Val Terces: Le Monêtier les Bains, La Salle les Alpes, St-Chaffrey, et Briançon (Francais) Val Terces: Le Monêtier les Bains, La Salle les Alpes, St-Chaffrey, et Briançon (English)
Base	1350m (4429')	Summit	2830m (9285')
Maximum Vertical	1330m (4363', Pic Yret to Monêtier)	Skied Vertical	1330m (4363')

NOTE: Recently, POWDER magazine "uncovered" this resort, but they changed the name to "Val Terces" to try and hide it's location from the masses of punters who might come and ruin it. I have follwed suit, albiet with perhaps a few two many clues.

At last, some three days after leaving Burlington, we donned our skis and headed out to explore the unknown.

Briançon anchors the southern end of a ski domain known as Val Terces: a mid-sized French resort comprised of a dozen villages and hamlets strung out along the edge of the French National park of the Écrins mountains. The skiing at Val Terces is pretty evenly distributed along a 15 km corridor between Briançon at one end and Monêtier-les-Bains at the other. There's a somewhat greater concentration of pistes in the middle and a pretty consistent 4000 foot vertical drop throughout.

The lift system at the Briançon end is the most recent of the lot and is anchored by the Télécabine du Prorel: a two stage 12 person gondola rising from the town at 1200m to an altitude of around 2300m. We hopped aboard at around 10 AM, rode to the top, and cruised back to the bottom. Nothing like a 4000 foot vertical run as a warm-up.

The snow was pretty darn good, albeit a trifle worn. Down into the city, cover was a bit thin, saved only by the presence of a battery of snow cannons. Up again and down into the next village of Chantmerle, it was a different story. The snow, while still worn in a few spots on the piste, showed signs of old but yet untracked powder still left from the last storm. The situation looked promising...just a few inches of refresher fluff on top, and we could be talking some serious face shots.

We managed to ski as far as the central village of the resort before we had to about face and scurry back to our car. The final run back was a bit of a snoozer, but probably all we could effectively handle after a long and exhausting day.

Vickie's mouth was agape pretty much from start to finish. Everywhere she looked, there were these huge mountains. Around every bend was yet another monstrous valley filled with pistes and lifts. Even lunch, held in typical French alpine style, was to be marveled at: scores of sun worshipers flopped back in their lounges; waiters carting about unlimited beer, wine, and Perrier; even a singer and electric guitarist duo providing some decidedly American Rock and Roll - about the only English we heard that day.

Worn to a frazzle by our first day on skis in two weeks, we crawled back to our little Renault and drove to the other end of the Valley. The sporting lifestyle was ubiquitous: we drove past the hotel owned by World Cup Downhill champion Luc Alphond's family, following a route covered by this year's Tour de France riders. Soon we arrived at the old village of Monêtier-les-Bains

Of the four clusters of hamlets that comprise Val Terces, Monêtier is the oldest and most authentic. This is no purpose built resort, like Tignes or Val Thorens - many of the buildings date back to the a 5th century, and they really look it, too. The streets, for the most part, were no more and seemingly rather less than a car width wide, twisting and turning in a manner more suited to ox cart than Oldsmobile.

At the center of it all lay the Hotel de l'Europe, a small 31 room hotel, bar, and restaurant. Our host had our Faxed room request and key waiting for us at the front desk. He was quite the character, fluent in English but French through and through. The walls of the hotel strongly reflected his love for the hunt, featuring trophies from the local mountains as well as from Poland and New York's Adirondacks. The waitresses at the bar presented a stark contrast: young, attractive, and thoroughly British. From aprés ski drinks to table d'hôtel to petite déjeuner, this place charmed us through and through.

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