Sainte-Foy Tarentaise

Sainte-Foy Tarentaise, France

Rated: 3/5 (from 7 ratings)

Sainte-Foy Tarentaise

Sainte Foy sits nestled in the French Alps, close to the Italian border, at a height of 1550 m rising to 2650m.. It is a relaxed and unpretentious resort with access to great skiing and boarding of all levels. It's also more affordable than most of the giant resorts surrounding it, with the local lift ticket (and everything else) far cheaper than most of its neighbours. Although more of the big operators are showing an interest in St Foy the resort so far remains remarkably unspoilt and has preserved its authentic charm and local architecture, again in contrast to many of its better known neighbours, so now is a good time to take a look. The resort is growing quite quickly and now boasts some top quality accommodation as most of the chalet are brand new and purpose built with skiing in mind - plenty of bathrooms & storage, great views across to Mont Pourri with under floor heating, saunas, jacuzzis and most are less than a 100m to the slopes.

Sainte Foy is an excellent base for those with a car to visit some of France's classic ski areas, within a thirty minute drive, including Val d'Isere, Tignes and les Arcs as well as the cross border French/Italian region of La Rosiere/La Thuile.

Summary

The French ski resort of Sainte-Foy Tarentaise is in the French Alps at an altitude of 1,550m, with 30km of marked runs.

Sainte-Foy Tarentaise has direct access to 30km of downhill skiing, with 14 marked pistes, served by a total of 5 ski lifts.

The ski resort itself is at 1,550m, so skiing or boarding back to the resort is usually possible. With ski lifts as high as 2,620m, skiing and snowboarding is assured throughout the season.

Sainte-Foy Tarentaise Overview

Sainte Foy sits nestled in the French Alps, close to the Italian border, at a height of 1550 m rising to 2650m.. It is a relaxed and unpretentious resort with access to great skiing and boarding of all levels. It's also more affordable than most of the giant resorts surrounding it, with the local lift ticket (and everything else) far cheaper than most of its neighbours. Although more of the big operators are showing an interest in St Foy the resort so far remains remarkably unspoilt and has preserved its authentic charm and local architecture, again in contrast to many of its better known neighbours, so now is a good time to take a look. The resort is growing quite quickly and now boasts some top quality accommodation as most of the chalet are brand new and purpose built with skiing in mind - plenty of bathrooms & storage, great views across to Mont Pourri with under floor heating, saunas, jacuzzis and most are less than a 100m to the slopes.

Sainte Foy is an excellent base for those with a car to visit some of France's classic ski areas, within a thirty minute drive, including Val d'Isere, Tignes and les Arcs as well as the cross border French/Italian region of La Rosiere/La Thuile.

 Notable Ski Runs

The most difficult run is the 'Crystal Dark, No. 2', which is 2km in length.

Skiing

St Foy has a ski area of more than 32km (20 miles) and is served by four main chair lifts and a couple of tows. (It is not to be confused with the village below with the same name). Despite the impression those limited stats may provide, for many mixed ability groups and those with young families it provides a perfect combination of an intimate local hill, where slopes are uncrowded and lift queues almost unheard of. With the addition of a new six-seater chair in 2006-7, all lifts are high capacity chairlifts or modern magic carpets. The big bonus is the potential to enjoy several big mountain areas, excellent off piste or heliskiing (see below) all on your doorstep. Despite the small scale of the local lifts system, the vertical of over 1,000 metres is more than adequate and there's a good mix of terrain with 15 different pistes to suit all levels. It's a natural playground for snowboarders with countless drops and hits. The pistes run from 1550m to 2650m with the north-west facing slopes usually enjoying excellent snow throughout the winter. The top half of the mountain is a treeless powder bowl, whilst the lower trails cut through the forest. The Morion and Crystal Dark blacks that run down from the Col de l'Aiguille summit at 2620 metres are suitably challenging, whilst a full top to bottom descent is possible by taking a succession of reds such as L'Aiguille down to Creux de Formeian finishing up with La Savonette.

It's possible to link up to the Italian valleys of Valgrisenche and Val d'Aosta just over the summit ridge that forms the border between France and Italy. Thanks to its border with the Italian valley of Aosta, Sainte Foy is one of the few places in France where heli-skiing, now illegal in the country, is still possible. The vertical skiing range is from 3500m to 1200m with landing opportunities above 3400m. This gives access to long and majestic pitches on the Ruitor glacier and the more challenging Valgrisenche valley. Prices (based on four sharing) range from 107E per person for the Miravidi tour (3060m to 1960m) to 183E for the Miravidi and Ruitor (3300m of vertical drop.)

Sainte-Foy Tarentaise offers good sking, particularly, for Intermediate skiers.

Snowboarding

Boarders have a terrain park all to themselves by Cret Serru (2040m). Beyond this St Foy is a natural playground for snowboarders with countless drops and hits. The top half of the mountain is a treeless powder bowl, whilst the lower trails are cut through the forest creating endless opportunities.

There is an enormous variety of easily accessible off-piste terrain but make sure you take a guide so you don't miss out on the delights of the Fogliettaz with its spectacular, non stop 1500m descent. Sainte Foy is also well known for its ski-touring routes with attainable summits of between 3000m and 3800m.

Aprés Ski

La Pitchoule is the local bar that often has live bands and entertainment for après ski, as well as the odd jamming session form the local talent. Other than that there is no real night spots - but a trip up to Val d'Isere is only a short taxi ride away (£6 per person). Some of the handful of bars , including l'Iceberg Piano Bar, are to be found dotted around the area are lively on occasion and pleasant enough at other times however. Amongst these is the bar of the Hotel Monal in the heart of the village of St Foy, but you definitely need a car or a taxi with a teetotal driver if you fancy a pub crawl.