Marteau Sauvage

The Marteau Sauvage is an interesting mix of the very straightforward and the tight and annoying. Straightforward for most of its length in that it is, for the most part, a wild but open glade in the forest on a gentle slope suitable for off piste first timers. And then tight and frustrating towards the end as it gets steeper, narrower and often bumpy in a tight section of young trees that have been fenced off to protect their growth. The fences force everyone to ski in the same tracks and the result can be big moguls and nasty ruts. Even if you’re lucky enough to be first down the run after a snowfall, it is tight enough that it’s hard to get into any kind of rhythm. Heading left into the trees at this point may be a better option but even there there is less space than in many of Serre Chevalier’s forests and it is still steep enough that you need to be a confident tree skier to deal with it. The start can also be a little bit tricky as it is significantly steeper and narrower than the bulk of the run. Route finding is, for once in the trees, fairly obvious. After finding the entrance just off to the right of the first section of the Bois red run, simply follow the open glade down and round to the left. After an almost flat section (snowboarders keep your momentum up here) you get funneled into the aforementioned tight area before being deposited, legs probably burning, onto the Marteau blue run.