 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi folks
I have been to St Foy a couple of times now (Winter and Summer). I really enjoyed it and have found myself craving it during my last couple of bigger resort trips in France. I am not a big explorer and normally happy to find a few pistes I enjoy and do them most of the day (although I'll always follow someone else who wants to lead us across the valley). Also taking our one year old so will probably only be doing half days, so St Foy is basically perfect for us.
The problem I am having is persuading our more adventurous friends that St Foy is the right place to go. I've tried the obvious lines of "you can do days in Val/Tignes/Les Arcs", "unpisted patrolled/blasted areas", "great tracks through trees", "good opportunity for ski touring", "nice and quiet", "beautiful area", but they can't see past the 4 lifts and handfull of pistes.
I am keen for them to come, but last thing I want to do is force them on an expensive holiday they don't enjoy. Any experience of recent converts (you or friends)? What was the big sell? Does it offer enough for experienced explorers?
Thanks in anticipation.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Tell them to spend the money they'll save by not going to a big resort on a week of lessons and watch their technique come on in leaps and bounds. Whatever their level.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Say ... "Free Beer!"
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Perhaps that would be fibbing ... But who cares the smallest resorts are the best.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Tricksy, I like it. I may come unstuck though.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@FIRSTOFTHEGIANTS,
Q , Does it offer enough for experienced explorers , the answer is yes if they are happy to hire a local qualified guide , even then they may take them to nearby resorts for example skiing the Grand Col opposite in Les Arcs , if however they don't they probably will find it restrictive if on a weeks holiday .
The fact they count lifts will mean they are not yet ready for the experience .
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Thanks Rob. I think that's probably the answer, but will make it very expensive. Saying that, if they want to do anything guided it will be expensive wherever.
They don't count lifts per se, bit of an exaggeration on my part, just see a small pisted ski area. Which it is, there's no getting away from that. I can see why it would be a hard step if you're main aim has always been to ski as many different pistes as you can.
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Sounds like they're not good enough for the place.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Tell them that as they are so good they could potentially win the slalom competition at the end of the week. 
Plus yummy lunches in La Marquise mountain restaurant.
As others have said working on technique while repeating favourite runs.
Alternatively you could compromise on a resort that is bigger than Sainte Foy but not huge.
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@FIRSTOFTHEGIANTS, you haven't said what your friends like to ski. If the answer is 'pistes ' and if they're not interested in a week of intensive work on technique then it's probably not for them.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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ticks all the boxes for me.....so much so i m looking to buy a place there..............
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@FIRSTOFTHEGIANTS, sometimes you have to accept you and your friends needs are different. I found it quite easy when we were younger, singletons, hadn't been too many places. Not so easy these days, with families and stronger preferences in the mix.
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been to many mega resorts. my last 3 trips were to St Foy and I do not want to go to a mega resort anymore  Still many things to discover. Especialy in early January when the pistes are empty and going from top to bottom feels like a real sport. My both weeks in 2015 (first in Jan and second in Feb 2015) were not so goog with snow, so stayed on piste most of time - St Foy pistes are one of the best I skied. Little off-piste I tried in 2014 week were great (my off-piste abilities are very very limited).
Lovely little place that offers both briliant skiing and real holidays feel (unlike some other ski-factories close by - which I still love btw).
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You know it makes sense.
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@DrLawn, we do actually include free beer in our Sainte Foy holidays... seriously....!
OP, it's all about quality, not quantity! Standard line is also that it's more like a Canadian resort with a small number of lifts / pistes serving quite a big area. If it was Les Arcs or similar, you'd have twice as many lifts for the same area achieving, well, not much...
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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FIRSTOFTHEGIANTS, as Layne and others have suggested: you go to St Foy (obviously best for you and your family) and let your friends go up the road to Val d'Isere.
No point in forcing St Foy on them when they clearly won't appreciate it.
Then when the weather closes in up the valley and the skiing is horrible, welcome them with a knowing smile when they drive down to St Foy for a glorious day bouncing through the trees.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Ste Foy is a great place to ski, and is OK for access to main EK area via Tignes Les Brevieres, last time we did EK we stayed in Ste Foy and really enjoyed it, but I have to say its far from an ideal location for accessing EK up and down the busy road, especially in bad weather. We stayed at the old hotel on the main road, great house bar downstairs busy with locals but the food/ breakfast was awful and not many other options, I seem a small Lebanese restaurant round the back was good.......this was 7-8 years ago, maybe more food opportunity now? We really did enjoy the skiing but après ski was very limited, could imagine a big group getting bored and personally I'd not want to get people there under any illusion, its not a very extensive area but the OP opportunities were very good.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@FIRSTOFTHEGIANTS, Do your friends have kids who will be in ski school?
If so they would not be able to drive off to the other places unless they miss a days lessons. We went to Sainte Foy thinking we'd spend the odd day in other resorts but once you are tied to ski school it isn't practical.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Thanks all, helpful stuff:
@pam w, pistes mainly, although looking to expand into off-piste and touring
@Layne, yeah, I am still stuck in the past, where we could get 15 people going on a holiday together, never going to happen these days
@stevomcd, cheers Stevo, I like the Canadian comparison, I may use that
@Jonpim, yeah, smugness is good, but skiing/staying together would be more fun. You're right though
@Markymark29, the hotel on the main road is a fair way from St Foy resort no?
@snowymum, no kids so no ski school issues
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I did a season in SF last year and really enjoyed it. People laughed when I said it only had 4 lifts but depsite a poor season for snow the off piste was great. If you have access to a car it's even better as you can get to LA, LP, VI, Tignes and La Ros pretty quickly. I got a ski a la carte card which works a bit like a pay as you go oyster card. No queuing for the lifts and it's charged staright from your account but you get a 10% discount. The more days you ski in the season the more free days you get.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@FIRSTOFTHEGIANTS, I have to come clean. I have never been to St Foy. I did look at going to St Foy last year. I was unnerved by the number of lifts and size of the domain. And bear in mind here I've been to the likes of La Norma and Les Contamines. The killer in the end however was the lack of budget accommodation. I think the ideal scenario for me would be to do a weekend or a day trip to suss it out. And see if I fancied going a week/repeatedly. I can certainly understand why people who haven't been there would have reservations. And if I skied mainly on the pistes even more so. Thinking about it though if I had a good friend who was really keen that I should go I would probably give it a spin. But for me that would be on the hope of some good off piste as much as anything.
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@clarky999, great vid!
@Layne, interesting stuff, thanks.
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@Markymark29, Things have changed a lot in the last 7/8 years! Surprised you didn't like the food at Le Monal though. The lebanese restaurant is long gone!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@clarky999, thanks for posting up the little video featuring a bit of St Foy. It brought back some memories, not least because we got taken there for a day by Olivier, the guide in the clip. He took us on that hike up to the top to do the Foglietta run down to La Miroir. I've posted about that before. It's a great run but it's more than an hours hike as I recall.
@FIRSTOFTHEGIANTS, st Foys a great place for some quiet pistes but they are limited in extent. If your mates are not interested in the off piste then they will be bored and want to go elsewhere, which will involve getting in a car. No big deal if they are reconciled to that in advance, as lots of places to go nearby. And even if they are going for the off piste, it's very unlikely they would want to spend all week at St Foy because of the attractions elsewhere, both piste and unpisted so same logic applies.
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@stevomcd, we last visited in Winter in 2009, be really interesting to hear a quick summary of how it's changed since then. Please tell me the bar with the variety of hanging saucison is still there.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@andy1234, you might be surprised to hear that 90% or so of our guests spend the whole week in Sainte Foy (even though we include transport for "days out"). I'd estimate that 90%+ of them (outside of our Backcountry camps) are "piste only" skiers too. Not arguing any kind of side here, that's just our experience over the last 8 years.
@FIRSTOFTHEGIANTS, not sure about the Saucisson! Iceberg maybe? Still there and hasn't changed much! Le Pitchouli and Alison's as-were have both changed beyond all recognition though. There's also a new apres bar up near the ski school, which is doing really well - wine bar & deli, but has much better atmosphere than that might suggest!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@stevomcd, I am a bit surprised but you know where your guests go and they obviously like the place they chose for their stay! I was second guessing how the OPs mates would feel and perhaps that was a mistake.
With all the factors involved, it's no wonder, and a blessing, that there are many different opinions on what makes a good ski resort. St Foy is undoubtedly a great place and one I expect to return to soon.
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... and another thing ! It's worth mentioning the quality of the snow on-piste at Ste Foy --- it does not get (quite ) the same use as the bigger destinations nearby -- so the snow remains in better nick..........
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You know it makes sense.
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Sounds great, def. on my 'to-ski' list, quite happy repeating the same few runs for hours a day if they're good.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@stevomcd, I'm sure food at Le Monal is good now, it was just a Basil Faulty type going on, maybe new staff etc. I'd like to go back sometime, and would stay there again, I much preferred it to staying up in EK large resorts. Really enjoyed the skiing in Ste Foy and La Rosiere/ La Thuile.
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Poster: A snowHead
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My first trip to Sainte Foy was January this year and already I've been back three times since (two of them admittedly for work purposes but I still got some skiing in). Already it has become one of my favourite resorts.
The first trip I took I went out with two friends and an ESF guide who took us on a treck to the top of the Fogliettaz - one of the best days of off piste skiing skiing I have ever had.
All of the pistes are fun to ski and a lot of the off-piste skiing is accessible straight off the lifts.
Add to that the amazing atmosphere in resort and the great food (the burgers at Les Marquises are the best in the Alps) and you've got yourself a holiday.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
the burgers at Les Marquises are the best in the Alps
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@LarsYEAH, Mmmm, maybe we need a new thread on that one! 
Welcome to snowheads by the way....
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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