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Whether you’ve recently progressed from snowploughing greens to parallel skiing blues, or started edging your way into million-mogul fields, you’re technically a classified “intermediate”. A hulking great catch-all of a term, this can make it difficult to determine which “intermediate-friendly” resort is on your level – not too dauntingly ambitious or monotonously mellow.
For the nervous, the nervy and everyone in between, we’ve picked our favourite resorts for all shades of intermediate skiing. With progressive pistes from soft to steep, acres of varied terrain and specialised lessons to coax you up and over the intermediate plateau – these French resorts are our ten best for anyone, anywhere on the intermediate spectrum.
France: Top 10 Ski Resorts for Intermediates
With over a hundred reds and blues, there’s no need to ski the same slope twice (except those leading accommodatingly down to Tignes’ village edges) in the Espace Killy. Slide gently into the week on blue Combe and red Bleuets if you’re staying in Le Lac, or start strong from Val… + more
Not a single one of Courchevel’s pistes isn’t preened daily to perfection, making the reds and blues a dream for a hesitant intermediate. Check out tamer trails close to 1850 or above 1650 (Marquis and co), which will deliver large doses of confidence to see you, head high, off… + more
Those who graduate from ADH’s world-class beginner slopes almost always return later in their ski careers to check out what they missed in their nursery years - over half the piste map’s red and a quarter blue. For a thorough thigh warm up, take the Troncon gondola to the top,… + more
Exploring’s a doddle when you’re based in the middle of the massive 3V’s – the hard part’s deciding where to venture first. Let us lend a hand: Follow the sun and ski down the Tougnette side in the morning, where you can start the day as you mean to go on - skiing hard and fast… + more
Many set course for Flaine simply for a piece of all that snow, to be happily surprised by the width and breadth of the recreational skiing here. 65 blues join a web of 50 long, rolling reds snaking down to different parts of the resort, and further out to olde worlde villages… + more
Take an even mix of long, wide slopes and tree runs, groom them to piste perfection, add Morzine’s laid-back attitude, and you have the recipe for a spectacular week on the snow. On its own, this resort’s 120km earns it respect, but throw in the rest of the Porte Du Soleil (650km… + more
We can imagine a future champion training his way to skiing mastery in a sanctuary like Serre Chev. Here a kind, quiet town is matched by kind, quiet slopes with plenty of elbow room for practicing those parallel turns. Out of 90km of reds, the stars are the Cucumelle and Clot… + more
With 160kms at a sky-high 2300m, some of the surest snow on the continent, and access to the mighty 600km of the 3 Valleys, VT’s facts and figures speak for themselves. And you don’t have to have spent every winter in ski gear to appreciate them. New intermediates will love… + more
A purpose built resort done right, Les Arcs is totally ski-in/ski-out, has excellent connections and bundles of linking intermediate slopes, making skiing from your village and back down again stress-free. For a hypersonic descent back into 1800 and Vallandry, schuss down red… + more
With 8 different village-level lifts opening up a tonne of mouth-watering prospects, intermediates with a weakness for steepness can ski their woollen socks off from Val. If you venture to the west side up on the Solaise Express, anyone of middling ability will have a field day… + more
For a ski or snowboard holiday in one of the best intermediate ski resorts in France, choose from our list of France’s top Intermediate ski resorts.
Each of these intermediate-friendly mountains have at some stage held titles like "best French Intermediate ski area".
These French resorts are some of the world’s best for intermediate skiing, with ski-out accommodation letting you make the most of the mountains. If you want to see what intermediate resorts can be found in other countries, see our top tens for Austria, Switzerland, Italy, America and Canada. Or have a look at the world’s best here.
France - best intermediate ski resorts
| Resort | Best features |
|---|---|
| Tignes | >100 intermediate pistes, snow sure ski area, links to Val d’Isere |
| Courchevel | Part of the world’s largest ski area, top notch groomers, fantastic mix of runs |
| Alpe d'Huez | Over 50% red runs, sunny ski area, plenty to progress onto |
| Meribel | Middle of world’s biggest ski area, super mix of runs, great ski schools for progression |
| Flaine | Super snow record, Grand Massif ski area, lovely long runs |
| Morzine | Ski across to Switzerland, dozens of intermediate runs, good tree runs |
| Serre Chevalier | Great snow record, quiet slopes – and loads of them! |
| Val Thorens | Europe’s highest ski resort, world’s biggest ski area, snow sure |
| Les Arcs | High altitude Paradiski region, ski in/out accommodation, oodles of red runs |
| Val d'Isere | High altitude ski resort, intermediate glacier runs, linked with Tignes |
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