La Rosiere, France: Everything a Skier Should Know

La Rosiere, France | Welove2ski — Photo: © Roger Moss

The Stats

Altitude: 1441m

Top Lift: 2650m

Ski area: 160km of pistes

Adult lift pass: 186€ for six days

In a Nutshell

La Rosiere deserves its reputation as a family-friendly ski resort. Some of the local pistes are a bit bland, but we don’t hear too many parents complaining about that – and the link over to La Thuile in Italy adds plenty of interest, as well as a separate micro-climate.

Essential Advice for the Perfect Trip

If La Rosiere fails to conjure up a meaningful image in your mind then you’re probably among the many skiers who speed past the exit signs each season while heading to nearby destinations like Tignes or Val d’Isere. And, like they say, until you actually try it you’ll never know what you’ve been missing.

When you do, though, you’ll be surprised right away by the drama of the lofty position, which peers across the valley towards Les Arcs (if you like this kind of thing, take some binoculars and you can spy on those tackling the celebrated Grand Col hors-piste route from the back of Aiguille Rouge all the way down to Villaroger). Gaze further up the valley and you’ll see St Foy Tarentaise, and beyond it, from dusk onwards, the eerie nocturnal glow of Tignes and Val d’Isere.

Not that many people come here purely for the views, however arresting. La Rosiere is quite simply the very epitome of the modern leisure skiing centre, and very civilised it is too, if you simply want to ski close to home or hang out in a bar or two. If you do, though, you’ll miss what is arguably the area’s greatest asset, namely the opportunity to ski in both France and Italy, according to your mood – and the weather forecast.

It’s a curious fact that conditions are seldom the same on either side, so if things are less than perfect in La Rosiere, La Thuile can be basking in brilliant sunshine – and vice-versa, of course. All of which makes for a potentially interesting Espace San Bernardo ski experience, to which you’re unlikely to remain indifferent.

La Rosiere was founded in 1961. So, will you love it? If the weather is bad, probably not. But if it’s good you’ll see why so many people have fallen for it, and keep on returning each season. And why tour operators market it with such confidence.

	The fabulous skiing opportunities in the Italian sector.
	The way the San Bernado ski area straddles two micro-climates. When it’s snowing in La Rosiere, it can be sunny in La Thuile, and vice versa.
	A choice of two village locations (Eucharts and La Rosière 1850), each with a subtly different personality.
	Lo Riondet, beside the long San Berdardo piste above La Thuile – one of our all-time favourite mountain restaurant/bars.
	Pleasant level strolls, plus snowshoe outings for the more adventurous.
	The lively après-ski buzz in village bars and restaurants.
	Nearby TGV rail links from London and Paris into Bourg St Maurice.

	The afternoon sun’s effects on the mostly south-facing slopes.
	The days when glacial high winds howl in from the Italian side.
	For snowboarders: the long, unavoidable cross-border drag-lift a pain (returning, on the other hand, is a breeze – if you keep your speed up).
	Relatively few real challenges on the local pistes.