Luxury Ski Chalet Holidays in Sainte Foy

Very much a ski experience of two halves with beginners and intermediates amply catered for on the local slopes which offer a healthy 1,000m of vertical and runs mainly divided into blues and reds.  In fact, though almost half of the runs are graded red, and there are also three or four black runs, so there are challenges for more experienced skiers and boarders here too, they are just not as extensive as elsewhere.  

There’s a very low number of guests visiting this resort, for this otherwise busy part of the French Alps, so you’ll often feel like you have the slopes to yourself and even at peak times queues are, at worst, minimal.  

Then there’s Ste Foy’s more challenging side, plenty of great off-piste skiing on steep northwest facing slopes and lots of local guides available to take you to it. Popular routes include a descent to the listed village of Le Monal with spectacular views across as you descend to the glaciers on Mont Pourri; or the north face of Fogliettaz – one of the most popular routes in the area and popular with local mountain guides due to the quality of the snow which tends to last long after other routes have been skied-out.  Heli-skiing, illegal in France, is also available from Sainte Foy thanks to its proximity to the Italian border, over which the heliskiing takes place. Anyone with freestyle crazy kids should note there’s no terrain park.

It is also possible to ski at Les Arcs and la Plagne (Paradiski), or Tignes & Val d’Isere (Espace Killy) or even at the La Rosiere/La Thuile (Italy) area – altogether offering nearly 1,000km of additional piste kilometres between them, and all within a 30-minute drive of Ste Foy if you do want a day trip out.

A great choice for families and first timers in the sense that the local ski area is very quiet compared to the super resorts and very convenient from most chalets – so essentially this should be a low stress areas in which to master your technique.

There are a choice of ski schools, as well as private individual instructors offering a wide range of courses for adults and children in group or private classes.

There are several carpet lifts and easy to ride chairlifts which make getting up the slopes a doddle and a good selection of very easy green runs plus a choice of slightly harder but still pretty easy blues to enjoy.  These include a long green which curves down through the woods to the resort base, a great learning run, or the long and wide blue-graded Grande Soliet trail from the Marquise chairlift which is an excellent progression trail.

Les Marquises (+33 6 17 36 10 88) has built a strong reputation for its great menu, daily specials and friendly, fast service and is widely regarded as one of the best mountain restaurants at Ste Foy.

La Maison à Colonnes (+33 4 79 06 94 80) is located within an old farm building that dates back to 1755. Located on the snow front in front of Mt Pourri and welcomes skiers for lunch or dinner

Eden’s Kitchen (smallwonders.eu/edenskitchen/) is open from 11 until 3 Sunday to Friday and does a speciality barbecue lunch.  Locally butchered meat is prepared in an array of fusions and styles, with Diot sausages, Montbéliard steak or Cote de Boeuf on the menu.

The popular Black Diamond restaurant (blackdiamondlodge.co.uk) lead by Head Chef John Sutcliffe is open from 6pm nightly (except Mondays) and offers fine dining with a menu including locally sourced fillet steak, duck, fish, vegetarian and vegan dishes as well as daily specials.  

Chez Merie (facebook.com/chezmerie/) has the feel of a private dining chalet and provides a full gastronomic experience for carnivores with some meat dishes cooked over an open fireplace. Vegetarians should probably look elsewhere.

Le Monal (le-monal.com) has different ‘ambiances’ to choose from: a skier’s bistro service until 4pm for filling fodder or ‘la carte gourmande’ with panoramic views at the restaurant for dinner.