AX 3 DOMAINES - THE SKIING

This is a guest blog by Amber an intermediate skier.

We were very lucky to have an instructor / guide for the morning, Stephane from the ESF – I was immediately at ease with him and he is obviously very practiced in assessing people's skills and confidence levels before setting off to show them the resort.

I was stunned by the pistes, the condition that they were in was a far cry from the ice and rocks we'd left behind in the Alps. The snow was almost all artificial at this stage as the last snow fall had been well over a month before and there had been rain in between so we really were seeing the slopes at their worst. Well if that is their worst then this would be playground heaven on a good day. The pistes were wide, the snow was soft, of course there was the odd icy patch but no more than you might expect in any resort.

The tree line here is what really struck me, it is much higher than in the Alps. The morning we hit the slopes was windy, cloudy and became very snowy. We were thanked for bringing the snow and the excitement in resort was easy to detect.

Stephane  explained that Ax is made up of the Three Domaines - the three ski areas of the resort. They are three areas which have been developed and linked over the years and whilst all have their own name are now classed under the bracket of Ax Trois Domaines.

You can take a telecabine from the village directly to the plateau at Bonascre, a small area where there are apartments, restaurants, bars, ski shops etc. In fact this is where I picked up my skis for the day thanks to Nikita Sports - a brilliant touch which means there is no carrying of skis and poles in the morning, simply travel up the hill in the telecabine, collect your skis and poles from Bonascre and you're away. Ski storage is readily available in the shop so walking in your ski boots isn't even required if you're willing to carry them in the telecabine - a touch of luxury with no need for ski lockers.

The lifts run from Bonascre up to 2000m, there are two lifts - a fast chair and a telecabine and both go to the same point having been designed to run alongside each other to keep the queues to a minimum. It is possible to drive up to Bonascre so the queue from the village is also minimal.. When we were there only the telecabine was running and there was no queue at all.

The first domaine we skied is the Domaine de Bonascre which rises from 1400-2000 metres. From here there are some wonderful blue runs in the trees providing protection from wind and mist and a green slope all the way back down to the bottom - a great feature. Very often beginners will need to do a fair few weeks of skiing before they are able to ski back down to resort - not here, beginners can ski down from day one. Mixed groups, families, beginners all benefit from this feature.

Next we went to the Domaine de Campels. It was the area which was most likely to become least desirable on a windy, snowy day due to the orientation and wind direction. This is where having a guide really comes into its own, we were able to go and enjoy the Campels area in the morning when in the afternoon we wouldn't have wanted to go there. We took a few runs down to the bottom and they were fantastic.

This resort’s chief snow maker is famous for his skills and I can see why. To have as many slopes open as they have and in the conditions is an unbelievable achievement. We were delighted and surprised.  Once again there is a green back to the village.

The scenery was stunning, sadly much of it was in the clouds but the glimpses we had were superb. The cloud was not a negative though - this snow was to be celebrated!

Back to the Domaine du Saquet, another area of lovely pistes, including reds, blues and the odd black.

Then for lunch at Le Louzat with fresh homemade food, friendly and helpful staff. A very different menu than may be expected in some ski resorts. Definitely a Spanish and Mediterranean influence in not only the food but the service as well.

That afternoon we returned to Domaine de Bonascre, it was heavenly, the wide pistes within the tree line, with both protection from wind and with greatly improved visbility. This is the place to be on days like today.

These three ski areas have something for everyone,  a wonderful selection of beginner slopes, fantastic wide, sweeping blues, steeper more challenging reds, a few good looking blacks and what appears to be an incredible and huge off piste playground with limited dangerous areas.

The mountain food is high quality with friendly service. There is investment and development happening all the time with some of the beginners areas having only just been opened and plans for new lifts & pistes in the pipeline over the next couple of years.

It all made us very hungry to come back later in the season to see it in its full glory.