MOUNTAIN HIGH, VALLEY LOW: The Price of Skiing

Skiing has never been cheap.  Not least for British skiers, given the distance involved and therefore the need to spend a few days in the mountains.  Witness the sharp fall in Brits taking to the slopes, from 1,227,000 in 2007/8 to 899,000 last year.

In the Telegraph, Peter Hardy finds "budget" chalets for the package holiday skier in Peisey Vallandry, Val d'Isere and the Sella Ronda.  In terms of resorts, he recommends Baqueira-Beret (where you may still see the Spanish royal family), Madesimo and, in the Maurienne Valley, Aussois.

Meanwhile, Where to Ski and Snowboard has taken a systematic view in recent years.  It calculates an a "RPI" for each resort, based on a basket of indicators.  The "average" score is 100, with Ste-Foy (85) and Val Cenis (80) emerging as the best value of the bigger French resorts.

A week's Paradiski pass will set you back €277

For short breaks, the cheapest option is to stay down in the valley.  Bourg St Maurice, is one of the most obvious options, with funicular railway or easy bus access to Les Arcs/La Plagne, La Rosiere, Tignes and Val d'Isere.  (That said, the choice of hotels is limited).  Albertville may not be everyone's idea of heaven, but it's very close to Valmorel, Crest Voland and Areches-Beaufort.  Annecy is a more mainstream and probably sensible base, with Le Grand Bornand, La Clusaz and Le Semnoz close by.

And for the day-tripping skier, the enterprising www.ausommet.fr has put together a handy guide.  The chart the prices being charged by the various resorts.  Note: a significant proportion are owned by Compagnie des Alpes, who, by clever pricing, managed to increase revenues by 3% last year, thereby outpacing the modest 1% rise in skier numbers - more here.  In that vein perhaps, we see that prices are still rising, particularly in Les 3 Valleés, at 57€, beats Chamonix to the "most expensive" prize by 50 centimes.

The costs may be eye-watering, but generally the hierarchy seems reasonable (eg Valmorel's Grand Domaine and La Rosiere's Espace San Bernadino are priced similarly). Bonneval sur Arc comes in perhaps as best value: 24€ for a ski area with slopes from 1800-3000m.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: Property Prices in the Alps

Although the season has started well, the ski industry has most certainly not been immune from the financial crisis.  Last year was just about OK for France and Austria, with Switzerland faring badly - more here.

This week Les Echos published a survey of the latest property market trends across the northern French Alps.

Bargain basement? Arc 1800

The headlines include:

• A slowdown in sales.  Prices aren't tumbling, but buyers should be able to negotiate.  Recent tax changes haven't helped
• The resorts in good locations with the right accommodation are doing OK
• Big differences, even within a relatively small area.  The price per m2, for example ranges from 1,911€ in an Arc 2000 studio, to €13.108 in a larger pad up the road in Val d'Isere
• The old 1970s flats are not in vogue - indeed there is a movement among some proprietères to join two apartments together to form one larger, more attractive space. "Those with the money are looking for big apartments or chalets for 10-20 people", says M. Le Notaire.  He also notes that prices in Morzine, Avoriaz and Les Gets have been rising, although they remain cheaper than the 3 Vallées and Chamonix 
• The other tip is to invest in areas close to the ski areas - for example in the attractive villages of St-Jean-de-Sixt or Manigod rather than Le Grand Bornand or La Clusaz
• Year-on-year prices are quoted (see below), but don't seem to tally with the overall story, and look on the volatile side.  For example, why would prices be rising in Morzine and falling in Les Gets?

The league table (in € per m2) is as follows (% change in the year to 31 Aug 2012 in brackets):

• Courchevel 1850: 11,170 (-5)
• Val d'Isère village: 7,357 (+2)
• Méribel village: 8,327 (n/a)
• Megeve: 7,262 (+9)
• Méribel Mottaret: 6,667 (+10)
• La Clusaz: 5,333 (+3)
• Courchevel 1650: 5,293 (n/a)
• Chamonix: 5,049 (+1)
• Les Gets: 4,816 (-7)
• Morzine: 4,711 (+13)
• Tignes Val Claret: 4,447 (+2)
• Avoriaz: 4,356 (-1)
• Tignes Le Lac: 4,333 (-7)
• Le Grand Bornand: 4,249 (-5)
• Valloire: 4,028 (no change)
• Arc 1800: 3,333 (+13)
• La Plagne: 3,280 (-7)
• Arc 1600: 3.169 (+9)
• Arc 2000: 2,046 (-13)

For a good guide to what's out there, follow @FrenchSkiHomes: website here.

LE GRAND BORNAND

Le Grand Bornand offers something very different to the "ski factories" of the Tarentaise.

An old village, at the heart of Reblochon country, with more than 400 traditional chalets, set at the foot of the striking Aravis range.

Parking at the main village (1000m)

It's very close to civilisation - a little over an hour from Geneva, with regular ski buses direct from Annecy.  If you get the early flight from Luton or Heathrow, you will be on the slopes by 11.30 (with a following wind).

"Le Grand Bo" has been developing quietly over the years.  Its population has risen from 1,500 in 1960s to 2,000+ now, making its current population now above 1807 levels (for more, see the wikipedia page).  It actually has more inhabitants than its better-known neighbour, La Clusaz, which boasts 130km of pistes.  There has been talk about linking the two areas via Le Danay since at least 1974/75 apparently.  The reasons for this not having happened yet appear to be as follows:

1. Local rivalries between La Clusaz and Le Grand Bo
2. Low natural snowfall - apparently there was a draglift there until 1950 but it got taken down because there wasn't enough snow, even then...
3. Environmental concerns associated with developing a virgin site
4. Environmental concerns associated with having to build a mega neige de culture facility to keep the link open (see 2 above)
5. Would it be worth the investment - it's a moyenne montagne area, very familial, people coming here aren't into the motorway piste-bashing experience you get in the Tarentaise.  Etc

I can't find much recent by way of debate about the proposals.  So, for the foreseeable future, you need to rely on what seems to be a reasonably well organised network of ski buses to access the 200km+ of Aravis pistes.

The skiing

It won't keep you going for a week, but Le Grand Bo's 90km of pistes are a lot of fun. There are a whole series of areas to explore, including a real "away from it all" valley below the Col des Annes.  It has one of France's leading snowparks.  There is a great kids' area at the top of Le Rosay gondola.  The area is peppered with restaurants.  And at 31€ for a day pass, you have money in your pocket for a plat du jour, when compared with Les  Arcs' €46...

Col des Annes (1)

                          

Col des Annes (2)

Ski geeks will find just about everything they'd wish to know about the ski areas of both Le Grand-Bo and La Clusaz is on the excellent www.ski-aravis.com site.

Day-trippers can stop in the old village where there is a car park by the two gondolas and some street parking (1000m).

At the top of Le Rosay gondola

This is probably neater than driving up to Chinaillon (the summer gateway to the Col de la Colombiere).  The pistes at Chinaillon (1300m) are great for second week skiers:

Above Chinaillon

Le Grand Bornand has been trying to brand itself as a real "sporting town" in recent years. For example, it has been very assertive in investing in its role as a regular Tour de France location.  The 2013 Tour will finish at Le Grand Bo for the fourth time in a decade - you can read more about its TDF history here and see a profile of the 2013 stage here.