Try ski touring to see the French mountains like a local - Scotland on Sunday Travel

Head to the small resort of Vaujany to forgo chairlifts and try ski touring for the first time.

Ski touring involves walking on skis up slopes rather than using a gondola. Pic: Luc Smith/PA.

For skiers, there must have been worse places to face a Covid-lockdown than the French Alps. When tourists suddenly departed in droves, locals had the mountains entirely to themselves – with particularly good late season snowfall.

There was just one problem: with all cable cars and chair lifts shut, skiers needed to find another way to actually use the slopes.

“All we did was ski touring,” says French-British ESF instructor, Luc Smith. “Everyone did it”.

Instructor Luc Smith putting skins on skis for ski touring in Vaujany. Pic: Lauren Taylor/PA.

Also known as Alpine touring or skinning, it’s a way to climb and traverse the mountainsides on skis – using specifically designed boots and ski bindings that allow the heel of the boot to come out the ski but not the toe. ‘Skins’ are also stuck to the underside of each ski, made from mohair or a mix of mohair and synthetics, that prevent the skis from sliding downhill as you walk.

Luc points to the dizzying heights of the Grand Pic de Belledonne – near where we are in Vaujany, Isère, eastside of the Alpe d’Huez skiing region – the highest mountain he summited by ski touring during lockdown, before skiing down.

I’m trying it for the first time and have to admit I’m slightly apprehensive when handed a plastic shovel to put in my backpack, as well as a tracking device to tie around my waist (skiers heading off-piste are obliged to carry an avalanche kit). Nerves aside and skins on, my intrepid group of ski-tour first-timers head off-piste at Montfrais.

At least on the flat, it’s easy to get to grips with. The trick is not to lift the ski off the snow, however natural it feels to do so when walking, and glide instead.

Ski touring in Vaujany. Pic: Lauren Taylor/PA.

Soon, we’re away from the pistes, without a skier or snowboarder in sight, with only the fir and spruce trees and undulating mountainsides for company. My skis glide through fresh powder (snowfall was 10 days ago but no one’s been here). The white edges of Grand Galbert mountain sit against the bluest of blue skies, and there’s silence.

In that moment, I get it. Being this immersed in the natural beauty of the Alps in winter, and the feeling of having it all to yourself, is worth leaving the chairlifts behind for.

We cross a half frozen stream where trout swim under the ice, and as our ascent gets steeper ‘kick turns’ (lifting the higher ski and turning 180 degrees before following with the second) is the most effective use of time and energy, without losing any elevation.

After around 250 metres of climbing and a couple of hours, the panoramic view back into the valley we’ve just ascended is extra satisfying – like we’ve really earned it. And finally, I can point my skis downhill and catch some speed.

In ski touring the heels are lifted off the ski. Pic: Alamy/PA.

This, of course, was skiing much as it was before there were chairlifts and today the activity is enjoying a resurgence in popularity. Some simply ascend the edge of the pistes because it’s a great way to burn further calories.

Vaujany – a small mountain village within easy reach from Geneva airport – is excellent for wild ski touring opportunities, says Luc. Being less developed than its more famous neighbour Alpe d’Huez, where much of the mountainside has been developed for slopes, it boosts access to a lot of totally wild terrain.

“What I really like is that people don’t know about it,” Luc adds. The north-facing aspect means snow sticks around longer. Visitors are mostly French and yes, the 53km of skiing on the Vaujany and Oz en Oisans side (featuring plenty of easy options for beginners and families) do seem incredibly quiet.

An Alpe d’Huez grand domaine ski pass gives access to 250km of skiing, or 100 slopes in total – including the longest black run in Europe, La Sarenne (16km). Crucially though, the resort retains a small-town feel with many traditional buildings restored as chalets and hotels.

The newly renovated Madame Vacances Hôtel Les Cimes, where I’m staying, is modern and cosy with the friendliest staff around, and just five minutes from the town’s creche, public pool and newly-renovated spa and an indoor ice rink.

With so much still-wild terrain, it’s a popular area for hikers – both in summer and winter, when of course you need special equipment to navigate the snow.

I join the ‘grandfather of snowshoeing’, mountain guide Alain Hilion, and his border collie Polka, to explore the terrain on foot. Known as raquettes in France, a plastic base attaches to walking boots with crampons underfoot to grip the snow, and it’s a great alternative to ski touring for exploring off-piste.

We venture off the slope and into pine forest, Polka careering back and forth, past wild cherry trees (locals pick the fruit and steep them in alcohol for six months, Alain says), and catch views of the valley unseen via the groomed pistes.

Footprints of white hares pockmark the fresh powder, and I’m told foxes and wolves prowl these parts in winter too, while marmots pop up in spring. We’re lucky to spot four chamois, a goat-antelope species, on the adjacent mountain face. It feels like a taste of real mountain wilderness here above Vaujany, that you won’t get at most ski resorts.

The setting sun peeks through tree branches on our way back to town and pink and yellow sky stretches between the two mountainsides. After all that off-piste exertion, a glass of herbal liqueur génépy and a meal of local trout or truffle ravioli at the cosy Chalet Gourmand restaurant is a fitting end to the day.

How to plan your trip

A one-day Oz-Vaujany ski pass costs €41.50 (£37) for adults. A one-day Alpe d’Huez grand domaine ski pass costs €58 (£51) for adults (oz-vaujany.com).

Rooms at Hotel Les Cimes from €140-€210 (£123-£185) per night.

Half day snowshoeing for four people costs €25 (£22) per person (hilionmontagne.com).