Eucherts includes shops,
bars, restaurants, an ice-skating rink and 10-pin bowling alley.
For ski equipment hire or purchase Colette Sport, a family run
ski shop, close to Les Terrasses, offers expert and friendly advice and a good range of
equipment and clothing. Colette offers clients of skiniks.com a 25% discount
on equipment hire.
Click here to see Les Terrasses and other important points in La Rosière on GoogleMaps.
There are several restaurants in La Rosière providing good food
at a reasonable cost - it is still possible to eat out for less than 20
euros or so including wine. Menus tend to be extensive and many offer
local specialities including brasserades, fondues and raclette. For those
wishing to "eat in" the supermarkets are happy to lend fondue,
brasserade or raclette equipment (subject to availability).
There are three ski schools, all with English speaking ski instructors.
Guides are also available for those who may wish to venture further afield.
Day tours are organised at various times during the season. Unusually,
for France, heli-skiing is also available, with pick-ups just over the
Italian border.
It is easy to drive to La Rosière, it is about 600 miles from Calais,
which can be done in, usually, 8 - 10 hours. Other options include the
snow train, TGV or Eurostar to Bourg St Maurice and then bus or taxi up
the mountain (bus fare about 10 euros) or flying to Chambery, Lyon, Grenoble
or Geneva and hiring a car or taxi. Bus and train services are also available
from French airports.
The Little St Bernard pass is closed in winter to all traffic (the snow
was still 17 feet deep in June a few years ago when they came to reopen
the pass), so the only traffic in La Rosière is local. There is
plenty of parking, including undergound (skiniks.com includes an underground
parking space for most apartments in the rental price).
The three ski schools in La Rosière run a full range of courses
catering for beginners to experts on both alpine and telemark skis and
snowboards. Private tuition is also available for individuals or groups.
Group or private ski lessons are available in the mornings, afternoons
or both with tuition for all levels from beginners to competition skiing.
Further details are available below.
La Rosière also offers a patrolled off-piste area, Le Spot des
Zittieux, a Boarder Cross track, a Snow Kite area and a Snowpark for freeriders. For those
of a competitive nature, races are also organised each week.
Thanks to its proximity to the Italian border, la Rosière is the
only ski resort in the Savoie able to offer heli-skiing. Choose from single
or multiple drops and ski the Ruitor glacier (from 3300 metres with a
2100m vertical decent), the Miravidi (3065m with a 1800m vertical descent),
the Freduaz (2900m with a 1700m vertical descent) or Mont Ouille (3099m).
All outings are accompanied by qualified high mountain guides.
There are also facilities for cross-country skiers, walkers, snow-shoeing
(with organised trips), Nordic walking, tobogganing, igloo-building (and
you can choose to sleep in it afterwards!) and discovery trips (nature,
culture, local cuisine, farm trips etc). Mountain guides are available
for ski touring, ski mountaineering and other explorations.
Resort: 1850m
Skiing: 1176m-2570m
Highest lift: 2570m
Lowest lift: 1176m
Vertical drop: 1394m
Number of lifts: 20
Number of runs: 38
Total piste length: 50km
L'Espace San Bernardo (including La
Thuile): 155km
Green/Blue:
22
Red: 12
Black: 4
Le Spot des Zittieux - ski off-piste in a patrolled area. Choose your
lines in a natural and progressive environment.
Le Boarder Cross du Fort - let rip!
Snowpark includes 1 hip, 9 tables, 1 big air, 2 handrails and 1 fun box.
Resort: 1441m
Skiing: 1441m-2611m
Highest lift: 2611m
Lowest lift: 1441m
Vertical drop: 1170m
Number of lifts: 16
Number of runs: 42
Total piste length: 105km
L'Espace San Bernardo (including La Rosière): 155km
Green/Blue:
11
Red: 22
Black: 9
L'Espace San Bernardo
Skiing: 1176m-2611m
Highest lift: 2611m
Lowest lift: 1176m
Vertical drop: 1435m
Number of lifts: 36
Number of runs: 80
Total piste length: 155km
Number of snow cannons: 455 on 35 km of pistes
Green/Blue:
33
Red: 34
Black: 13
Address: L'Office du Tourisme de La Rosière
73700 La Rosière-Montvalezan
France.
The three ski schools in La Rosière run a full range of courses
catering for beginners to experts on both alpine and telemark skis and
snowboards. Private tuition is also available for individuals or groups.
Group or private ski lessons are available in the mornings, afternoons
or both with tuition for all levels from beginners to competition skiing.
Please note
that a photo is required for all ski passes of 9 days or more. There are
photo booths in the Maison du Ski and Office du Tourisme.
Beginners: La Rosière has three lifts for beginners which
are free, Clarines 1 and Manessier, near the Relais du Petit St Bernard,
and Dahu in Les Eucherts.
Free passes: Lift passes for the La Rosière domaine are free for those aged less than
5 years or over 75 years (proof of age will be asked for in each case).
These passes are available from the Maison du Ski.
Ski passes: Passes are available for 3 hours from the time of issue,
for mornings or afternoons or for a number of days.
A ski pass for 6 days to cover the Espace San Bernardo (both La Rosière and La Thuile) costs
171.90 euros for an adult, 120.30 euros for children aged
5-13, 137.40 euros for adults aged 60-74 and 73.20 euros for those 75 & over (2009/10 season).
A reduced rate 6 day Family Pass is also available for 2 adults and 2 children aged less than
17 at a rate of 554.00 euros. Further children aged less than 17 can be added for 120.30 euros
each. A 7 day family pass costs 622.00 euros and an 8 day pass 686.00 euros.
Passes for 5 days or over give a reduced rate of 23.50 euros for a day's
skiing in Val d'Isère, Tignes, Les Arcs, La Plagne or Valmorel and 12.50 euros
in Sainte Foy en Tarentaise.
Season passes: Season passes are also available. A season's pass
can be an economical alternative for those looking to ski in La Rosière
and La Thuile for more than 4 weeks or so during a season. For the 2009-10 season an adult season
pass costs 693.40 euros.
There is a kids' club (Le Club des Galopins) in
La Rosière where you can safely leave children (up to the age of
12) for either half a day or all day (they will provide meals, and/ or
collect children from ski school, if required). Activities include sledging,
skiing and ski instruction, cross-country skiing, snow shoes etc depending
on age. For older children, the ski schools have a "Jardin des Enfants"
where there is supervised skiing and various courses to complete.
Further details are available in the "Kids"
section.
