Les Houches Ski Resort At The Gates Of The Chamonix Valley In France

Houches, too, is part of the Mont-Blanc Ski domain, giving way to nearly 350 pistes and twice as many slopes. Les Houches, moreover, is renowned for its Physics School, which has educated both teachers and students of Nobel Prize stature.

Getting to Les Houches is easy enough as a scheduled bus and shuttle transfer takes place from the Geneva Airport. For around 20-30 Euros, you can be skiing in one of France's most renowned and biggest ski resorts. If skiing is not your thing, then try the respected weeklong Tour-du-Mont-Blanc (Mont Blanc Tour) walk around Mont Blanc. You can literally start and end a walk in France while visiting Italy and Switzerland's most breathtaking scenes.

Ski enthusiasts who come to ride the slopes when the weather shuts down other Alp resorts, however, mostly visit Les Houches. Les Houches, moreover, is one of the best places in the Alps for beginners to get their feet wet and intermediates to practice for harder slopes. If you like dodging trees and gliding through conifers, Les Houches is rightfully known for all the trees around. The slopes, then, are sheltered but safe. It's possible to take in a couple descents-such as the St. Gervais to �La Tanniere� restaurant-and have a cup o' tea or lunch just minutes away. One of the best luxuries about Les Houches is the accessibility of all the aprs ski highlights.

Les Houches itself has two cable cars that can take you up. One starts from Les Chavant and reaches La Prarion. If you wish to start from the center of town, however, you can jump on a cable car from there up to Bellevue. However, to access these you'll need the right ski passes. An adult, for example, will pay around 50 Euro for a one-day pass, where a child can pay less than 40 Euro. If you want ride and ski longer, then you'll have to pay around 230 Euros for a six-day ski pass. The right ski pass-for more money-can take you to Chamonix, Combloux, Cordon, Le Tour, St. Gervais, Passy Plaine, Les Contamines and more.

Les Houches French ski resort has a large range of skiing suitability for the entire family of novices and experts. Intermediates will have the most luxury choices with 55% of the slopes. Beginners follow a close second with 41% of the slopes, while experts will have only 4%, which includes the famous (perhaps infamous if done unsuccessfully) Verte piste. The misnomer, however, is a black run of over 3300 meters in length with a nice altitude loss of over 850 meters. The preeminent skiers can conquer the Verte in less than two minutes while others take over six or seven minutes. Some considers the slope one of the most fetching slopes in the world.

Les Houches lies at about 1000 meters above sea level. The highest lift will take you to 1900 meters-giving great views of the surrounding mountains and trees. In this resort alone, there are over 20 runs: 17 intermediate, 4 beginner and 1 advanced with 10 km of cross-country trails winding every-which-way with a snow park for boarders.

Additionally, you'll find 18 total lifts, 4 of which are chair, 12 draglifts and 2 Gondola style. Here and throughout the whole valley, there are plenty of snow cannons and nearly 60 km of pistes to tackle. The winter season is long, starting in December and ending sometime in April. As such, Les Houches ski resort gives a lot to beginners and a family of novices. You can literally stay here on the cheap for one week for less than 1000 Euros.

Les Houches French ski resort has plenty of accommodation to choose from. Most have a minimum person and minimum night regulation, making some two or three day ski weekends difficult to house. Renting a chalet, apartment, self-catering facility, and dorm or hostels room are all possible. During the high season-holidays and some weekends-rooms fill up quickly and can cost more than 100-200 Euros per night (that is considered cheap). You can also find luxury here, though you'll pay high-end prices for some of the choicest of places.