Saint Gervais Winter Sports

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Winter Sports

Alpine Skiing and Boarding

This attractive small spa town has been a resort ever since the first tourists arrived here to take the waters in 1806. It lies at the head of a dramatic river gorge midway between Chamonix and Megève and serves as the gateway to two important ski areas encompassing the villlages of Le Fayet, Le Bettex and Saint-Nicolas-de-Véroce. The main skiing to the east of the town, reached by a fast 20-person gondola from the outskirts, is linked across the slopes of Mont d'Arbois to Megève. The area has a terrain park and a half-pipe. On the other side of town, the venerable Mont Blanc Tramway, a rack-and-pinion railway dating back to 1904, takes you to the top of the neighbouring ski area of Les Houches. Superb for all levels and on sunny days the best views of Mont Blanc!

Cross Country Skiing

More and more people are looking to give cross country skiing a go. It's a great way of exploring the beautiful winter landscapes away from the crowds - you really can experience the wilderness and get in touch with nature just a few kilometres out of the resort. It's a relatively easy sport to pick up as long as you are reasonably fit. Skis and boots are lighter with your heels free to push yourself along. The majority of cross-country takes place on prepared and signed trails called "Loipe", and these are graded from blue to black, easy to difficult, the harder trails having more ascent and descent. But overall, most of the skiing takes places on relatively flat terrain, therefore takes place in valley bottoms, or high mountain plateaux. This is superb sport for those who want to get outside in the mountain air, burn some calories but not necessarily adhere to the descents of alpine skiing! You can hire your equipment from most shops. You can also book yourself lessons to get yourself going quicker. There are 75km of trails across the Saint Gervais area. Some are at altitude, making lunchtime meetings with Alpine skiers simple. Known as "Ski de Fond" in French.

Snow Shoeing

This is a means of travelling through the snowy mountains on foot at either low or high altitudes. Another brilliant sport for those who do not wish to ski. One has to be fit, comfortable with snow and competent in the mountains particularly in winter conditions. It is very enjoyable though since you get away from the crowded pistes and get to see the local wild life such as chamois and marmottes. From St gervais you just get the most magnificent views of Mont Blanc from the Gouter side up along the Bionnassay glacier! Known as "Raquettes" in French.

Ski Touring

The Domaine Evasion is an excellent area for ski touring - from easy to difficult routes. Along the valley in Les Contamines there are some amazing places to ski tour plus winter refuges (unmanned) to stay in for over night excursions. Ski touring is a great way to access nature as it was intended to be seen. The Mont Blanc Massif offers amazing views from this pocket of skiing. The lifts provide easy access to the mountain wilderness that make this region special. With the necessary equipment and a bit of hard work, riders will be able to escape the crowds on the slopes and find some great skiing. Known as "Ski de Randonee" in French.

Ski Areas

Domaine Evasion

Domaine Evasion Piste Map

The Evasion Mont-Blanc ski domaine (ski pass Evasion) - 113 lifts, 445km of pistes - covers the large area and pistes of Saint-Gervais/ Le Bettex, Combloux, Jaillet, Les Contamines, Megève/ Mont d'Arbois, Megève/ Rochebrune, Mont Joly/ Mont Joux/ Saint Nicolas de Véroce. Choose your ski area opposite Mont Blanc and vary skiing pleasures during your stay. All areas are easily accessible, for beginners to advanced skiers. The ski area is open from December to April. The biggest highest and most varied sector is Mont Arbois. It offers woody slopes but is mainly open especially higher up. Most of the slopes face west, but there are north-east-facing slopes to Le Bettex and on down to Saint Gervais. You can work your way over to Mont Joux and up to the Mont Joly area - Evasion ski area highest slopes. From there you can descend to the backwater village of St Nicholas-de-Véroce (there is a splendid red run along the ridge with spectacular views of Mont Blanc and mile upon mile of rolling peaks on both sides. From Mont d'Arbois lift base  you can get to the valley of Rochebrune (Alpette the starting point of the historic downhill course). A network of gentle wooded, north-east-facing slopes, served by drags and chair-lifts, lead to the high point of Cote 2000. Another area Le Jaillet was revitalised in 2005. In one direction the new system will take you almost to La Clusaz and in the other, gentle tree lined runs go down to Combloux. The different ski areas in the Domaine Evasion are Saint Gervais/ Le Bettex - Mont Joux, Combloux, Jaillet, Les Contamines, Megeve/ Mont d'Arbois - Princesse, Megeve/ Rochebrune - Cote 2000, Saint-Nicholas de Véroce - Mont Joly. One of the main attractions of the Evasion domaine, is that it does not attract that many expert off piste skiers who are lured to Chamonix steeper descents 45 minutes away. As a result you can often make first tracks on challenging slopes many days after a fresh dump. The Mont Joly and Mont Joux ski areas off the steepest slopes. Down to St Nicholas offers some more challenging runs. Cote 2000 has a small section of steep runs, including good off-piste.

For beginners, there are a good choice of nursery slopes in the Evasion domaine - in Megeve at valley level and more snow sured ones at altitude on each of the main mountains. There are also plenty of very easy green runs to progress to - particularly in Combloux.

For intermediates, they will enjoy the Evasion ski area. The black runs are perfectly manageable and the runs between Mont d'Arbois and Le Bettex are  also interesting.  The new link in La Giettaz is expected to mean access to steeper slopes there too. It is a great area of the less confident. 

For advanced, the 4810m summit of Mont Blanc rises on the communal territory of Saint Gervais. The village thus disposes of the most extreme difference in altitude in Europe: from 580 to 4810 metres. Saint Gervais offers numerous skiing possibilities between villages and eternal snow. In hiking boots, on a mountain bike, with crampons or seal skins, discover the numerous facets of the mountains.

For snowboarders  - to your boards - the Mont Joux Snow Park, at the heart of the Evasion Mont Blanc Ski area is one of the top spots in the region. A superb half pipe that hosted, in March 2002, the French Snowboard Championships. original modules (try snowskating!), music, animation and… BBQs! The Mont Joux also offers 4 varied slopes for your skiing pleasure, 2 slalom stadiums, and a mogul run. The Mont Joux snow park is accessible with both the Evasion and Saint Gervais ski passes.

Other Ski Areas

Chamonix - Vallee Blanche

Chamonix is dominated by the 3842m Aiguille du Midi, reached by cable-car from the southern side of town. This is the starting point for the famous Vallée Blanche, a glorious 22km descent past yawning crevasses and house-sized séracs (ice boulders) all the way back to Chamonix. Anyone who can ski parallel and who is not afraid of heights can tackle the easiest of the four main routes, but you must take a guide. At the start you have to negotiate the ice steps cut into the spine of the ridge leading down from the cable-car station. They are not difficult, but the 2000m sheer drop to your left can have an unsettling psychological effect. The return to Chamonix is by rack-and-pinion railway from Montenvers or via a short climb and a long descent down a narrow path and piste to a cowbell factory on the outskirts of Chamonix.

Chamonix - Les Houches (1010m) green blue red black

Les Houches is included on the Mont Blanc Unlimited ski pass but not Chamonix Le Pass. The slopes are a little more sheltered than the rest of the valley making it a good option on bad weather days plus why not have a go and the Kandahar - the world cup downhill run! Les Houches has amazing south-east views of Mont Blanc!

Italy - Courmayeur green blue red black

You can also go for a day through the Mont Blanc tunnel to the Italian resort of Courmayeur. It takes half an hour to drive to the ski areas of Val Veny through the Mont Blanc tunnel. The skiing there is varied but not as difficult usually as in the Chamonix valley. You will also find the restaurants far cheaper!