Risoul
Encyclopedia
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Hautes-Alpes
Hautes-Alpes
Hautes-Alpes is a department in southeastern France named after the Alps mountain range.- History :Hautes-Alpes is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
department in southeastern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
It is located in the French Alps
French Alps
The French Alps are those portions of the Alps mountain range which stand within France, located in the Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions....
between the towns of Briançon
Briançon
Briançon a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department....
and Gap
Gap, Hautes-Alpes
Gap is a commune in southeastern France, the capital of the Hautes-Alpes department.-Geography:An Alpine crossroads at the intersection of D994 and Route nationale 85 the Route Napoléon, Gap lies above sea level along the right bank of the Luye River...
Risoul has a ski resort. It partners with neighbour Vars
Vars, Hautes-Alpes
Vars is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France.It is famous for its ski resort.-Population:-References:*...
to form the Forêt Blanche ski domain, located between the Queyras
Queyras
The Queyras is a valley located in the French Hautes-Alpes, of which the geographical extension is the basin of river Guil, a tributary of the Durance...
and Écrins
Écrins National Park
Écrins National Park is one of the nine French national parks. It is located in the south-eastern part of France and consists in a mountainous region of the Dauphiné Alps, south of Grenoble and north of Gap, shared between the départements of Isère and Hautes-Alpes.It rises up to 4,102 m at the...
national parks. It is sometimes called Risoul 1850 because it is 1850m above sea level.
History
The development of a ski resort at Risoul 1850 dates from the start of the 1970s. The first lift operator (SAPAR), however, went bankrupt in 1974. The local member of parliament put the council in touch with the Société Foncière de la Vallée des Allues (SFVA). The SFVA started a company called Sermont which took over the lifts and runs them to this day.The reasons for the bankruptcy in ’74 still loom. The Durance
Durance
The Durance is a major river in south-eastern France.Its source is in the south-western Alps, in Montgenèvre ski resort near Briançon and it flows south-west through the following départements and cities:* Hautes-Alpes: Briançon, Embrun.* Alpes-de-Haute-Provence: Sisteron, Manosque.* Vaucluse:...
valley is remote, the trip from Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
by train or car a long one. The A51 motorway link is still awaiting a financial commitment likewise the Montgenèvre
Montgenèvre
Montgenèvre is a commune of the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France.-Geography:Montgenèvre is located in the French Cottian Alps. It is on the Franco-Italian border at the top of the Col de Montgenèvre....
rail tunnel to connect Briançon to the TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
network. The nearest major airport is over the border in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
at Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
. The resort concentrates its efforts on returning clients but still lacks sufficient long stay guests. The Forêt Blanche link with its 180 km of pistes is a major marketing tool, especially with tour operators who can include Risoul with transfers to Montgènevre and Serre Chevalier
Serre Chevalier
Serre Chevalier is one of the major French ski resorts. Located in the southern part of the Alps, close to the Parc National des Ecrins, in the Hautes-Alpes department of the French Alps, it enjoys a large skiing area and very sunny weather, boasting 300 days of sunshine a year...
.
The resort was an early adopter of snowboarding
Snowboarding
Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set onto mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the U.S.A...
. The Surfland snowpark existed for over a decade and is now complemented by rails for beginners and experienced users. The snowpark was chosen as a training zone for the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics. The resort believes that the concept of black, red and blue run gradings is outdated and is moving to a series of themed areas such as the freeride
Freeride
Freeride is a discipline of mountain biking closely related to downhill cycling and dirt jumping focused on tricks, style, and technical trail features. It is now recognized as one of the most popular disciplines within mountain biking....
zone.
Ski area
The resort has 55 ski lifts including 1 cable carCable car
A cable car is any of a variety of transportation systems relying on cables to pull vehicles along or lower them at a steady rate, or a vehicle on these systems.-Aerial lift:Aerial lifts where the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable:...
and 14 chairs. These give it an uplift capacity of 57,000 skiers per hour. The resort is linked to Vars through the Forêt Blanche ski area giving a total of 180 km (111.8 mi) of ski runs situated between 1650 and 2750 metres altitude.
Risoul should be well placed to pick up weather systems
Weather Systems
Weather Systems, released in 2003, is Andrew Bird's second solo album and his first after disbanding the Bowl of Fire. Bird has said that the album was simply a side project during his four or five year recording of Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs...
from Italy or the Atlantic but has suffered from a lack of snow over the last couple of seasons with skiing on artificial snow at the bottom of the ski domain. 30% of the resort runs are covered by snowmaking. Risoul is looking to increase snow making capacity but there are limits to water resources in the dry Southern Alps.
The resort has earned the ‘’Petit Montagnard’’ label and its tree-lined lower slopes are ideal for family holidays. The ski school
Ski school
A ski school is an establishment that trains skiers. The modern version of the ski school was invented by the Austrian ski pioneer Hannes Schneider in the early 1920s when he formalized instruction methods and established these methods as teaching principles for all ski instructors at his school.In...
has a capacity for 60 children. The area is famed for its southern sunshine with 300 days of sun per year.
The resort
Risoul is accessible from Turin airport in Italy but it is also possible to transfer from GrenobleGrenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
, Chambéry
Chambéry
Chambéry is a city in the department of Savoie, located in the Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France.It is the capital of the department and has been the historical capital of the Savoy region since the 13th century, when Amadeus V of Savoy made the city his seat of power.-Geography:Chambéry...
or Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
airports (all approx 3 hours from the resort).
Risoul has a capacity of 18,600 beds in a mix of 2, 3 and 4 star apartments and chalets. SARA which is owned by SFVA runs 6,000 beds. The resort is not the most attractive but has had refurbishment program since 2003 and there are also a number of wood chalets that give a more traditional feel to the resort.
Apres-ski
Après-ski
Après-ski refers to going out, having drinks, dancing, and generally socializing after skiing. It is popular in the Alps, where skiers often stop at bars on their last run of the day while still wearing all their ski gear. The concept is similar to the nineteenth hole in golf. This can also...
life is brisk with a range of cafes, bars and night clubs within a compact town centre backing onto the main ski school meeting pount. Outdoors there are ice-skating facilities at both Risoul and Vars, snow-shoe walks and skidoo rides. The resort also has a cinema.
Traditional Alpine fare such as fondue
Fondue
Fondue is a Swiss dish of melted cheese served in a communal pot over a spirit lamp , and eaten by dipping long-stemmed forks with bread into the cheese...
, raclette
Raclette
Raclette is both a type of cheese and a Swiss and French dish based on heating the cheese and scraping off the melted part.-Cheese:Raclette is a semi-firm, cow's milk cheese - most commonly used for melting...
and pierrade is readily available at most restaurants, along with typical international cuisine - pizza, pasta, steak, burgers and fries. The average price of a meal is around €15, considerably cheaper than many more well-known resorts. There is a good selection of local wine and cheese.
In 2000 the resort was the first in Europe to host the Snowbombing
Snowbombing
Snowbombing is a popular week-long winter sports and music festival held annually in the spring at the Austrian ski resort of Mayrhofen.The event has been run since 2000 when it was first held at the French resort of Risoul as an après-ski nightclub promotional exercise started by English promoters...
dance music and winter sports festival.
Population
See also
- List of ski areas and resorts in Europe
- Communes of the Hautes-Alpes department