If you have a car at your disposal, the self-catering accommodation offered by apartplage could be your ideal solution for a varied ski-ing holiday.  Although the apartment is not in a ski-resort, the Semnoz ski area is accessible via chair-lifts which are only 25 minutes drive away.  In addition, there are plenty of larger resorts within one hour's drive from apartplage.

The apartment apartplage may be an ideal base for your ski-ing holiday if :-

• Some members of your party prefer not to ski and instead enjoy the area in general;
• You are looking for a good value alternative to an expensive ski resort;
• You don’t mind trying out less well-known (and less expensive) resorts, which nevertheless offer great ski-ing;
• You want to experience a variety of ski-ing environments which few individual resorts can offer on their own;
• You do not necessarily wish to ski every day;
• You have a car at your disposal and are prepared to drive a minimum of 25 minutes to reach the nearest chair-lift.

Ski-ing on the Semnoz

The Annecy side of the Semnoz mountain ski area is ideal for beginners and families with young children.  It can be reached by car from apartplage in 35 minutes.

The chair-lift on the Bauges side of the same ski area can be reached in 25 minutes from apartplage and provides convenient access for intermediate and advanced skiers. The car park is only 30 metres from the chair lift.
In total the Semnoz has 2 chair lifts, 8 button lifts and 17 runs.
There is a dedicated sledging area to the left on entering the car park on the Annecy side. The Semnoz is also ideal for those wishing to participate in cross-country ski-ing and snowshoe walking.

The Semnoz generally opens during the month of December as soon as there is enough snow and closes in mid to late March.

Further afield

Here are a few suggestions for ski resorts:

• Les Saisies, Crest Voland, Flumet, Praz sur Arly and Notre Dame en Bellecombe make up the "Espace Diamant" area. This resort offers a huge ski area of over 185km with 83 lifts and 148 pistes, the majority of which face Mont Blanc. This resort caters for all levels.  The nearest part (Crest Voland) is only a 45 minute drive from apartplage.

• The twin resorts of La Margeriaz and Les Aillons are in the Bauges regional park and are little-known outside the region, but provide relaxed ski-ing, great views and are only 50 minutes drive from apartplage. The former is ideal for children and beginners, whilst the latter provides more challenging slopes.

• The chic resort of Megève is about 1 hour away.

Depending on the snow conditions, these resorts may close before the end of March.

The larger, higher, international resorts are usually open until the Easter break.  These resorts offer extensive "après ski" activities for adults and children in peak season.  They also offer activities in summer.

• La Clusaz and Le Grand Bornand are easily accessible from apartplage (1hr).

• Chamonix is to the east (1hr30) and is surrounded by spectacularly high mountains, including Mont Blanc.

• Courchevel is to the south-east (1hr15) and is part of "Les Trois Vallées", the largest ski area in the world.

These resorts are generally busier and more expensive than the aforementioned, less well-known resorts.

And Finally...

If you want to try something a bit mad, you can ski on real snow in August at 3600m on the glacier at Tignes, which is a two hour drive from the apartment (gîte) apartplage.  You have to leave early for the 07:00 opening of the slopes, but you can be back in Saint-Jorioz to spend the afternoon on the beach and swimming in the lake!

Ski maps and further information on all these ski areas are available at apartplage.

Ski and boot hire is available 3km from apartplage, as well as at the ski resorts themselves.