The mountain above Grenoble in the Belledonne range, half an hour from the city, and the venue for the alpine events of the 1968 Winter Olympics. That proximity to a large university city shapes it. There is a strong local following, prices are low, and the pistes fill at weekends and empty midweek.

The terrain is varied with a good vertical, wooded lower slopes and open ground above, and there is a well built snowpark. The Olympic downhill course is still there.

Chamrousse itself is a functional resort spread across several levels rather than a village, but Grenoble below is a real city with everything that brings, and Lyon is around ninety minutes away.