Where do you start with Sainte Foy? All the reviews we had read before going focus on the fact that it’s a ‘gem’ and ‘hidden away’ and make a big play of the Sunday Times calling it the best resort in the world. Asking a specialist journalist for their favourite example of the thing s/he specialises in almost always results in an odd choice. I should know. So let’s put a few misapprehensions and myths to bed; Ste Foy is a small, niche resort that is best suited to confident beginners/progressers for a trip of three or four days. There is a limited number of runs, unless you feel confident going off-piste – and if you fancy it, this is most certainly a great place to start. Hire an instructor for half a day and learn to ride the powder in safe, manageable conditions. But don’t believe the blather you see in some reviews about being able to hop all over to Les Arcs, Tignes and La Rosiere; you don’t get ‘free’ lift passes to nearby resorts built into your one-week pass, as some suggest, rather you get a (small) discount IF you have a five-day or longer Ste Foy pass. Plus, while it looks close on a map, a trip to La Rosiere involves a 40-minute drive each way, in good conditions. All that said, if you want a small, manageable, attractive resort with some challenging skiing to develop your abilities, it’s a great place.
Orientation
The main village is on the main road between Bourg St Maurice and Val d’Isere, and the ski area – Ste Foy Station – is 4km above that. When you get to the resort, if you head left you end up at a small car park and one of the commercial centres; there is no road through the town, but rather it splits and each fork curls up and around to each end of the ‘front de neige’. Go right for the main car park, lift pass office, and ski hire shops (except Intersport).
The village
Hard to describe; there is simply a handful of shops and restaurants at one end, and one at the other end, of the ‘front de neige’ along which is a nursery slope, ski school meeting area, the lift up to the pistes, and the kids’ club area. If you park at the main car park, then in front of you is the complex that holds the ski shops (three of them), the lift pass office, a small supermarket, and two casual bar/restaurants – Chez Alison and Le Pitchouli. Proceed (on foot) along towards the lift that opens up the ski area for you, and you will go past the nursery slope, and the restaurant Maison a Colonnes, before coming to the ESF and K Spirit ski schools and a couple more shops – a newsagent/gift shop, another ski shop, Le Bergerie restaurant, l’Iceberg piano bar where most of the après-ski is centred, and Intersport. Voila – Sainte Foy.
The slopes
There are two 'magic carpets' serving the nursery slopes at village level, one for kids and the other for complete beginners. You don't need a lift pass for these but you will be moving off them, and onto the pistes proper, quite quickly as they won't help with much more than the absolute basics.
There are only four lifts in Sainte Foy, with another in the planning stage, and only one way up the mountain – the Plan Bois. You show your pass at this base lift then you can tuck it away.
When you get to the top of this lift, and it is slow, there’s the choice of going further up to pick up a couple of blue runs, or there’s the green run (Plan Bois) back down to the village. It winds gently down to the base with a couple of tight turns; early in the season there were lots of undulations and snowmobiles had made a mess of the piste, but with some snow it presents a nice easy, and long, run.
However if you take the Arpettaz chair to the next station there is a long blue, Les Combes, that has one or two steepish sections but which is broad and well-pisted. Near the top of Combes there is a branch to the right, signposted Chapelle – this is not actually the run, but a ‘cat track’ that will take you down to the long and undemanding Chapelle track, which is also an access road in the summer. Take a little care on the link between Combes and Chapelle – it’s easy to miss for a start, and there’s a slightly tricky left turn if you don’t watch your speed.
If you carry on another 100m on Combes, you come to the Marquise lift. It’s new, so (mercifully) quicker than the rest, and takes you high up to arguably the toughest blue on the mountain. There is a long, quite steep section near the top though the piste is plenty wide enough for lots of speed-limiting turns. This is a long, long run, like many of them at Saine Foy, so while the piste map may look a bit sparse you’ll certainly get plenty of skiing in.
There is a blue down to the resort – unfortunately it was closed when we visited.
If you want to progress onto reds, do bear in mind that Sainte Foy is a steep resort. However, the pistes are wide, so you’ll be tested rather than scared stiff, except perhaps on the last few metres of the Creux where it winds down very steeply towards the Arpettaz lift again. If you lose your nerve here, turn left onto the end bit of the Combes blue. One final thing – only take the top lift if there is no wind. At all. Our experience of the wind-blasted top (even when it was calm in the sheltered lee of the mountain) was deeply unpleasant.
Our recommendations
Mountain restaurants
There are only two – Chez Leon and Les Brevettes (see pic) both by the top of the Plan Bois/bottom of Arpettaz – and a hut up at the top of Arpettaz, which sells sandwiches and drinks and which has a couple of tables outside. Chez Leon has a small bar and a good number of tables; food is OK, with all the greatest hits of the cheese/ham/potato school of Savoie cuisine on show. Big salads are good. By contrast Les Brevettes is more convivial, and rough-and-ready – you sit at long refectory tables inside, or on the big terrace weather permitting, and the best bet is to go for the plat du jour, on our visit a tasty stew of veal with gratin potatoes.
Town restaurants
Le Bergerie is the class act of the five outlets in Sainte Foy, with a range of Savoie specialities but also, for those with big chalet dinners to accommodate later, very good salades composées for lunch. Service is smooth and friendly. When the sun shines, the south-facing terrace (see picture) is a great spot.
For dinner, our choice is La Maison à Colonnes, built in the regional style on columns (hence the name), and a charming old-fashioned experience with a very broad menu and very amiable service. Demand a table by the fire.
VentureSki
We stayed with Venture Ski, which specialises in Ste Foy, in the Chalet Les Sapins. It’s very well equipped, with a large heated pool, sauna, whirlpool and big crèche, all of which is available to other Venture Ski guests but in practice it does not get too busy.
Accommodation was excellent, with a range of rooms including some on the ground floor with their own little lounge, perfect for a small family group. Public areas are convivial and there’s plenty of room for everyone to find their own nook, or mingle with other guests. The childcare is excellent, led by Matt, who was enormously popular with our two boys.
The food (another Matt) is clever, well-presented, and doesn’t suffer from the over-complication that some luxury operators strive for. From our perspective, we live near Michelin starred restaurants and don’t really want anyone trying for that level (and possibly failing) six nights a week when we’re skiing. The young, amiable and enthusiastic chalet hosts have a ‘not a problem’ mantra, and while there were one or two organisational glitches regarding transfers, and the lack of a heated boot rack (which at this level there really ought to be), our stay was thoroughly enjoyable. www.ventureski.co.uk
Green runs: 1
Blue runs: 5
Red runs: 6
Ski schools: 3
Access to slopes: 12345
Beginner’s area: 12345
Overall: 12345
Cost:
Med/High
Getting there: Allow three hours from Geneva Airport, 2.5hrs from Chambery. The train at Bourg St Maurice is 30 minutes by car.
