Risoul riding guide - World Snowboard Guide

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Freeriding

Freeriders tend to show up here around New Year in search of decent terrain, which they can find on Pic de Razis, Melezet and Plate De La Nonne, or Pic De La Mayt. Ride in these big powder bowl areas, and you can forget about sex being the best thing in the world.

Theres a fun circuit you can do by taking the Valon run from the top of Razis down to neighbouring Vars Sainte Marie, walking up to the Peynier t-bar (which is French for 'nut crusher') and then from the top of Peynier, enjoy more tree shredding into Vars Les Claux.

Freestylers

Freestylers will love this place, as between them, the two resorts offer something for all styles and abilities. In Risoul, take the De Cezier chair to reach Surfland. Depending on the conditions you should find a quarterpipe, small practice kickers, and some rails. More importantly, youll find the140m-long, 20m-wide halfpipe, and this bad boy's earth-formed so theres no excuse if its not open! Sometimes theres also a few rails towards the bottom the Melezet t-bars.

Over in Vars, head over to the Crevoux area, where youll find a good boardercross that holds FIS events and a pro-line of huge kickers. In the same area there are usually some rails and boxes and maybe a few smaller kickers, depending on the conditions.

Away from the park there are plenty of places to launch skyward.

Pistes

Pistes: Both resorts are impeccably groomed and offer some genuinely diverse terrain to tackle. The runs from the top of the Razis into Risoul are great for speed freaks, which then narrow and twist and turn through the undulating forest, offering a different challenge. The runs from the top of Peyrefolle and Lhomme de Pierre follow in a similar (if less extreme) fashion.

In Vars, it's mainly wide-open cruising runs.

Beginners

Beginners can take the bizarre cabin lift, Accueil, to the snowboard kindergarten - the short and easy run is perfect for your first try on a board, but youll soon want to explore. Take the Clos Du Vallon chair to find the best easy runs. There are a few t-bars around but you can navigate without having to ever use one, and none of the lifts have any scary offload slopes.

Its very much a resort where youll be comfortable finding your first turns.

Resort Statistics

Resort Type: Alpine
Winter: Dec to April

Lifts

Total Lifts: 53
Gondolas: 1
Chair lifts: 13
Drag lifts: 41
Max people per hour: 54,000
Board Leashes required: No

Mountain

Total pistes/trails: 106
Total ride area: 180km
Longest run: 5miles (8km)

Top lift: 2750m
Vertical drop: 1100m
First lift: 1650m

Piste suitability

Green runs: 55%
Red runs: 34%
Black runs: 11%

Lift Passes

Lift Passes:
Half-day 22 euros
1 day pass 27.50 euros
6 day pass 143.5 euros
Only SURFLAND Terrain Park, 1-day 22 euros
Lift times:8.30am to 4.30pm

Snowfall

Artificial snowmaking coverage: 10%

Facilities

Snowboard Schools: ESI run a 6-day snowboard school
Snowboard Hire: From 120 euros/6 days
Night Riding: : The pipe is somtimes lit up.