At Le Seignus there are 50km of pistes which are spread over two mountains on slopes that catch the morning and afternoon sun in turn.  The village is at 1500m with the top of the highest lift at 2400m and there are a mixture of open pistes above the tree-line, runs that pass through the forest and loads of off-piste skiing ranging from easy near-piste runs to serious backcountry routes requiring a guide. 

The children's and beginners' ski areas are a 2 minute gondola ride away in Allos, safely away from the rest of the slopes!

There are also cross-country skiing trails and regular accompanied snow shoe walks throughout the season. 

As the road from the north is closed during the winter, the area is used almost exclusively by local skiers.  Outside the local school holidays lift queues are very rare and you will often be able to enjoy skiing on empty pistes.

6 day lift passes are excellent value (almost 20% less than for similar sized ski areas) - €148 for an adult whole area pass or €116 for a Le Seignus pass which includes one day at La Foux/Pra Loup.  Students' (13-24) passes are €126.60/€99.50; and children's (5-12) and 65-74 are €119.40/€92.80.  Children under 5 and those aged 75+ are entitled to free lift passes.

Families of 4 or more buying weekly passes get a further 10% discount.

Beginner's passes which offer access to a limited number of lifts are also available. 

Included on the whole area lift pass are the resorts of La Foux d'Allos and Pra Loup - which are linked to each other and have 40 lifts, 70 pistes and plenty of off-piste skiing. This is the largest ski area in the southern French Alps - larger than the nearby resorts of Risoul/Vars and Isola 2000 - and the seventh largest ski area in France. 

By way of comparison with some resorts that are popular with British skiers: l'Espace Lumière has over 230km of pistes whereas Chamonix has 160km,  Kitzbühel 165km and Les Deux Alpes 220km.  L'Espace Lumière's combination of more pistes and fewer visitors means that the slopes are far less crowded than at other European resorts.

The skiing at La Foux/Pra Loup is spread over a number of mountains and valleys ranging from 1500-2600m and is perfect for a long day exploring with plenty of mountain restaurants to stop off at along the way.

There is a small snow park on the piste at the end of our drive, a boarder cross area higher up at Le Seignus, another boarder cross area, snow park and separate jump area at La Foux and a large park at Pra Loup where there are also a number of natural half-pipes where anyone foolish enough can have a go at catching some air!

A rather colourful description of the skiing and the area can be found here. 

As well as enjoying 300 days of sunshine a year, the area has a great snow record which, as these figures collected by the Ski Club of Great Britain over the past 17 seasons show, allows skiing from December until late April.

During the season, daily snow reports and forecasts are available from snow-forecast.com