 Poster: A snowHead
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Well, having had it on our radar for a while 5 of us drove over from Cham to Praz Sur Arly to use one of our away-day tickets at the Espace Diamant on Wednesday. Hasn't really snowed in a couple of weeks now so we weren't expecting big things but just thought if we're stuck to skiing on piste, we'd try somewhere new. Parked up in Praz and decided we'd go for the full safari. Up the cret du midi over to the sommet de l'espace diamant, through Hauteluce, down into Les Carrets, over to Bisanne then all the way back via Les Saisies and Flumet.
The Espace Diamant is AMAZING! The snow was much better than what we've got in Chamonix, there was soft stuff off piste all over the place (albeit tracked out). The off piste skiing looks incredible and we barely scratched the surface. Wide fields of sub 30 degree slopes within easy reach of lifts in virtually every area, we were gobsmacked. On every lift we were constantly nudging each other, "look at that! it looks awesome" We all agreed we'd have to come back on a powder day (if we get any...) this season. The piste skiing is great as well, even if the runs are fairly short lived and we got plenty of mileage in with some nice fast and steep reds and blacks that came as a surprise. 192km of piste over the area which is plenty for the majority of skiers. The Ballasta lift was a favourite and you could just lap the runs and then the powder off this for a couple of hours on its own, similarly the Chamois over in Bisanne.
The view over the Beaufortain are stunning and its so nice to get something different than the looming monsters of Chamonix. We had lunch overlooking Les Carrets which was very pretty and we're looking for Chalets to do an overnighter around here sometime soon. It felt good to actually travel around the mountains and get some different views as well.
It isn't the easiest area to navigate and the paper piste map can sometimes be misleading when it comes to positions of lifts and runs. There are large maps next to almost every lift showing the local area which we found useful.
100% going back this season at some point.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Brilliant.
Having recently bought our own apartment, we have a season pass for St Gervais this year so we similarly intend to use the vouchers to explore neighbouring areas. Won't have a car next time but there is a bus to Praz sur Arly. Your full circuit may be too much for us to get back for the return bus, but we'll get a taster.
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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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Glad you enjoyed it. We visited in 2017 for a week and it turned out to be one of our favourite trips to date. Certainly way underrated as an area.
I thought the best pistes were in the Notre Dame de Bellecombe 1450 sector. Were they on your circuit?
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This is a lovely review- I had looked at Espace Down and for this HT but couldn't find an apartment that ticked boxes, plus was struggling to see links on the piste map with minimal drag lifts as I share my life with boarders so couldn't work out which village to base ourselves! It's defintely still on my radar.
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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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We spent three holidays in Les Saisies. The skiing is great but eventually we got sick of the school vacation lines, especially around Bisanne. However out of school breaks it must be much different. Bellasta is a newish area and when the snow is fresh is fun for sidepisting. And that view!
Only ski quibble is that some of the slopes along the Arly side are low in altitude.
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As a part-time resident of Flumet it's nice to see love for the area. While all domains make claims for their particular microclimates and snow-holding qualities, they really seem to hold water for the ED. Flumet in recent days has held its snow much better than e.g. the mid-slopes at Samoens some 400m higher up. Several times I've found less snow or worse piste conditions in e.g. Les Menuires.
It's not the nearest area to any big town, and not really set up for package tours. Outside French half term it's notably quiet.
While the safari full-day circuit of the whole area gives a great sense of distance travelled and varying panoramas, there are loads of bowls and sectors which merit a couple of hours or half a day - I'd add Brichou and Boulangère to the list.
Saturday was a champagne powder day with loads of drop-in routes untracked by mid-afternoon. An average of perhaps five or ten other people on each piste, and some with nobody from top to bottom. All for 19 euro with the carte blanche.
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Just to add one small insider-ish tip: If you pick your accommodations carefully in Les Saisies you can have true ski in/ski out for a bargain rate. There are a few dozen apartment buildings along the highest road that are accessible by tracks through the trees and between the buildings. You can get to the Legette lift that way, and ski back from the green run down from the top of Legette...
I wouldn't be put off by the fact that the ED is a largely French resort. It's quite easy, at least in LS, to find apartments online, and there's an ESI in addition to ESF instructors who speak English. It's easy to get to from Albertville or Geneva.
We always stayed in LS because of the altitude and the fact that our kids were young and having the Bisanne and Chard du Beurre wide blue slopes was a great confidence builder. But friends of ours have been devotees of Crest Voland, and that and ND de Bellecombe have a much more village-y feel. Although for a manufactured resort Les Saisies is better than most -- no high-rises yet...
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