orcières 1850 ski resort

If you are in the greater Marseille area and looking for the best of the Southern Alps for riding, this is probably it. Only 2 hours drive from Marseille. Lots and lots of terrain. For such a large park, the last couple kilometers of road sure is congested. Get there 30 min before opening to avoid being stuck behind a line of buses and cars.There also tends to be quite a line at the lift ticket office. Getting there early helps..Note that American credit cards (without the "chip and pin") do NOT work at the lift ticket vending machines (kiosks) so don't waste your time in line for the kiosk, only to have to join the other lines.Several of the ski houses have good food and drinks for lunch. There are plenty of groomers for those who like them and a plethora of off piste options. There's also a crazy long/high zip line if boarding or skiing isn't fast enough for you. They load your skis onto your back and send you across a valley at a very high rate of descent. Cool to watch at the least.

Well from my 'title' you can see that's my French done with!Orcieres is a small resort...on a good day you could complete it all in two!! But I found it to be pretty wonderful. I'm not a bad skier and I really enjoyed the week I had there. The range of blues and reds are good. The blacks are in small supply though.The chair lifts and button lifts are well organised and get you around the resort easily.Orciers is a very French resort...I don't think I heard another English voice when I was there...and that gave it more charm. The French love it and that's a good advert. A hidden 'charm'.The snow was excellent for me. Guess I was lucky!The views are tremendous too.The resort itself is quite basic...very purpose built and a little 'dull' but to be honest with the skiing it gave I won't complain.

During my stay there, the slopes have been icy, muddy, watery, even filled with dirt at places, basically, the surface was good for skiing for only two days. The slopes also have a lot of bumps, some of them are always 'bumpy', and some become bumpy near the end of the day. But eventually, I got used to it and well, practiced skiing on slopes with different conditions. It's not very big, you can go through all of the slopes in 2-3 days, depending on how fast you are. It's not really challenging for experts and intermediates get bored after a couple of days. There are many snowboarders and many off-road places for freestylers. There are other stuff you can do, though, like zip-lining in a bag or paragliding... Everything is expensive, sometimes 3 times more than normal. People rarely speak English. There aren't many relaxing points (ski bars, restaurants) on the slopes, they are especially missed in the foothills. The restaurants there open their kitchen very late (7pm) which kind of defeats their purpose. And the food is not so great. The shops close at 7pm... But, it's sunny 300 days a year! :)

Super slopes and excellent instruction from Ecole Ski France, especially from Emilie and Bruno. Fast lift lines, very sunny and fresh snow made a wonderfully memorable vacation to start the year. Uncrowded trails, great off piste opportunities and low priced shopping made us feel like we received a great deal.

We have just returned from a wonderful week in orcieres organised through http://www.undiscoveredalps.com/ Although not exactly architecturally beautiful, like most purpose built French resorts, it is different from most others in that it is very authentically French: we heard no other English people there all week, people were very friendly, and there were some traditional boulangeries and no fat face or joules. Good variety of skiing for beginners and intermediate, although few blacks. Lots of options for alternative stuff like paragliding, tyrollienne, ice climbing, snow shoeing, cross country etc. Ice rink and excellent swimming pool access included with the lift pass which was a bonus.

Well, that's what is says. It turned out not too bad, because we had one sunny (but very cold) day and another one not so good that we've spent in the Champoléon valley snow shoeing which was quit good.

It was amazing ! Can't wait too go back! Nothing overly challenging but having experience skiing would help before you go there.

station "moyenne" dite familiale exposée sud avec un domaine skiable satisfaisant pour skieurs moyens en famille mais sous dimensionnée par rapport au nombre de visiteurs. Agencements des pistes, raccords au bas des pistes très mal fichus.

nous pouvons faire toute chose : -Patinoire-Bowling-Piscine-Espace Détente-pistes de skis-restaurants-boutique souvenirs-spectacles divers(etc...)bref il y a de quoi faire ! Nous avons adoré notre séjour !

Un avis plus que positif pour l ESI à Orcieres.Nos deux filles de 5 et 8 ans ont effectué leur cours de ski avec L ESI.Accueil très chaleureux des moniteurs petit groupe maxi 7 enfants ( pour la fille de 8 ans) et 5 enfants pour les petits.Pas de pression de médailles très à l écoute du niveau, nos filles ont fait des progrès remarquables.Sans avoir skié avant notre puce de 5 ans nous a suivi sur les pistes brutes des mercredi.N hésitez pas à confier vos enfants à l ESI les yeux fermés, nous on valide à 100%

Station sympathique pour profiter en famille de belles journées de ski.Tarifs des forfaits correctMalgré une journée maussade, il y a de quoi s'occuper avec des enfants.Patinoire, piscine ou bowling.Nombreuses supérettes disponibles. la moins chère et la plus sympathique semble être le Sherpa dans le bâtiment du Champsaur. Nous avons pu gouter des spécialités locales avant de se décider. Le pain est de type industriel comme dans l'ensemble des points chauds de la station mais il résiste bien et ne sèche pas trop vite.Petit bémol : A cause du vent deux remontées ont été stoppées et l'ensemble des skieurs s'est retrouvé au Drouvet 1 résultat 40 min de queue pour 10 minutes de descente.Nombreux parkings même un couvert gratuit !!

superbe station très bon domaine skiable plein d activité pour ceux qui ne pratique pas le ski (sentier ,piscine,patinoire,balade en chiens de traineaux...)commerçant très sympa nous y allons depuis 8 ans (residence rochebrune le top au pied des pistes) le top

Nous avons passé une semaine pendant les vacances d´hiver dans un appartement á Orcieres-Merlette. Le temps n´était pas toujours au rendez-vous mais nous nous sommes quand même très bien amusé. A part le ski, il est possible de faire de la natation, ou l´eau est un peu froide, du patinage, du bowling, aller au ciné. Bref, pas le temps de s´ennuyer. Les personnes que nous avons côtoyés lors de notre séjour était très agréables et chaleureuses. Nous avons vraiment passé de très bonnes vacances et reviendrons l´année prochaine.

super sejour, tres bonne station avec piscine et patinoire. Bon domaine skiable et bien enneigé.Residence rochebrune tres bien située sur les pistes et acceuil tip top

ce station est bien, orienté sud donc profitant du soleil pendant des longues heures.pour les familles avec des enfants c'est parfait, il y plein d'activités hors ski; bowling, patinoire, piscine etc.