Ski in Sainte-Foy Tarentaise

Skiing in Sainte-Foy Tarentaise

Sainte-Foy Tarentaise - Ski Resort in French Alps - 30km of Piste (1550m to 2620m)

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.

Sainte-Foy Tarentaise

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Sainte-Foy Tarentaise Ski Facts

Sainte-Foy Tarentaise Ski Facts

		Expert Skiers
		Intermediate Skiers
		Beginners
		Snowboarding
		Snow
		Apres-Ski
	3	Black Pistes
	8	Red Pistes
	4	Blue Pistes
	1	Green Piste
30km		Downhill Pistes
5		Ski Lifts
1070m		Max Vertical
2620m		Highest Lift
1550m		Lowest Piste
1550m		Resort Altitude

Sainte-Foy Tarentaise



Sainte Foy is nestled in the French Alps, close to the Italian border, at a height of 1550 metres. Its stunning location gives breathtaking views of the valley below and the impressive Mount Pourri plus access to over 800 hectares of virgin snow right at your back door!

Often referred to as the "Jewel in the Crown" of the French Alps, located just down the road are some of the worlds most famous ski resorts - Val d'Isere, Tignes and Les Arc as well as La Rosiere from where you can ski into Italy! This central location gives you access to some of the best skiing the world has to offer.

The village of Sainte Foy remains remarkably unspoilt and has preserved its authentic charm and local architecture. It boasts affordable lift passes (half the price of those in Val d'Isere and Les Arcs!) and excellent traditional restaurants and bars.

You can relax on the balcony at La Pitchouli for a well deserved apres-ski drink and admire the majestic views, safe in the knowledge that your chalet is less than 200m away...A perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of the real world but we can't promise you'll want to go home!

The Pistes

The pistes are beautifully and lovingly prepared and remain in top condition all day long due to the lack of crowds. The lower slopes offer wonderful sweeping runs through the trees while the upper slopes provide truly breathtaking descents. You can explore tree-lined greens, gentle blues, wide and fast reds and challenging blacks. For beginners, the resort also has adult and children's nursery slopes.

Located just 25 metres from the chalets, the pistes run from 1550m to 2620m with the north-west facing slopes enjoying excellent snow throughout the winter.

This information was kindly provided by Premiere Neige - the Family Skiing Specialists.

Snowmaking :- Sainte-Foy Tarentaise is able to augment natural snow, on 1km of ski runs, with 4 Snow Cannons.

Ski Lift Capacity :- The 5 Ski Lifts of Sainte-Foy Tarentaise are able to uplift 3,600 skiers / snowboarders per hour.

There are three Airports within two hours drive, so ski weekends, snowboard breaks and short ski holidays to Sainte-Foy Tarentaise are perfectly feasible.

Skiing in Sainte-Foy Tarentaise

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.)

Snowboarding in Sainte-Foy Tarentaise

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.

Sainte-Foy Tarentaise 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.

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Sainte-Foy Tarentaise in brief

Sainte-Foy Tarentaise Ski Resort is:
Ok for Expert Skiers.
Good for Intermediate Skiers.
Ok for Beginners.
Very good for Snowboarding.
Opened : December 15, 2012
Closed : April 14, 2013
Opening Subject To Snow Conditions.

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