 Poster: A snowHead
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HI,
another question regarding Sainte Foy : what are the transport options for getting to the bigger higher resorts (if there is a lack of snow), like Les Arcs? Ideally it would be a taxi, but are taxis geared up to transport a family of five and all their ski kit?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Depends if you offer to take him to one of your cocaine and lingerie parties...........
Dont worry, the snow in SF has been very good.
Yes, its lower than Les Arcs, Tignes etc but gets a lot of good coverage.
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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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its mainly north facing slopes, and 90% of the skiing above the top of the first life...so 1800m
Its got very good snow making coverage too
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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OK, so I guess you are saying you don't think we would need to ?
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Depends if you offer to take him to one of your cocaine and lingerie parties...........
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Always happy to make new friends.
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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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I think if there weren’t enough snow in Sainte Foy it probably wouldn’t be worth driving anywhere else. Sainte Foy has a good snow record. Nevertheless I wouldn’t advise going to Sainte Foy without a car as if you are unlucky enough to need a pharmacy you have to drive towards BSM to a pharmacy in a small hamlet or get a taxi to it. That is unless pharmacy arrangements have changed since we visited the resort some years back.
A car would also be useful if you wanted to do a day in another resort like La rosiere, Les arcs or Tignes.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@snowymum, there is a free bus going towards the main road/village or paid bus all the way to BSM
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We frequently stay at Ste Foy and either we or our guide have transport. Consequently we ski all the local resorts, including La Rosiere, doing just a couple of days at Ste Foy. Without your own transport here is a bus up to Tignes and Val d'Isere from the main road. The back door to the Les Arcs skiing at Villaroger is just across the valley once you get to the main road, but I am not sure how you get to it by public transport. Five minutes if you have transport. It would seem silly to go right down the valley to Bourg St Maurice and then up the funicular, but perhaps you might have to. (One place we stayed by the main road someone from the hotel would drive us across to Villaroger, and for a fee elsewhere.)
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We were in Ste Foy in Mar 2022 for 3 weeks. It was a bad snow year - after a reasonable start there was little to no snowfall in the weeks leading up to our trip, and on the one day we did have snow during our stay it was loaded with saharan sand.
As we had season passes, we had a day each at La Plagne (starting at Montchavin), Les Arcs (from Villaroger) and Tignes (from Tignes Les Brevieres) during our stay, we drove ourselves a we had a car. If you don't have transport then there's a (not overly frequent) shuttle bus to the Ste Foy Chef-Lieu, and from there - well I'm not sure about buses to / from BSM and / or Tignes, but there's no public transport to Villaroger that I know of, so taxis may be the only option
Can honestly say though that the pistes in Ste Foy were the best in the valley. The sheer amount of skiier traffic elsewhere just mean the pistes were heavily compacted and as a result, getting thin in places where the pisteurs didnt dare do too much work. It wasn't helped by the fact that temps were in the mid to high teens so the ski home at the end of each day was down slopes that had been exposed to the sun all day long, got heavily choped, then refrozen as temps dropped.
All this is before we even get to the point that the other resorts are just much much busier and we occasionally has to queu for lifts, whereas in Ste Foy we more or less skiied onto every lft...
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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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Hi all,
How easy or difficult is it to arrange taxis to take you to other ski areas (La Rosiere for example) please ?
Plus costs involved if anyone happens to have done it.
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@Jammy 07, `can be difficult and expensive but you might be able to find a willing driver on the Ste Foy Facebook site , if you are going with an operator like Premier Neige they might arrange it with their in house vans
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Jammy 07, why? I skied both, LaRos 3 weeks, StF more than 15. All resorts are nice but loads of driving for little benefit imo. StF to Tignes/Val d’Isere possibly easier, as LaRos winding access road is slower due to the many twists
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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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@mooney058, well I can think of one , lunch in La Thuile
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@Rob Mackley, Why not Annecy then 
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You know it makes sense.
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@mooney058,
The reason I asked was @snowball posting above that it was something they’d done and thought it might be good for a day out. However they had the use of a car and we won’t. If it’s too far/expensive by taxi then obviously we’ll scrap the idea.
Thanks for the input by the way.
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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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@Jammy 07, sure, exploring all the options makes sense. Points made by@nbt are also interesting
Edit: I skied in all the areas around StF and ventured from StF to Tignes for boot fitting a few years back. It is still quite a drive and takes time. My conclusion- why bother? It would make sense if moving to a new location would offer you a better quality, but it won’t. A novelty or ticking a new resort box then yes. Instead of cost for a taxi, get a good guide to explore the area - should be at a similar level of costs but much more enjoyable imo.
One possible option - https://www.freefloski.com/ (I have not skied with her/them but would love to oneday).
You will tailor your trip to your needs and am sure will enjoy it. My reaction was simply to help you with what I was struggling when organising my forst StF trip as I thought the place might be too small/boring. Where is loads to explore and a day away from a fab resort is spend on travelling. So unless you value novelty very much it is not worth it imo.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I ski off piste. You go where the good untracked snow is. Often the best snow is in Val d'Isere/Tignes. But also there are many routes which are just wonderful and you want to do, such as those on the back of the Aiguille Rouge, facing Ste Foy. That isn't to say there aren't great areas in Ste Foy, notably the back of that mountain, but also off to skiers' extreme left (to the right as you look up).
The best routes on the back are gained from a walk up to the summit area, but simply taking the lift on the far left and skiing round the corner to the back opens up most of the slope with no effort: you just miss the top part.
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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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Well, I don't do somersaults but that looked fun. Couldn't recognise where some of it was, though.
Warning: if you go off the back, check first when the buses run to take you back. Last season we skied down the week before Christmas and they weren't running yet.
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| mooney058 wrote: |
| @Jammy 07, why? I skied both, LaRos 3 weeks, StF more than 15. All resorts are nice but loads of driving for little benefit imo. StF to Tignes/Val d’Isere possibly easier, as LaRos winding access road is slower due to the many twists |
if a retour d'est comes rolling in, does VDI and tignes not get more snow than Ste Foy? A drive up the Valley doesn't seem too much of a price to pay for better snow conditions
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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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@Baron von chippy, yes that is correct . Hardly any falls on Sainte Foy only in the two back bowls towards the Italian border then as you drive towards VDI it only really starts with flurries at the Tignes dam increasing in intensity towards Le Fornet .
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Baron von chippy, why would they? It is the same area. Smaller scale resort does not mean worse/better snow. In good snow conditions all these areas are epic. In terms of competition for fresh tracks - no brainer 
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@mooney058, I'm very familiar with the Tarentaise valley. VDI can have a nice dump of fresh from a Retour and tignes hardly gets any. There's plenty to ski in VDI that doesn't get tracked straight away if you're intimate with the area. I have no problem driving round to get the best snow.
Just because you don't chase powder doesn't mean everyone should discount that idea
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| Baron von chippy wrote: |
@mooney058, I'm very familiar with the Tarentaise valley. VDI can have a nice dump of fresh from a Retour and tignes hardly gets any. There's plenty to ski in VDI that doesn't get tracked straight away if you're intimate with the area. I have no problem driving round to get the best snow.
Just because you don't chase powder doesn't mean everyone should discount that idea |
Happy hunting. Did not suggest you shouldn’t.
Weather/conditions could be location specific, no general rule re the Retour d’Est
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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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Ok need help please with the final decision for January 2025.
Sainte Foy or La Rosiere ?
We're two piste skiers who like to pootle about all day and then have a couple of cold beers followed by a nice bottle of wine with some decent quality food before calling it an early night.
All input greatly appreciated.
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@Jammy 07, Difficult call especially in Jan . If it’s a bad weather week without doubt Sainte Foy , sheltered from the wind and plenty of trees , however less skiing available than La Rosiere especially including La Thuille . I’m not keen on the skiing in La Rosiere very samey but has improved with the new advanced ski area Mont Valaisian I do like the skiing in La Thuille a great deal if the weather is good and you can get over and the lunch stops in the village are superb and cheap . I drive up from Sainte Foy to La Rosiere with the sole purpose to ski in Italy and lunch there . So the skiing in Sainte Foy is good sheltered and pretty , the station has good restaurants but the village and ski area are not enormous . La Rosiere can get windy and the skiing not as good as Sainte Foy but taking in La Thuille is definitely edging it , La Rosiere has been overbuilt recently leaving it to be very busy during the peak weeks but obviously that’s not Jan . I think Sainte Foy edges it if you go for a day trip elsewhere for some variation but can I make a suggestion to consider La Thuille instead .
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Rob Mackley,
Thanks Rob.
I've actually skied La Thuille and therefore have popped over to La Rosiere which was enjoyable and still plenty to explore there. Would love to go back and my ski companion has very kindly left the final decision down to me, although that does come with the pressure of getting it right.
At the moment my gut feeling is to choose Sainte Foy but the small ski area (piste wise) is holding me back.
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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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Sainte Foy will be a little small but you will love it almost everyone does , if you have your own transport a day in Les Arcs via Villaroger will be a nice diversion . As said difficult call . I’d be interested on other opinions as I admitted I’m not a lover of La Rosiere .
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I like both. For what you are after treat yourself with new experience, you will love StF.
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You know it makes sense.
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@mooney058,
Thank you 
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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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Booked for SF for March - we will have a car, is it easy to get to La Ros, and therefore La Thuille for a nice Italian lunch? Assume they will offer a day ski pass? Any idea of price?
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Poster: A snowHead
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@TheMikeSki, Yes , will reply properly later
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Rob Mackley, thanks very much. I'm sure I'll owe you at least a beer by the time we come to SF! 
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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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Just booked first week of Jan and contemplating another quiet week in March too. The only place I stayed more than 10 times.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@TheMikeSki, Easy drive turn right just above the Village , takes 30 mins , roads are all good as south facing . Best to park at Euchets area of La Ros . A 7 day pass gets you I think 30/35% discount you must bring your receipt. Best to head straight over the border as the skiing and coffee is better in La Thuille . All the good restaurants are in the town rather than slopeside and run mini buses to and from the gondola station . My choice of the restaurant would be Papeita , not cheap BUT a restaurant of this standard would be double the price in France , booking essential and will be full of guides and their clients . Don’t drink too much lemon cello !
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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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Hi all again.
Ok we've decide to give Sainte Foy a whirl as after the advice on here, plus doing my own research it looks and sounds a winner. However my son now wants to come and only date he has is 14th December. Checked and resort scheduled to open on the 7th, so that's good, but will the resort be fully open early season (subject to enough snow obviously) and what's the general view about that week please ?
Good news is it seems you get 15% discount on the lift pass prices for going early.
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@Jammy 07, Snow making coverage is very good every run below 2200m . I can confidently say that in the last three seasons at least 80/90% of the the ski area was open by that time . Also it’s not that busy which is a good thing . You should also be able to leave booking late if you wish to go at that time of year .
Go to this page https://www.saintefoy-tarentaise.com/live/webcams/. Tap on the camara In the lower left is a calendar you can go to 14th Dec 2023 just looked , v snowy .
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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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@Rob Mackley,
Many thanks Rob much appreciated
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| Rob Mackley wrote: |
| @TheMikeSki, Easy drive turn right just above the Village , takes 30 mins , roads are all good as south facing . Best to park at Euchets area of La Ros . A 7 day pass gets you I think 30/35% discount you must bring your receipt. Best to head straight over the border as the skiing and coffee is better in La Thuille . All the good restaurants are in the town rather than slopeside and run mini buses to and from the gondola station . My choice of the restaurant would be Papeita , not cheap BUT a restaurant of this standard would be double the price in France , booking essential and will be full of guides and their clients . Don’t drink too much lemon cello ! |
Perfect, many thanks Rob. I'll have a good look at the piste maps and figure out the best route down to La Thuille. I need to find some blue only options with a bit of luck, for the newer skiers.
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FAQ
