 Poster: A snowHead
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We're driving down to stay in Sainte Foy for a week from 8 March (with a couple of days in Les Arcs on the way) and hope to spend a few days skiing in Tignes. Does anyone have any suggestions for the best (even better if its free) car parking near the lifts to maximise the day's ski-ing? Is it worth driving up to the centre of the resort (Lac or Val Claret) or can you have a good day from (and back to) Les Brevieres (which will be a shorter drive of course).
New to Snowheads but loving the forum 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Personally, i would head to Les Brevieres and park there for the day. Enjoy your trip to St Foy.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Tue 24-02-15 0:56; edited 1 time in total
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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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Parking in les brevierre is free and very close to the lifts
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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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Les Brev car park is big, free and right next to the gondola/ticket office. It's as good a place as any to park for a grand day out in Espace Killy - the runs back down to Les Brev are pretty good.
Options from the top of the gondola out of Les Brevieres are:
- Take a connecting chair and ski down to connect (one lift) to Val D'Isere area. At the end of the day work your way round to Aiguille Percee area from either Le Lac or Val Claret, then ski back down to Les Brev from there.
- Head up to Aiguille Percee and onward to Val Claret/the Grande Motte Glacier and onward to Val d'Isere. This involves a couple of slow chairs above the Les Brev gondola but the skiing is great.
Alternatively, if you buy a day pass, you can park at the main outdoor Val Claret car park for free.
Or, there is a free outdoor car park near the gondola at Tignes 1800 (which used to be 'Les Boisses'). The car park may be hard to find if you don't know where to look (down the hill behind the new 'village' that has been built next to the roundabout just after you cross the dam). Not sure if you can buy a lift ticket at Tignes 1800 these days though?
On balance, I'd agree with Backcountryboarder and say go for Les Brevieres.
From the top of the glacier at Le Fornet (Val D) - ie as far away from Les Brevieres as you can get - you only need 6 or 7 lifts to get back. It's a fair distance but can be done probably more quickly than you might think. Not including any queues, it involves about 45 mins of travelling on lifts and about 45 mins of medium speed skiing, including stops.
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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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Thank you all for the info, esp MountainAddict - great comprehensive and informative post - It's really useful to know the timings from one side to another and it sounds as if Tignes and Val d' can be covered in a day (at least geographically, I don't mean we'd tick off every piste!). Parking at Les Brevieres sounds ideal and only 20 mins from Ste Foy acc to Google Maps. Thanks for the route suggestions too - I have taken notes. Always good to have a bit of local knowledge when you go to a new area.
We found that we enjoyed Wengen/Grindelwald/Murren all the better the second time we went just from a better understanding of how the trains and buses worked together (or didn't on 2 occasions in Grinedlwald - longish wait at the station trying to make the Snickers bar last as long as possible!). Of course we should have realised that being Switzerland the timetable would be spot on.
Really looking forward to trying out Les Arcs, Saint Foy and Espace Killy for the first time.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The main outdoor carpark in Val Claret is included if you are buying a day ticket. If this is full then they will direct you to roadside parking up/down the road by the roundabout. At least this is what they did at New Year....
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That's good to know , but how do they validate that you're buying or have bought a day ticket? As we're using the ski a la carte passes (all electronic), we won't have anything to prove we have a pass for that day. Do you think they'll accept that if you have the a la carte pass plus skis that you will be paying for a day ticket?
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No problem Loganberry - but what's an a large carte pass  . Don't know that one - as usually just buy an Espace Killy pass when staying in Tignes....
To qualify for free parking you have to show your day pass to the car park attendant in the manned hut at the Val Claret car park. Tignes tourist office is usually good at replying to email enquiries, so you could try them. Or just park at Les Brevieres - which will be only 10 or 15 mins drive from Ste Foye.
By the way, re. access to Let Arcs: You can drive to Villaroger in a few mins from Ste Foye and access the slopes by chairlift from there. That way you can finish the day with the small matter of the 7000 feet vertical descent from the top of Aiguille Rouge. And there's a lovely old rustic restaurant in Villaroger too.
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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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I'll drop the tourist office a line to ask - thank you . The Ski a la carte (skialacarte.fr) pass is valid in Les Arcs, La Plagne, Espace Killy, Flaine and other resorts on a pay as you go basis. Various discounts apply on the day rates depending on the day of the week and I guess peak/off peak season, and the week we are there there's a good discount in Les Arcs on both Saturdays. It also allows you to buy discounted day passes in Sainte Foy, La Rosiere and Valmorel (15% off). As we are skiing in several of those resorts and not buying a 6 day pass anywhere, we will save a decent amount, allowing for the cost of the pass in the first place, even though they recommend the skialacarte for 8+ days. You pay by direct debit for the days you ski.
I noticed that Villaroger looked pretty close to SF, and I'm sure we'll give that long run back go probably on our last day, weather permitting - sounds like a great way to round off the holiday. The black off Aiguille Rouge looks very interesting - how does it ski?
Will look out for the restaurant in Villaroger for sure, thank you.
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| Loganberry wrote: |
The Ski a la carte (skialacarte.fr) pass is valid in Les Arcs, La Plagne, Espace Killy, Flaine and other resorts on a pay as you go basis. Various discounts apply on the day rates depending on the day of the week and I guess peak/off peak season, and the week we are there there's a good discount in Les Arcs on both Saturdays. It also allows you to buy discounted day passes in Sainte Foy, La Rosiere and Valmorel (15% off). As we are skiing in several of those resorts and not buying a 6 day pass anywhere, we will save a decent amount, allowing for the cost of the pass in the first place, even though they recommend the skialacarte for 8+ days. You pay by direct debit for the days you ski.
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How does the 'a la carte' compare to (for example) a 6 day Espace Killy lift pass that gives (if I recall) a free day in each of 3 Vallees, Paradiski & St Foy, then third off a second day in each, plus a third off a day in La Rosiere/Grand Bernard? (I assume 3 Vallees, Paradiski & St Foy have similar for their 6 day passes?).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Good point, I haven't done the sums on that option, but I see that in Sainte Foy (where we'll be based) - from their website, the following offers apply - these look like good discounts on the daily rates & where multiple purchases permitted (Les Arcs/Paradiski & La Rosiere/Espace San Bernardo), look a very good option:
"With a Sainte Foy pass of 6 days or more , purchased at the public tariff, you can benefit from the following advantages during your visit:
• 1 day in Espace Killy purchased for 27€ (Tignes/Les Brévières OR Val d’Isère/La Daille)
• 1 day in Les Arcs/Paradiski (ADS) purchased in Villaroger or at the Bourg Saint Maurice funicular railway (SMA), or the departure in Peisey-Vallandry, at sale points at Vallandry or Mélèzes (STAG) for 27€ (multiple purchases permitted)
• 1 day in Espace San Bernardo bought at La Rosière (Les Eucherts)for 27€ (multiple purchases permitted)
• 1 day in La Plagne purchased in Montchavin-Les Coches for 27€.
Holders of 6 day or more passes from the above-mentioned resorts may purchase day passes for Sainte-Foy for 15.50€/day, multiple purchases permitted. (Valid only once for clients from Tignes and Val díIsère)."
Clearly it would depend on how many days you wanted to spend in each resort over the period you want to ski and it might well be that the 6+ day option means you could pay less overall. It's complicated in our case by the fact that we're staying in Les Arcs for 2 nights then on to Ste Foy. I have placed a premium on the fact that in Paradiski/EK you don't have to buy a separate pass in each resort, the Skialacarte pass is a Holiski pass that is read by the lift barrier. However, In Ste Foy we will have to buy the (discounted) ticket in resort as they don't have the automatic gates. Here's hoping that no-one does the sums and tells me we could have saved a fortune....
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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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We are just coming to the end of a great 8 days skiing in Les Arcs, Ste Foy, Tignes and Val d'isere - couldn't have timed the weather better - it stopped snowing the day before we arrived and is due to snow again tonight/tomorrow and on to Weds, but we've had 8 beautiful blue sky days. What are the chances? Sure , the snow at lower levels has got a bit sugary in the afternoon, but hey, you can't have everything!
Thanks for the parking advice to all who offered it. We found easy on street parking in Les Arcs 1600 near our hotel, and have used the free car park at Les Brevieres for Tignes - right next to the lifts. For Val d'Isere we parked at La Daille next to the Funival funicular and chair lifts - this was about €8 for around 7 hours, so not outrageous and saved a bit of time traversing the resort from Les Brevs.The (red) Orange run made a great way to finish the day off (almost 900 metres vertical drop, with some nice steeps thrown in) We also had another day at Les Arcs and used the free parking in the charming village of Villaroger to get up to Les Arcs 2000. Another good run back at the end of the day. Superb all round.
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@Loganberry, sounds like a great trip!
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You know it makes sense.
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Great stuff Loganberry.
We're just back from a great 7 days' skiing in the Haute Maurienne - just over the Col De L'Iseran from Val D'Isere but another world in terms of non-mainstream (in the UK at least) resorts. If you enjoy touring round different resorts you would love it. We based ourselves in Val Cenis (Lanslevillard) & used the Eskimo ski pass (€207 for 7 days) to ski there plus Aussois, La Norma and Bonneval. Could also have visited Val Frejus but didn't. Prices are cheap for accommodation and food (on and off the mountain) too.
Areas vary from big (Val C, 160km piste) to small (Bonneval, 25km piste) but all have a big vertical - typically 1400m. Planning on posting a trip report and some photos in the next couple of days.
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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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Well we enjoyed our trip so much (even the driving down and back) that we've just booked an apartment for another 9 nights in Sainte Foy in March 16, so we'll be revisiting our favourites from this year plus a day or 2 in La Rosiere/La Thuile. Can you get to the Haute Maurienne from Val d'Isere or is it the Col de l'Iseran that is usually closed over the winter?
Maybe a Q for the La Plagne board but does anyone know the easiest way in to the La Plagne ski area by car from Ste Foy/Bourg St Maurice? Looks like it would be Montchavin (35 mins in good conditions says Google Maps), but it's not clear how much parking there is near the lifts?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Yes it is the col de l'iseran which is the connecting route and as you say usually closed in winter.
We went (March 2015) to Sainte foy for a week which was our first visit and had a brilliant week skiing, followed by a week in val cenis (drove via bsm, moutier, albertville then head towards chambrey and turn left towards frejus tunnel to get there). As @mountainaddict, says a whole different world in terms of terrain cost etc that doesn't seem to figure too prominently as a destination for UK based skiers. We were there third week of March and had most pistes with very few people on them, couple of days snowfall midweek gave us some fabulous powder conditions so all in all a very good 14day trip. We're definitely going to return to both areas as we had such a good time.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Loganberry, there is a car park in Montchavin - it's at the bottom of the village, and the lifts are at the top. It's not a big village though! Carrying skis wearing ski boots, it's about a 7 minute walk. Not sure which week in March you are going - outside of French school holidays, parking is no problem. In the French holidays you had better get there early (no later than 8:30am).
Alternatively you could park at Villaroger on the Les Arcs side and ski across.
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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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| Quote: |
Alternatively you could park at Villaroger on the Les Arcs side and ski across.
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Or at the funicular in Bourg st Maurice. But then you will be buying a les arcs pass you will not be using.
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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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We parked in Montchavin last year for a day. Just a bit up the road past the car park there is roadside parking. You then take a small walkway between chalets and pop out at the base of the lift. It saved some uphill walking in ski boots. Montchavin is also nice starting point as the vanoise express is right there.
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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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Many thanks ski3, Gamsbock, johnE and xtr for the parking info. We are arriving on 6 March so hopefully outside the holiday periods. We had thought about skiing over from Villaroger and I guess with an early start that might be the easiest way over, especially if there is snow on the roads. I guess it wouldn't take too long to get to the Vanoise Express would it? Once you're in Les Arcs 1950/2000 (I remember that the lifts up from Villaroger aren't the fastest in the world) it looks like 2 or 3 lifts and a nice warm up on the way! Fingers crossed for snow conditions and weather like last year....
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