Rentals for Saint Gervais

A snowHead

Hey ho,

I'm off to St Gervais in 2 weeks. Trying to book some skis online now at intersport as they seem cheapest. Does anyone know which shop I should choose? I have the option between;

INTERSPORT St Gervais le Bettex
4239, rte du Bettex - Le Bettex, 74170 St Gervais le Bettex

and

INTERSPORT St Gervais les Bains
Promenade du Mont Blanc, 74170 St Gervais les Bains

Thanks...

A snowHead

It's up to you. St Gervais les bains is down in the town. Le Bettex is halfway up the mountain where the slopes start and esf ski school meet.

Are you staying in St Gervais or Le Bettex or will you be travelling to get there? St Gervais is easiest to get to and you take a teli-cabin up to Le Bettex from there.

Mike

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Thanks,

I'm staying here: http://www.holidayinalps.com/StGervaisJardinAlpin.html

"Situated only 75m from the St Gervais - Le Bettex gondola"

You need to Login to know who's really who.

What olderscot said - it depends where you're staying but I think Bettex would probably be the most convenient. We've been there twice and used Skiloc up at Bettex (booked online through Skiset) no complaints. Skiloc also have lockers which we found convenient, don't know if Intersport do. You will need to walk/drive/catch the bus to get to the gondola so leaving your skis and boots up at Bettex is a good idea.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

brenmcc1, oops we appear to have cross-posted. Anyway looks like the other Intersport is down in the town - Bettex is your best bet. As you're so close to the gondola you can do without a locker.

Enjoy the holiday the snow looks good - make sure you get up to Cote 2000 on the Megeve side and over to Les Contamines if you can (car best but there is a bus).

Oh unless you like spending lots of money stay away from the mountain restaurants above Megeve...

You'll need to Register first of course.

Ah good. Someone who actually knows the area.

We're skiing the St Gervais area for the first time this year. Booked lessons at Le bettex and are planning to book skis etc at Le bettex near the slopes. I do have a couple of questions though.

1. The tip about ski lockers at skiloc is a good one as we don't really want ot be carrying our skis and boots all over the place. Do you know if there's a charge for this? Are they heated? We've used lockers in others places and they can be a real godsend.

2. Are skiloc near the ski slopes? From what I can see, most of the ski shops up there are close to the slopes and there's at least one (Claud Perez ?) that are in the Gondola station at Le Bettex.

3. Car parking at the St Gervais Gondola. Is it near the gondola and is it easy to get a space. The lessons don't start until 10am and I don't want to up at 9.30 to find the car park is full.

Mike

PS. 75m from the Gondola sounds great. If your hotel has lockers then you're probably sorted wherever you get skis from. The ski shops in St Gervais seem to be a couple of hundred yards from the gondola in the town. Probably easier to do there, expecially if you arrive the day before you start skiing.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Ok - to answer your questions

1. There is a charge and they were not heated - but they were right under the shop so not too cold. One locker was easily enough for two sets of skis and boots.

2. Yes you can ski right up to the shop.

3. We were there late March 2007 and 2008 and there was always plenty of room but can't vouch for peak weeks like Feb half term. The car park surrounds the gondola station.

After all it is free

Thank you, I really appreciate the help. It's always hard knowing quite what to do in a new resort so the advice really helps.

We are going at half term but that's the trouble with kids. We'll be early enough on the first day as we need to sort out our skis and boots before the lessons start so I guess we'll see then how busy it gets. We're travelling late'ish on Saturday to get flights at a reasonable cost (another problem with going at half term).

Mike

Took your advice and booked up at the skiloc. Thanks Cool

Any more tips? Laughing

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

I second Skiloc at the top of the St Gervais - Le Bettex gondola (just look left as you come down the stairs from the gondola). And the ESF school is about 10m from them. Apart from one other rental place situated next to the top of the gondola, most of the other rental shops are a bit of a hike up and down stairs and hills, and that includes Intersport.

olderscot, I was in St Gervais two weeks ago, over xmas and new year, so it was very busy but the parking lot at the bottom of the gondola is large and it only seemed to fill up on the weekends. Once the French holidays ended (just after new year) there were only a few cars in the parking lot and, consequently, we practically had the mountains to ourselves and were lucky enough to have 4 powder days during that time Cool

. The gondola ride takes about 10 minutes (without queuing), so factor that in when you have to go for lessons.

If you can ask for a specific ski instructor, I can recommend Alexis Dautcourt. He has a fantastic attitude, good English and a wicked sense of humour - your lessons will be fun.

Also highly recommend a restaurant called Le Galet. it's tucked away on the church end of St Gervais, through a little mews/alley (past a potters), down a path and through a rickety wooden gate. Find out from a local where it is and make a reservation. They do authentic regional food and the place has great ambience. With aperatiffs, set menu and wine we paid about €50 each. There's also a charcuterie, called Leon D'La Savoie, on the main drag from town towards the bottom of the gondola that does delicious spit roast chicken in a large contraption outside the front of the store. Expect to pay about €8 - €12 depending on weight.

Ahhh, I'm coming over all misty-eyed harking back. I am green, positively green with envy! Enjoy your trips.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Thanks. SkiLoc it is then.

brenmcc1, that apartment looks very convenient. I can't believe it's still available for the half tem week. I'll have to remember it for next year.

This year we're squeezing 5 families into a chalet, so 19 people in total. It's already total choas and we haven't even got there yet. I am really looking forward to the skiing though so keeping calm is going to be high on my priority list.

The restuarant tips are very handy. I think we'll need to visit a few of these to get away from the chalet for a bit of peace and quiet.

Mike

snow reports

For anyone else looking there is also a sport2000 ski hire outlet near the gondola station at Le Bettex. It also has lockers, so you can leave everyting up there and take the gondola down in comfort. http://ski-hire.sport2000.fr/

Rgds.

I also had some questions about ski hire places. Isn't one of the advantages of getting skis in saint gervais that you will be able to ski down to the bottomw from Le Bettex (or is that run not normally open/advisable)?

Exciting - also there with kids over half term - 4 families in a chalet (14 people) ....

You know it makes sense.

TheManOnTheBus, I doubt that's doable at the moment.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Was there Feb '10 for 2weeks. My girlfriend needed hire equipment; we discovered that the intersport in town and up at Le Bettex are run by the same family. Equipment was ok if a little battered. Didn't bother with the run down into town as it was looking a bit crappy and involved crossing roads etc.... more hassle than it was worth. Oh yeah, agw, was right about the prices up at the top of the mountain... x2 microwaved pizza slices that tasted like a damp sponge a x2 cans of coke; that'll be €20. Good skiing in Megeve though!

A snowHead

Just come across this thread. Thanks for the tips folks. three and a half weeks til we go! Smile

A snowHead

Enjoy.

Help!!

Rentals for Saint Gervais

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