Sainte Foy Tarentaise, France

Resort Overview for 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.

The 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.)

Après Ski in Sainte Foy Tarentaise:

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.

Accommodation in Sainte Foy Tarentaise:

Search through our database to rent private ski chalets direct from the owners in Sainte Foy Tarentaise. Contact owners directly to make a booking. Rent ski chalet Sainte Foy Tarentaise, France

The White Room - Chalet TinTin, Sleeps 12 Stunning 130 year-old traditional chalet, situated right on the pistes. Incredible views across the...... View details