Snowboarding in France - Manigod
For those of you who may want a bit of an insight into some of the lesser known mountains in the French Alps, may i present Manigod in the Haute Savoie, one of my favourite places in the world!
Manigod is a small ski area in the Rhone-Alpes region in Eastern France, about 5.5 hours from Paris and about an hour from Geneva.
There are a few ski areas in Manigod, including La Clusaz where they hold the Candide Invitational which apparently has a lot of international skiers and is usually pretty busy. We tend to stick the the smaller and lesser known Merdassier though.
Both times I have been have been in January and as you can see it was clear blue skies almost every day!
As you can see it is also generally pretty quiet! The only days that are particularly busy during the week are Wednesday afternoons because that is when the local schools have their ski classes
The accommodation is pretty varied, there are plenty of apartments at the resorts but if you want to really experience the French Alps you cant go past a Chalet..
Best bits
- lift passes are only 14 euros a day
- THE VIEWS!! incredible!
- good variety of runs and a good mix of intermediate and beginners runs
- the lack of crowds
Worst bits
- the chair lifts go about a million miles faster than the ones here, you practically get launched off the end. They also often empty you out on to a rather narrow and steep bit. You can ask the lift operators at the end to slow the lift down (if you speak french) but that doesnt guarantee they will listen!
- they got rid of the teepee that was half way down one of the runs which served hot mulled wine that tasted like Christmas! I will never forgive them for this.. No more lounging in deck chairs drinking wine and marvelling over the views
anyway.. hope you enjoyed!!
Thats awesome! Thanks for getting them up so quick!. Looks like sweet resort. Those views and surroundings are beautiful 
Wow that’s awesome! Looks unreal. In that photo where you’re sitting down, is that a jump line in the distance?
This place looks absolutely amazing! Very glad you’ve jump onboard and are happy to share your experiences with us 
Yeah thanks for sharing this place looks epic!
haha love that Koper gets straight to the question a lot of us are interested in.
What is the park situation like?
Definitely looks like a bit of a jump line in the picture Koper was referring to.
Looks like a super fun place to ride.
Wow that’s awesome! Looks unreal. In that photo where you’re sitting down, is that a jump line in the distance?
not too sure tbh. That side was mega steep so I steered well clear of it! There were jumps off to the left of where I was sitting though, think you can see it in one of the other pictures.
Looking at all the photos just makes me want to go back!!
That’s awesome, air180. Thanks for sharing. 