Megève, FR: 03/08/23

[jamesdeluxe]

As an opening act for an unpredictable week of weather in the western Alps, Fraser warned me that yesterday would be a mixture of snow, rain at lower elevations, fog, and other unpleasantness, so I decided to ski a half day at somewhere with a lot of trees and Megève was the call. My wife and I skied there seven years ago during a more typical winter season with plenty of snow. It felt like a much larger version of Deer Valley and she enjoyed the high percentage of intermediate terrain.

As you can see from the map of the entire circuit, it has five distinct sectors and the lift ticket also allows access to Les Contamines on the left side, which is not connected to Megève even though Mont Joly (with the highest and steepest terrain) is on the other side of the ridgeline -- see the blue arrow I added below:

I got to the top of Mont Joux at just under 2000m by 9:30. It was snowing lightly, enveloped by fog, and four inches of heavy snow had fallen overnight, which was helpful in covering the boilerplate from the long drought, and actually skied well.

The precipitation eventually moved out and despite the gray day, the skiing was somewhat enjoyable -- as long as you weren't disappointed by the inability to go offpiste, which was completely out of the question with the low natural snow:

It must have been snow scooter day as I saw a fair number of them:

A guaranteed sign that you're at a major French industrial ski area (the chain has restaurants at Val d'Isère, Val Thorens, Courchevel, Megève, Avoriaz, Les Arcs, Alpe d'Huez, and Chamonix):

It'll be interesting to follow Megève in the coming years as it's going to be a perfect test case for how hugely popular ski resorts at modest elevation adjust to climate change.

I downloaded back to St. Gervais at 1:15 and drove south in driving rain to the entrance of the Haute Maurienne region, where overnight snow had been predicted at altitude.

 

[Tony Crocker]

It'll be interesting to follow Megève in the coming years as it's going to be a perfect test case for how hugely popular ski resorts at modest elevation adjust to climate change.

Fraser said Megeve and Gstaad are the most overrated ski areas in the Alps due to widespread low elevation terrain. On average 1C of temperature rise = 500 feet rise in rain/snow line. So we aren't going to suddenly see a lot of rain at the higher places. But the places that get rain now will get a higher proportion of it going forward.

It sounds like it rained where you parked/downloaded but not where you were skiing. We have driven through Megeve
a couple of times and the snow at the base looked crappy as once was in April and once was a week after rain to 2,000 meters.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Fraser said Megeve and Gstaad are the most overrated ski areas in the Alps due to widespread low elevation terrain.

I'm not sure if overrated is the correct word as no one goes there expecting high elevation or extreme challenge. The main villages, Megève and St. Gervais, are cute and walkable; the extensive onpiste terrain is mostly easy red; there are lots of lifts to spread out crowds. Those are the main calling cards. I ran into and had pleasant chats with three different groups of casual British skiers, who are likely a prime audience. They commented that it felt like Scotland that day.

Like any ski area, it's certainly a lot more enjoyable and picturesque when you have conditions like we did in 2016 (based on that visit, I would recommend it to people who want a relaxed ski vacation) rather than the driest winter in decades.

 

[Tony Crocker]

My view of these places is not to never visit them. It's more like Liz' view; make a point to visit them on short notice when conditions are good. That's what we did with Ski Welt/Kitzbuhel/Saalbach in 2017. This is a also an argument for the late January timeframe when weak sun and low temperatures can preserve snow. It's much more rare for these places to have good skiing in spring.

 

[Weathertoski]

I'm not sure if overrated is the correct word as no one goes there expecting high elevation or extreme challenge. The main villages, Megève and St. Gervais, are cute and walkable; the extensive onpiste terrain is mostly easy red; there are lots of lifts to spread out crowds. Those are the main calling cards. I ran into and had pleasant chats with three different groups of casual British skiers, who are likely a prime audience. They commented that it felt like Scotland that day.

Like any ski area, it's certainly a lot more enjoyable and picturesque when you have conditions like we did in 2016 (based on that visit, I would recommend it to people who want a relaxed ski vacation) rather than the driest winter in decades.

I don't remember saying that! But if I did, some context is needed here. Overrated in the sense that both have poor snow records and not much to offer experts. In good snow, however, they are perfect for anyone looking for an extensive and scenic network of easy cruisers, exactly what their older, affluent clientele are looking for!

 

[jamesdeluxe]

I don't remember saying that!

Probably because you didn't!

 

[Tony Crocker]

Given that typical vacationers book their week holiday months in advance, I’d say overrated would be an accurate perception for people who will often be disappointed with snow conditions.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

I think that you don't see the situation through the eyes of casual destination skiers. Of course, they'd prefer better conditions; however, much more important to them is the overall vacation experience, however they define it. That's why the Park City areas will always have a huge core clientele even though the snow is vastly better on the other side of the Wasatch. Same deal with Megève, I'd argue, and regulars will faithfully go there until climate change makes it unfeasible.

The reason I went to Megève on Weds was that Fraser advised there would be thick fog virtually anywhere above a certain elevation and I didn't want to ski in a cloud above the treeline.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I make snarky remarks about Park City in regional context, but I’d guess it’s considerable more reliable than Megeve/Gstaad, at least during the mid-January to mid-March core of the season. Park City’s rain risk is low even in town and essentially zero on the upper half of the mountain.