Overall:
4.5.
Based on
7
votes
and
7
reviews.
Vote
Access: 4.7
(1) At least one overnight stop, (2) requires a whole day, (3) requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns (4) arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon, (5) there is a main airport within an hour of Montchavin.
Public Transport: 4.3
(1) There are no buses or taxis to Montchavin, (3) there are slow or infrequent buses / trains available, (5) getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections.
Scenery: 4.7
(1) An ugly resort in a bland setting, (3) average mountain views and resort, (5) a spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town.
Accommodation: 5.0
(1) No places to stay in/near Montchavin, (3) a few places to stay in the resort, (5) a wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets.
Cheap Rooms: 3.8
(1) No budget accommodation available, (3) just one or two hostels so book ahead, (5) several cheap hostels and pensions available.
Luxury Hotels: 3.2
(1) No luxury accommodation available, (3) just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead, (5) several up-market hotels in Montchavin.
Ski in/Ski out: 4.8
(1) The ski area is located far from any accommodation, (3) a free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip, (5) Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available.
Childcare: 5.0
(1) There are no child care facilities at Montchavin, (5) the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche.
Snowsure: 4.3
(1) Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing, (2) is often closed due to a lack of snow, (3) occasionally suffers from a lack of snow, (4) rarely suffers from a lack of snow, (5) Montchavin is snowsure even in the poorest seasons.
Snowmaking: 4.5
(1) Montchavin relies entirely on natural snow, (3) there are just a few snow cannons, (5) there are snowmaking facilities on all pistes.
Snow Grooming: 4.3
(1) There are no snow groomers at Montchavin, (3) occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state, (5) all the runs at Montchavin are groomed daily.
Shelter: 4.5
(1) there is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut, (3) there are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close, (5) Montchavin is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close.
Nearby options: 4.8
(1) If snow conditions are poor at Montchavin, it will be poor everywhere nearby, (3) there are good alternatives within an hours drive, (5) other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions.
Regional rating: 3.8
(1) Montchavin usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region, (3) has average conditions for the region, (5) usually has the best snow conditions in the region.
Lift Staff: 4.7
(1) The staff at Montchavin are rude or unhelpful, (5) lift staff at Montchavin are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help.
Crowds/Queues: 4.0
(1) the resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues, (3) it is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays, (5) it is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare.
Ski Schools: 4.8
(1) No ski schools available, (2) one or two ski schools but local language only, (3) a few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors, (4) plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available, (5) excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors.
Hire and Repairs: 5.0
(1) Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex. (3) there are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance, (5) good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible.
Variety of pistes: 4.8
(1) The ski runs are featureless and unvaried, (3) the ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week, (5) Montchavin has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain.
Beginners: 4.5
(1) Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard, (3) a few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week, (3) Vast areas of gentle terrain.
Intermediates: 5.0
(1) No intermediate terrain at Montchavin, (3) intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days, (5) vast areas of cruising runs.
Advanced: 4.7
(1) Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders, (3) enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste, (5) Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week.
Snow Park: 3.5
(1) Not even a kicker at Montchavin, (3) average sized park quite well looked after, (5) huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails.
Off-piste: 4.5
(1) No off-piste worth mentioning, (2) off piste is out-of-bounds, (3) some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days, (5) a vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days.
Cross-country: 4.3
(1) There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Montchavin, (3) there are some cross country trails available, (5) the area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails.
Luge/Toboggan: 3.7
(1) No designated luge or toboggan runs, (3) there are toboggan runs that open quite often, (5) Montchavin has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages.
Mountain Dining: 5.0
(1) Nowhere to buy food by the pistes, (3) some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive, (5) there is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets.
Eating: 5.0
(1) Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop. (5) A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants.
Apres-Ski: 4.0
(1) Nothing to do, not even a bar, (3) there are a few bars in the resort but nothing special, (5) clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere.
Other Sports: 4.7
(1) No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts, (3) resort has just a small public swimming pool, (5) resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool.
Entertainment: 4.3
(1) Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here, (3) the non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week, (5) the resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports.
Winter Walks: 4.7
(1) Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails, (3) a couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails, (5) extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities.
Ski Pass Value: 4.5
(1) A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available, (3) the ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts, (5) ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area.
Value (National): 4.5
(1) Overall, Montchavin is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money, (3) overall represents average value for money, (5) overall offers the best value resort in the country.
Value (Global): 4.5
(1) Overall, Montchavin is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world, (3) overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries, (5) internationally the resort offers excellent value for money.
We have been to Les Coches on regular ski holidays and found the whole experience fantastic. Skiaffinity offer a great solution to missing the usual gridlock on "transfer Saturday", they offer a Sunday to Sunday package so not only the roads are quieter on a Sunday, we also get to ski on Saturday with only the locals on the slopes. Skiaffinity offer a luxury fully catered chalet within metres of the ski lift and with Laurie and Jess as chalet hosts delivering exceptional fully catered 5 star service. Great village atmosphere, check out "White Lines" après bar also. It was so good at new year we are all heading back next month.
We have been going to Les Coches (Montchavin/Les Coches) for years and bought a place out there 5 years ago. It's a great family resort: just 2 real bars for apres-ski and all shops, bars and restaurants are situated around the main square. Little ones can run around out there whilst mum and dad relax with a beer. On the down side my son is currently out there and reports hard packed snow with rocks beginning to show through. It's in desperate need of a huge dump of the white fluffy stuff. I have to say this is the first time in 10 years that it's been like this, so keep watching the forecast and if it snows get out there. If you have little ones this is the place for you. That's not to say it's dead; my teenage sons still manage to get into trouble.
We have skied in Les Coches (Montchavin/Les Coches) for the last 5 years and it's just a fantastic village. The children love the ski instructors here who are brilliant with them and speak fantastic english. Its a proper French ski village; very pretty, lovely locals. The whole ski area is massive both on-piste and off-piste and extremely reasonably priced. The accomodation standard has improved every year with a couple of new luxuary ski chalets currently under construction, company skiaffinity looking good for next year.
I love this place (Montchavin/Les Coches). It is a delightful family resort (but not easy skiing for beginners getting to and from the village itself) that is centrally located for one of the great large French super resorts ~ Paridiski ~ and if you have a car, the 3 Valleys and Val D'Isere are each less than an hours drive away.
Primarily self catering but with friendly bars and restaurants ~ not very in with the in crowd and there are no trendy clubs or discos ~ what you can get at Montchavin/Les Coches is comfortable accommodation with quick access to expansive slopes. Everything I need for a great ski holiday ~ Enjoy.
We've been living and working in Montchavin-Les Coches for 12 years. This is the jewel in the Paradiski crown. The large tour operators have moved out for the big ski stations, leaving room for several independent companies to evolve. La Source Ski & Adventure Ltd is one of those. The resort has many beautiful chalets and nicely renovated apartments, perfect for accessing the 420km of skiing.
December 24, 2006
Christine Kallend
from
United Kingdom
We have been as a family to Montchavin for the past 7 years, and little has changed in the village over that time. There are still cows in barns being milked right in the centre of the village and the shopkeepers remain the same year after year (and remember you).
The restaraunts in the village offer good local dishes, just find out when the Ski Esprit chalet hosts have their night off if you want to go to the excellent pizzareia - lots of kids in there early evening.
My son started skiing here when he was just 4 and now knows the area well, and has yet to run out of runs to try. As the ski instructors have also remained the same they all know him seem to and keep an eye on all the children they have taught when they are on the mountains.
If you don't ski the tourist board runs trips into the local valleys (all in French of course) and there is an artist who gives watercolour lessons in the village. There are also trails for walking, with and without snow shoes.
Montchavin is a very unspoiled french village with attractive buildings, narrow streets and a rustic farming feel. It is perfectly placed to access the Vanoise Express over to Les Arcs so both La Plagne and Les Arcs are accessible. Although only 1250m high it is easy to gain height quickly using either the chairlift of the Gondolas through Les Coche. Ski Esprit seem to be the main operator and have the place well set up, everything is very close. Night life very limited, really this is set up with catered chalets for families. This must be the prettiest of the La Plagne villages (and Les Arcs) and the best placed for using the whole of Paradiski area.
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