| Serre Chevalier | |
|---|---|
 Serre-Chevalier 1500, Yret and Cibouit summits | |
  Serre Chevalier Location within Alps | |
| Location | Briançon |
| Nearest major city | Grenoble |
| Coordinates | 44°56′40″N6°34′0″E / 44.94444°N 6.56667°E /44.94444; 6.56667 |
| Top elevation | 2,800 m (9,200 ft) |
| Base elevation | 1,200 m (3,900 ft) |
| Trails | 81 slopes[1] |
| Lift system | 62 lifts[1] |
| Website | www |
Serre Chevalier (French pronunciation:[sɛʁʃəvalje]) is a majorski resort in SoutheasternFrance, near theItalian border, located in theHautes-Alpesdepartment,Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azurregion. Situated to the northeast ofÉcrins National Park in theFrench Alps, the resort encompasses a large skiing area, with 250 km (155 mi) ofslopes and favourable weather, boasting 300 days of sunshine a year. In Serre Chevalier, 80 km (50 mi) of the slopes are covered bysnow cannons to supplement naturalsnowfall. The resort is owned byCompagnie des Alpes.
Serre Chevalier consists of the city ofBriançon, the villages of Chantemerle inSaint-Chaffrey and Villeneuve inLa Salle-les-Alpes, as well asLe Monêtier-les-Bains.World Cup champion ski racerLuc Alphand was born and lives in the valley below the resort.
The maximumelevation for skiing is at Telesiege Yret at 2,800 m (9,190 ft)above sea level, and the minimum is 1,200 m (3,940 ft), a total vertical drop of 1,600 m (5,250 ft). One of the outstanding features of Serre Chevalier is the wooded nature of the slopes. Thetimber line is at 2,150 m (7,050 ft), yielding about 700 m (2,300 ft) of vertical drop of tree-lined slopes.
The slopes are managed by Compagnie des Alpes. There are 61 lifts: 1cable car, 5gondola lifts, 20chairlifts in total, 10high-speed detachable chairlifts, 10fixed-grip chairlifts, 28surface lifts, 3 ski tows, as well as 4 magic carpet lifts.[2]
In the summer Serre Chevalier is enjoyed for hiking, cycling, mountain biking, climbing, rock climbing, sledding, kayaking, paragliding and sightseeing. Four lifts are open to take hikers and mountain bikers up the mountain.[3] There are 10 trails between 2500 and 1350m.
Serre Chevalier organised the MTB French championships in 2008, the MTB Trial French championships in 2009 and the BMX European games in 2010. The location was also used in the2011 Tour de France when Stage 18 finished at the summit of the nearbyCol du Galibier. Luxembourgclimbing specialistAndy Schleck won the stage with a long solo breakaway 60 km (37 mi) from the finish and finished the Tour second overall, losing to Australian cyclistCadel Evans.
Serre-Chevalier travel guide from Wikivoyage