Goudissard

In winter when the snow is cold all the way to the valley floor, you can do a lot worse than ski the trees in the Aravet section of the mountain. Criss-crossing the Route de l'Aravet green run is a line known as Goudissard. It is a mixture of open glades and well spaced larch trees. The classic Goudissard has now been partly destroyed by the Deval Bob toboggan piste (itself well worth a go) but anywhere the toboggan run gets in your way you can simply duck into the trees on either side. In early season and in low snow years, look out for tree stumps. Many a knee has been injured in these woods by an unwelcome encounter with one of these little devils. The classic line is easy to follow, bearing in mind you’ll need to deviate slightly to avoid the Deval Bob. Simply follow the open swathe through the trees from the first time the Marteau blue run turns left below the top of the Aravet bubble lift. Any time you’ve had enough, you can escape onto the green run and coast back to Aravet. There are numerous other more challenging tree lines in this sector but route finding is complicated and there is the odd cliff and terrain trap. Not all are technically hard but they take some finding, such as the Louis-Paul line, named after a legendary local mountain guide.