Domaine skiable Risoul - La Forêt Blanche & Luge Dévale — Attraction in Briançon

As with all resorts in the southern Alps your issue with Both Vars and it's sister resort Risoul is the quality and volume of the snow. This is my second visit to the resort in late Dec / early Jan for a total of 12 days on the slopes and on both occasions snow conditions have been very poor. Although it is usually possible to find sheltered areas in the bowl that maintain a small amount of surface powder cover, for the most part runs become icy and dangerous after only a couple of days of sunshine and the resort really needs a fresh dump every 2-3 days to remain enjoyable. The resort has a huge amount of off-piste to explore, but it is really only safe to do so following significant snowfall. With temperatures often reaching 10 degrees Celsius during the day even after a large dump of powder the piste quickly turns into an ice rink if it is not topped up. Snow management is also very poor in comparison to many other resorts which only worsens the situation.

Public transport between Risoul and Vars is laughable in comparison to most other resorts of this size and as a visitor you are left with the unshakeable feeling that the two resorts are making it as difficult as possible to reach one another. We were charged 100 euro for a taxi from one resort to the other at 7pm which was outrageous given the internet states that 40 euro is the average! Bus services are few and far between and those that run later than 12:15 in the afternoon (I'm not joking) are chargeable! Costing at least 9 euros per person for a 10-15 minute ride!

A good resort to visit if you are local and know there has been a big dump of powder but probably one to avoid for anything but a last minute holiday with a LOT of snow forecast as a long duration lift pass (more than a couple of days) is a very big risk given how quickly conditions deteriorate. This is further highlighted as this is one of the only resorts I have ever visited that will not refund unused days on the lift pass if the conditions are too poor to actually ride the mountain which was the case for the last 2-3 days of my most recent visit.

At this time (January 2019) I really felt that the resort should have been closed for safety reasons as many runs were more tarmac and rock than snow, yet they refused to consider a refund for our remaining days! As an instructor I found this particularly shocking as I felt that the conditions on the mountain made it dangerous for all but the most advanced riders. If I were teaching here I certainly would not risk the safety of one of my own classes in the conditions that the resort seemed to find acceptable.

This resort also seems to suffer really badly from it's patrons being unable to queue or even have basic manners. Whilst this is sadly often a problem in France and Italy, we experienced an unusually high number of people queue jumping and battering our skis and boards carelessly. The edges and top of my 2018 Capita Mercury look like someone took a cheese grater to them after only 6 days here.

I've given 3 stars for the off-piste available if you are lucky enough to have good conditions but probably a 1-2 star resort if you don't get the powder as the pistes are poorly maintained and not very...

Risoul is one of the best places to ski in the Alps from the Southeast of France. It is a family friendly place to ski and start your adventure. The ski trail is amazing because you could also explore the VARS "La Forêt Blanche accessible from Risoul.

At the heart of the Hautes-Alpes, Vars and Risoul are two ski resorts renowned for their exceptional sunshine and snow. It was in 1990 that they decided to link their tracks to form the most beautiful ski area in the Southern Alps: La Forêt Blanche. Its name is explained by the larch forest that covers its slopes up to 2200m altitude.

There are nice shops for your groceries and shopping spree. A cinema which is cheap, great and affordable restaurants. Pharmacy is there to aerve you whenever you need them. Very safe which is very important criteria when you're...

The ski resort of Risoul and Vars combined is 185km of slopes. If you're an experienced skier, it will get somewhat repetitive near the end of the week, but you can still discover new slopes or do some hors piste. Some of the lifts are quite slow and long. There is a big snowpark in Vars. The town of Risoul has a nicer and more family oriented part and a student/party part with smaller and not so nice appartements close to the Grotte du Yéti après-ski bar and club. Can be quite loud if you're staying right above these. It's good for students and...