Worked by successive damages, the cross-country ski trails of the massif become firmer and slippery every day. Athletes and holidaymakers alike are spoiled for choice: almost everything is open in the massif, from the slopes of the Grand Colombier to the south of Bugey, to those of the Maîche plateau, to the north of the Jura chain.
Training for Transju
Even champions will not be able to exhaust the hundreds of kilometers of trails available: a cross-country skier's delight, for the pleasure of the great outdoors or for preparing for the next long-distance events. The Nordic Envolée is less than a month away and the Transjurassienne could this week cover its entire historic route, from Lamoura to Mouthe.
If you don't know how to choose, some advice: take advantage of the valley bottom routes, where the slopes are the first to lose their snow, between Les Rousses and Bois-d'Amont, around the lakes between Bellefontaine and Chapelle-des- Bois, throughout Grandvaux, in Prénovel, Saint-Pierre or Lac-des-Rouges-Truites.
Large resorts or quieter sites?
On the Alpine side, the season is off to a good start for the economy of the resorts which were stuck out after two dry years. The car parks at the Les Rousses resort were already full this week, even though Christmas is not known to be the peak of the white wine season. Sun, perfect snow, all the ski lifts working (or almost), what more could you ask for?
As with cross-country skiing, you can hesitate between the large resorts of the massif, Jura sur Léman, Métabief or the Monts-Jura, or prefer smaller and quieter sites for learning, such as the Gentianes station in Morbier, or the numerous village ski lifts, in La Pesse or Le Rosset, in Longchaumois, on the Marmousets site, in Bois-d'Amont and in a number of other sites in the communes of the chain Jura.
And a snowshoe hike?
But if the crowds on the slopes don't attract you, this week the snow also offers you everything you can expect from the wonders of the Jura massif. Snowshoe hiking, Nordic skiing or alpine touring skiing, everything is allowed. The snow cover from last week is stabilizing and becoming denser: less powder perhaps, but a much lower risk of snow slides as well. Just stay careful near the ridges, where the strong wind of the previous days has shaped cornices which will not all have collapsed at the start of the New Year week.
