Chamrousse Snooc experience - New slide

Presentation

Presentation

I tested for you: the Snooc

« To do again without the slightest hesitation! »

January 2020, Chamrousse 1650, new snow sports, with friends
Aurélie, passionate about sport and looking for new sensations

We arrived on a Saturday in the middle of the day in Chamrousse with the gang, the sun was here, a suitable temperature in this first month of the year, for an unprecedented snooc session, but what is this?
It was a first for all of us, I had already heard about it but not under this name, it is close to the paret or the yooner, another activity also offered in Chamrousse (at the closure of the slopes for a descent at sunset in a unique atmosphere).
Our goal is to change our mind, with a fun time during the day and even at night! So we thought, why not try snooc, Chamrousse's new activity!

We must go, we want to test, we are impatient

As for sledging, go to the Luge Park hut in Recoin to buy the ski pass and collect the equipment, the famous snooc.
After taking the steps to hire the equipment, we set off on foot towards the Gaboureaux chairlift, ready to go down the alpine ski slope! This time it will not be a simple ski but a sledge attached to a ski, the snooc!
We are explained in what position to hold it on the chairlift and of course we have the strap attached for more security but it is especially at the finish where we must not fall since we do not have the skis on feet to slide. Then head for the Gaboureaux ski slope, like the chairlift, what does Gaboureaux mean?*

At the top of the track, we sit on the snooc's seat and go!

Which is quite comfortable, moreover, we feel a bit like on a tricycle compared to the proximity to the ground.
Little time to adapt because with just one ski you have to find your balance while having speed otherwise you tend to go to the sides, for that you use your arms and hands.
Here we are, with some trepidation but determined to succeed! After a few falls and snow on our backs, we start to understand how to position ourselves well and how to handle the snooc.
Once at the top, we sit down and go for the first descent, first sensations!
The skiers around us are intrigued by our funny machine. We are on a red slope which is very wide so there is room for everyone.
Another thing too, the famous reflex of braking with the feet, you can't help it the first time and you get snow in your face! We quickly understand that this is not the right thing to do, because it is not like sledging where there are brakes, there you have to brake rather by sliding with the edge of the monoski while leaning.
Barely a track to master all this and already good sensations at the end of the track. Our gloves are soaked but the weather is nice and we are not cold.

In the line of the chairlift we are even asked where we can try this funny machine: in the same place as the sledge, at the Luge Park hut.
The position is a bit the same as on a sledge but the sledge seems easier than the snooc. It must also be said that we are more used to it, we have been doing it since our childhood.

Second descent, we caught the thing, we even have fun raising our hands in the air. Well, I admit, we did not take the Gaboureaux wall, this last part of the really steep slope and as a bonus with bumps, we kindly went around to the gondola.

Descent after descent, laughter after laughter, here we are in competition with each other to know who will pay the restaurant tonight!

After 3/4 descents, we see the magnificent sunset, the view is incredible. We take a photo break to immortalize the moment.
We go back to the cabin to get the headlamps for more sensation, because after a day of skiers passing on the slopes, small bumps have formed and the light is reduced, relayed by the special lighting for night skiing. It's great, the night allows us to extend the experience which becomes even more fun. After a few falls, small fears and loss of balance, we are fully downhill, ready to take every little pile of snow left by the skiers!

I'm starting to feel my abs because I was a little tense at the start. But it is not really physical in itself the snooc, it is more a question of balance, it is an activity which remains really accessible.

An afternoon and early evening full of sensations, soaked up to the neck but ready to go again at any time! To do again without the slightest hesitation!

A word of advice, embark on the adventure!

Aurélie - A regular at Chamrousse.

* "Gabourreau" or "gabouret" is a dry stone construction and the "gabbro" is a stone found in Chamrousse therefore "gaboureaux" is a derived word which evokes small dams made of dry stone, in the streams or torrents (and even lakes, such as Lac Achard), to water the animals.

More information on this new activity at Luge Park: Snooc

Photo credit: Fred Guerdin