About the Experience
Dreaming of yoga, skiing and snow-boarding this winter season? Rockin’ the slopes and carving some inspirational yoga into your holiday? Outside there is ice, snow, powder and breathtaking mountains.
Inside the beautiful stone and wooden chalet there are log fires, bespoke rooms and congenial communal spaces lit by candles, warm smiles and tall tales of mountain adventures. Delicious vegetarian meals, homemade breads, juices and house wines are served daily as the sun rises and sets over the mountains of the Oisans ranges.
This is an ancient village where time has been preserved in the twists of the timbers that support the tumbling tiles and wood piles high beside the cow shed door and yet they can potter up the road and with one ski-lift are deposited into the heart of one of Europe’s favorite ski areas, Alpe D’Huez. Pumping pistes and a rock and roll aprés ski make this an area that offers both peace and passion for the ultimate ski-yoga getaway. This is one of a few yoga ski holidays that offer single accommodation.
This is their sixth successive year at this incredible venue.
The yoga
The yoga is inside a lovely hall space. Whilst practically, it will be tailored to the needs of a skier or snowboarder, a yoga retreat is also a time to deepen other aspects of your practice. There will also be daily meditation in serene silence as well as pranayama, the science of breath, to enjoy the purest of air.
Sweet strong intuitive Hatha yoga flow will start the day and a shorter, quieter evening practice of Restorative sadhana will cultivate stillness every other evening. A loving yogic enquiry into the essence of you through a powerful cocktail of asana, mindfulness, and breath, this practice has grown from and is inspired by the teachings of Mr. Iyengar, Ashtanga, and Swami Sivananda.
The shala space looks over the mountain, letting the eyes be drawn towards the rising sun and then to the heart.
The skiing and snowboarding
The village is a spring board into the ski resort of Alpe D’Huez - one fast lift takes you into the heart of the ski area. If you are new to skiing, you can book ski school or private instruction and can enjoy staying local as you learn this exhilarating sport.
More experienced skiers might choose to buy a lift pass for the whole resort and there will be a ski orientation tour for the first three mornings for those who like to ski in a group and would like to get to know what the mountain can offer.
/5Boots, skis and boards can be hired and picked up and dropped off in the village. Ski guides can be hired for off-piste adventures.
Other activities
Summer or winter, walking around these mountains is soul affirming. Snow shoeing is fun and doesn’t require a lift pass. Adrenaline seekers might fancy a paragliding trip or to learn to snow-kite, or in the summer do some guided rock climbing or via ferrata. There is a also a cross-country ski area. Summer guests also enjoy the iconic cycling challenges that this epic area facilitates.
