Hey all.  I'm studying abroad in Paris this semester and am looking to take a trip somewhere.

I dont know much about mountains in europe and ride mosly the east coast in the states.  I would say I'm an intermediate/advanced rider (I can handle anything on the east coast but I know theres bigger/badder stuff out there). I'm really just looking to experience a lot of powder and massive mountains.

can you guys give any suggestions on what mountains are good/easy to get to from Paris?  Looking to spend a weekend (3-4 days) somewhere.  I've looked into Charmonix and Interlaken and a few others but am looking for some opinions/thoughts.  Thanks!

park isnt too important to me...i'm looking for open faces and lots of powder (stuff I dont get on the east coast of the US).

Another question...will there still be good snow around mid april? (11th-19th ish)

There are 5 mountain range where you can found winter sport resort in France. It's hard to predict if there is snow in the resort. Probably it's cheapest for u to ride in France, the resort in Swiss and Austria are expensive and in France there is good quality resort.

If u want to stay in France, go to the North of Alp (department of Isere, Savoie and Haute-Savoie) the snow condition are still better. Notice an important thing : in the middle of April there is always good snow condition but above 2500 meters... Go in an altitude resort like Val Thorens, Alpes d'Huez, Deux Alpes, Chamonix....

You can follow the snow condition and decide to go in a little resort with still snow but you must take your decision at last time because the snow disapear quickly...
www.skipass.com French forum with a large community where u can find recent photo and report of snow condition
www.skiinfo.com
www.skifrance.fr
www.meteo.fr If you understand French, snow condition, snow forecasting and avalanche hazard

Last thing : you climb the Mont Blanc and ride it in Snowboard. It's sure it's a very good trip !

Am I right in thinking there is a resort on or right nexto Mont Blanc?

It will be fun if there is a lift who climb on the top of the Mont Blanc but it will be an ecological disaster.

No I speak to climb Mont Blanc with your own way and ride it : extreme snowboard ! I don't know if there are already snowboarder who ride Mont Blanc.

If u like climbing there is great thing in the Mont Blanc range like this famous hillside of the Aiguille Verte (4102m) :

http://yannick.michelat.free.fr/Avion-vertedrus18.htm

It was ride on time in snowboarde by Marco Siffredi.

Sorry I don't know i'm from the south and i ride in the south of the alp so i never go to the Mont Blanc range. But if you want info about the south alp mountain, i can help you. I know in the Mont Blanc range the famous and hardest slope by the achievement of the famous extreme snowboarder and skier. I want to practice myself in the mountain near my house to the alpinism and glacier and if i progress i hope go to the Mont Blanc range soon.

I will ask to my friends who are from the Haute-Savoie what is the best resort in the place.

Sorry if i'm late to answer.

My friends said that the best resort near the Mont Blanc is "Les Grands Montets" in the village of Argentière. It's very close to the aguille verte peak and the famous argentière's glacier and you can ride it. The summit is at 3300m and u can ride in 3 hillside.

I have never go to the Pyrénées, but i know the skipass aren't expensive and they have good seasons for the snow.

First few time that I went boarding was in Andorra in Pas de La Casa, the snow conditions are normaly very good, but after a while the terrain becomes less challenging, I would love to go back there to see how things are, but have also often thought about other places in the Pyrenees, as they do have a good snow record and always seems to have a fair to good season or better no matter what the rest of europe gets

Dante you have already ride all over the european country ?

No as much as I would like, I have been to Andorra 4 times, Austria twice, Italy once and France 3 times in total about 13 weeks in europe and then I have spent dome time in the indor snow domes in the UK

lately the weather has been pretty warm...its around 40 degrees F in paris and I looked at the weather in the alps and its rain/snow....bleh. Think the season will pick up?

dmcdmc myself and a couple of friends are in Avoriaz from this saturday coming, the snow report for there is good this week, its in the Northern alpes in France, if you can make it up there, drop me a message before friday and we can arrange to meet up for riding on the sunday if you want.

damn that is temping. unfortunately, i looked up flights from paris to geneva and theyre all in the 100+ range which is a bit much for me.  thanks for the offer though. I think I will take a trip in the last weekend of march to the alps.  Also, for bringing Avoriaz to my attention...another mountain that I can keep an eye out for.

From paris i would need to fly to geneva and then take a bus to the mountain.  Avoriaz is the only mountain that I've seen that is actually getting snow...Chamonix and Interlaken and others are getting a wintery mix right now.

im thinking about going to zermatt from april 12-16....think they'll have good coverage? Just cause its raining in the alps for the next week or so.  Avoriaz is also hard to find a cheap place to stay.

yeah, there are trains. its a little confusing because it seems unclear how to get from the train station to the mountain.  Also, where are you staying if you dont mind me asking? I would be going by myself, and places to stay seem to be limited there. It looks like an amazing mountain though...tons of snow

Were staying in the Antares Appartements just behiend the main street in Avoriaz, I think you can get a train up to the mountains nearer Avoriaz (cant remember the name of the place, though amd sure Tommy D would if he was even on here), then would be taxi from there

hmmm. avoriaz looks like a great place to go to except I cant find anything for one person that reasonably priced.  I didnt think it would be so hard to find a mountain to go to where i can spend less than 400 euro for a weekend just by myself.  I guess I'll keep track of the weather and see if it stops raining at some of the resorts.  Do you have any other suggestions besides Avoriaz? Thanks so much btw

Try Dragon Lodge in Tignes, its in the northern alpes again, they are normaly prety good there and Tignes is not a bad area to ride, also check out Chamonix, might be cheaoer than Avoriaz, and its in the same area agin North Alpes

Thanks so much for the suggestions.  I checked out Chamonix but it is raining up there right now.  Basically I was thinking of either going somewhere next weekend for 3 days or go a month later on April 10th for a few days.  I figure march is better since the snow is generally better earlier in the season.

Dragon Lodge seems really amazing. There isnt that much info on the site but I emailed them to find out more.

Cool, good luck dude, I have stayed at Dragon lodge and they are a god bunch there