 Poster: A snowHead
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@capability, lots of questions, and while we bought an apartment there over 2 years ago Covid have meant we haven't skiied that much really. No doubt regulars will be along soon.
OK, so our apartment is in the centre so if you are really there (near the market square) then we find it doesn't take longer than 10 minutes in ski boots to the lift. Given the buses are every 15 minutes, we have walked more than used the bus.
EMB is mostly a blue/red sort of place, great for covering the territory but not over-served by challenging pistes. However I would say the Princesse black is definitely pretty satisfying, as is the one around Cote 2000. I hope I have managed successfully to link to the pretty comprehensive trip report by @denfinella: https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=3349517&highlight=gervais#3349517
Les Houches is (sadly) a different ski area with its own pass - it is just that much of the ski domain is on alpine pastures within the St Gervais parish. However access is easy, the Tramway du Mont Blanc serves it from St Gervais and you can buy a day ski pass from the Tramway station. (There seems to be some age-old bitter politics about the two resorts making a version of their ski pass which includes the other, there were apparently been demarcation disputes about those pastures for centuries).
Les Contamines is on the EMB pass, but not connected on piste. If you have a car it is a 15 minute drive, otherwise the local buses provide a link (the fare-paying service buses, unfortunately not the free buses). It is a little higher and snowsure than StG, and definitely worth a visit. (In the 2020 ski season there was a bus at 0835 from the roundabout near the bridge which got you to the Les Contamines gondola by 0900).
New Year's Eve - we don't know, but all being well we will be competing for the same restaurants! If all else fails, there is some extremely good takeaway local food.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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You don't walk or bus up to Bettex - you get the gondola from the centre of town.
If you are used to Chamonix then you won't find the piste skiing in EMB challenging - probably the most demanding bits are on around Mont Jolie and bits of MOnt D'Arbois.
The more challenging stuff is off piste tree skiing above ST G and ST Nicholas and a wider range of off piste skiing up at Les Contamines. Easily accessible off piste is really the key feature of Les C.
Les C is on the EMB pass and you can get buses up from St G centre to Les C. You are probably committing to a day rather than thinking about going to and fro. I'd recommend you do it though but I'm biased (have a flat in Les C).
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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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When we skied St. G we stayed in the center but admit we were kind of lazy so stored our skis/boots at the depot where the Bettex gondola downloads...why not? It's an easy 5-15 minute walk in snowboots from most places in St. G center.
The piste skiing is just fine; there are a couple of shortish hard red/black runs in addition to red/blue cruisers. You can also cross over to Megeve via a gondola quite easily and that opens up a lot more very scenic if not necessarily white-knuckle terrain. In short, more than enough to occupy yourself for a week. The "sidecountry" was excellent...didn't sample true back country as we don't have transceivers/skills etc...
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Agree with @jedster, LC definitely worth a day, don’t bother trying to fit it in half day, you need a full day to get anywhere near seeing it.
Also my go to place if the snow is not great in StG.
The Cotes2000 area is also worth a try, it’s a good 90 minutes skiing from top of bettix gondola to get there but we always try and get a few runs in there, my youngest loves the black “decent” off the top of it
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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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@ster, wow. Looks like it came to rest on the nursery slope - could have been carnage if there had been young kids at the time.
And chalets either side.
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I did a bit of touring, more of a hike tbh, above Cordon on Monday before the new snow and conditions were not ideal - crusty/hard snow, ok going up but atrocious later on downhill. That and the portage time (muddy walk in the woods), definitely not worth it... except that it all meant I ended up alone on the crest facing the Aravis, the Mt Blanc chain and the Fiz.
Now it has snowed again and that opens other routes in the vicinity... but I know I'll just stick using lifts and enjoy nice groomed pistes.
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Skied St Gervais to Cote 2000 n back yesterday. Pistes mostly good coverage but scratchy n hard. Off piste was mostly deep dust on crashy refrozen. Cote 2000 was better than elsewhere , the off piste being almost deep enough not to punch trough. Bloody freezing though.
Ski out to St Gervais was just navigable. Quite a lot of white dust on frozen turf/dirt rather than snow.
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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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| Idris wrote: |
| Quite a lot of white dust on frozen turf |
Sounds similar to what we have met in the Lake District this week! Walking not skiing, hoping France will let us in again by mid-Jan.
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Just went to Les C on Jan 9 2022. It's snowing very heavily and there's great powder. The avalanche level was 4 and I didn't see much people doing very crazy off-piste. But on the piste, the condition is about 10-20 cm of snow, varying through the day.
It is pretty chilling as the temperature is -10 C, but there's not much wind so it's acceptable once you start skiing, just the face is a bit frost-bite. The highest mountain peak we could go is Nant-Rogue, but I expect the weather to clear out by now and more to be opened.(I just found that there's no way to find piste open condition on their website.)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| rkwang wrote: |
| I just found that there's no way to find piste open condition on their website. |
Try here.
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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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Les Contamines today, very good piste, some courdoury still visible at 4pm - Skied untracked powder most of the day!. Quite a few lifts closed due to staffing (covid) issues and very low client numbers.
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Currently in St Gervais, decent skiing weather with cold temperatures keeping the pistes in good order even though it hasn't snowed for a while. There was some excitement yesterday at a snow prediction on phone weather apps, but all that emerged was a handful of flakes that didn't even justify the name "flurry".
And low numbers at the moment, no queues and clear pistes. There has been a clear increase in UK skiers as the week goes on, especially today with those taking advantage of the restriction removal for a long weekend. The local cafes and restaurants are glad to see us back - we were stopped in the street with a welcome from la patronne of one restaurant we visit regularly!
Most hospitality venues are asking to see the Covid pass, though less often the self-service places. Masks are worn in shops but not so much in the street (they are supposed to be in town centres, though of doubtful benefit) except on market day. Everyone had something resembling a mask in the gondolas - usually a purpose made double layer buff often the St Gervais branded version, but no one complained about people using fleece or simple fabric buffs (including those displaying a Snowheads graphic). No attempt to mask up on the slopes, or on chair or drag lifts.
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You know it makes sense.
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@j b, I’m also in town (might see you)
It’s soooo good to be back & today alone I meet 3 different U.K. parties all saying the same & now they’ve done it once they will be back again.
The slopes are remarkably down on numbers but just makes it all the better
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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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@Jonny996, we will certainly keep an eye open; I am not sure we will head for the bar tonight but maybe tomorrow after our meal. And over food tonight we will discuss which direction to ski in tomorrow.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Just went up and over the Col des Chasseurs this afternoon. The ski down was just about worth it for the first 300m then the whole thing went to crusty cruddy yuk until all the various lines came together in a wavy concrete track down to the Roman Road.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| HammondR wrote: |
| Just went up and over the Col des Chasseurs this afternoon. The ski down was just about worth it for the first 300m then the whole thing went to crusty cruddy yuk until all the various lines came together in a wavy concrete track down to the Roman Road. |
How was the roman road? Skiable? No Snow? Crampons mandatory death slide?
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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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@Idris, well. For a start you are a more proficient skier than I. This I know.
We kept skis on the whole way down. Vince van Gofer, our wiggly hipped French expert even had to side slide and side step some of the iciest and rockiest sections. Not long until many would be safer cramponing the lower portion. I suppose it is hard for me to gauge fairly as my second day in 2 years.
When we descended on Tuesday night after an ice climb up to the plateau sliding on our bums was a top way to come down. Easier with ice axes in hand than Salomon MTN Explore though.
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Spent a glorious day at Les Contamines yesterday in perfect weather conditions. As it always seems to be there, snow was in good shape on piste despite no recent snow, with only a few slightly harder patches trying catch you out a bit on a steep red or two
Its normally a good place to go on a Sunday as it doesn't attract the crowds of nearby resorts but when we arrived at the parking it was the busiest that I'd seen it so I feared the worst - but the fears were misplaced with no queues at all on the vast majority of lifts and a maximum of about 2 minutes on one.
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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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Been to St Gervais this Sunday. Still good snow condition on some piste for carving. Most off-piste parts are icy. Quite busy actually, the crowd congested at the bottom of Croix du Chris, but waiting time is ~2min in general
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Just back from a long weekend in Les C. Not much to add to what others have said. Great piste conditions and rather uninspiring off piste ones. Contemplated a bit of touring for better snow but @HammondR has saved me from any regrets! Spent most of the time carving around on SLs. Did take them off piste to Colombaz for a pilgrimage to the Auberge for lunch. Ski down from there wasn't as bad as I feared. The food and sunny terrace were delightful!
I'd agree that the place was surprisingly busy for January for Les Contamines. The car parks were really full at the weekend but as usual people disappeared up on the mountain. All the more impressive given not many people were off piste. The lifties and restaurant folks seemed very smiley and happy to see everyone - even by Les C standards.
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Great conditions on all pistes off a bit of a refrozen mess, but toonights snow should fix that. Doen to Hauteluce was a quite firm and the home run to Les Contamines was slushy but neither were unpleasant. Base area lifte ques will be a HUGE problem for the next month, go very early or after 10.30!
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A local skier will be racing in the Olympic Giant Slalom tomorrow - Tess Arbez.
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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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@rjs, is she based in EMB?
I tried googling, but the only nearby associations I found were studies in Geneva and a family place in the Jura. But maybe she trains in EMB.
Like a lot of competitors for non-Alpine countries she has grown up elsewhere but represents the country she can claim nationality in.
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Hi All - after a post late December in this thread when we were planning on getting to StG, we were forced to abandon France for La Thuile over new year due to restrictions. However we spent last week in Chamonix, and skied Les Houches a couple of times. Not quite StG but close.
What was confusing was the piste markers showing StG on them when we were firmly in the Lea Houches area. And further, I think someone mentioned above that there is no link between Les Houches and StG. So why the marking as the latter?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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There is no skiable link but you can get the tramway mont blanc up from stG to LH.
I also understand that LH actually sits within the bounderies of the StG municipality.
Remember the ski area people call Saint Gervais isn't actually called that , it's called Eviasion Mont Bland
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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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Touring conditions update. Went over the Rochers des Enclaves yesterday and down to Hauteluce. Felt harder than usual post Covid. A bit of a lottery snow wise in the top half but the bottom had the best snow I have encountered this season. If doing it go right when reaching the broad flat shoulder with the marker posts above the dam. Still fresh tracks to be had for the intrepid.
2 days before the Col de la Cicle had good untracked snow. Lots of parties out yesterday so most routes will be getting tracked out.
The pistes looked terrific.
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You know it makes sense.
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@denfinella, that was definitely an auto correct error, it is more than challenging enough for me but well spotted, top marks for paying attention.
Also had friends over with us couple of weekends ago with a 14 year old, they grabbed the Race Tigers I got from you out the cave & loved them
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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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@Jonny996, I thought it probably was - still funny though!
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Poster: A snowHead
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@capability, the commune boundaries mean that the tops of the Prarion and Bellevue lifts, and the majority of other Les Houches lifts and runs lie within St Gervais commune. When Les Houches wanted to develop skiing in the 1930s, following the success of other Chamonix valley resorts, they had to ask permission from St Gervais to use the land and were held to a hard bargain. They had to get their constructors also to build a lift for St Gervais (the original StG to Bettex lift) and I imagine acknowledgement of the piste location was part of that.
I think St Gervais and Les Houches had been at loggerheads over that land since the Middle Ages, and Les Houches weren't best pleased when a legal judgement in the eighteenth century determined that it was the traditional alpine grazing of farmers in Bionnassay (part of St Gervais) and thus locating the commune boundary. There still seems to be hard feelings, recent attempts to allow a version of the ski pass including Les Houches as well as EMB have been rebuffed. (As above, Les Houches ski area is accessible from St Gervais via the Tramway du Mont Blanc which serves Col de Voza and Bellevue; train times aren't ideal but you can get up there for about 10 am and from memory returning around 4.30 pm).
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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@Extreme barracuda, I think @Jonny996 might be around assuming it is Scottish half term. My link to his username might trigger something.
In fact my brother-in-law (plus 17 year old son) is borrowing our place, but their haphazard navigational style doesn't make them the best to carry out an errand of this sort ...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I am out here & if I have opportunity I’ll have a look but I’m heading over to combolux today & cote 2000 Thursday.
Add to that I’ve got 5 14 year olds with us who think coffee is a waste of piste time, know the resort like back of their hand & avoid the large mont joux chair lifts if possible, basically I think they are trying to finish me off
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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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@Jonny996, teenagers!!!
B-i-l and son don't know their way around, they simply seem to take a random piste from the top of a lift and ski till they find the next lift. And repeat. They've skiied lots but haven't covered half the area directly accessible from StG yet. B-i-l posted a picture last night of his son having disappeared under his duvet once he came off the slopes; they had clocked up 60 km on Strava.
Their first evening they had a pizza in L'Eterle - and liked it so much they booked for every subsequent night!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
I’m heading over to combolux
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That's one minor French ski area renamed for ever....
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@pam w, that being the phonetic spelling, just needs translating to idiomatic English...
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@Jonny996, @j b, - thanks appreciate - but also understand may be risky business taking the teenagers round that way - you've got my blessing to purchase if its the same as photos - should be €35/40, I called them up and asked about prices so I'm good with that.
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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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What is the snow like in st gervais at the moment? Heading out weekend after next.
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I was out last weekend and it was holding up fine on the piste, I’m back out again on 17th with group of mates and I’m a little worried, there is no new snow forecast & from 15th onwards the minimum temperatures forecast are +7.
Normally I would just throw skis in car & head up to Le Contimens but because it’s a boys weekend we opted for transfer over hire cars, (school boy error)
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FAQ
