Saint Foy 3-19-2025

Sbooker

Well-known member
We made our way down the hill to the small resort of Saint Foy Tarantaise.
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There are only four lifts. The lift ticket was 40 Euro. It’s not a huge place but there is plenty to keep a skier amused for a few days in good conditions. We were two of about 50 people on the entire mountain.

Today was a cloudless blue ski day with no breeze and mild temps. Despite the warmest weather the mostly north facing hill stayed firm until about noon.
We had an early lunch and found everything to be softer after lunch. We skied a few nicely softened zones between the pistes for a couple of hours. A nice way to spend an afternoon.
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^ That is from the piste on the far skiers right of the mountain looking toward the highest point. Over that col is Tignes and VD.
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^ The view from the top over the back of the hill.
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^ Me on some nice sun softened snow in some of the large areas between the pistes.
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^ The view down the valley to Bourg Saint Maurice.
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^ Mont Blanc in the background.
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The obligatory sign needs a white background.
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^ Don’t accuse me of consuming the disgusting concoction with the cream and marshmallows - that was Kylie’s. I had the bad coffee.

Saint Foy is worthy of a day if you’re in the area that’s for certain.
 
We made our way down the hill to the small resort of Saint Foy Tarantaise. View attachment 44916
There are only four lifts. The lift ticket was 40 Euro. It’s not a huge place but there is plenty to keep a skier amused for a few days in good conditions. We were two of about 50 people on the entire mountain.

Today was a cloudless blue ski day with no breeze and mild temps. Despite the warmest weather the mostly north facing hill stayed firm until about noon.
We had an early lunch and found everything to be softer after lunch. We skied a few nicely softened zones between the pistes for a couple of hours. A nice way to spend an afternoon.
View attachment 44918
^ That is from the piste on the far skiers right of the mountain looking toward the highest point. Over that col is Tignes and VD.
View attachment 44919
^ The view from the top over the back of the hill.
View attachment 44920
^ Me on some nice sun softened snow in some of the large areas between the pistes.
View attachment 44921
^ The view down the valley to Bourg Saint Maurice.
View attachment 44922
^ Mont Blanc in the background.
View attachment 44923
The obligatory sign needs a white background.View attachment 44924
^ Don’t accuse me of consuming the disgusting concoction with the cream and marshmallows - that was Kylie’s. I had the bad coffee.

Saint Foy is worthy of a day if you’re in the area that’s for certain.
that looks amazing!! both the food and skiing, minus the coffee lol
 
I don't recall you ever posting a report from a non-resort in the Alps. Looked like a pleasant day (other than the marshmallow glop) and virtually no people: my kind of place!
 
Looks like maybe Les Arcs in the background of 4h picture? Ski areas literally everywhere in that region.

the mostly north facing hill stayed firm until about noon.
Looks fairly NE to NW facing. So early sun will not be much, but afternoon sun would be intense with mostly W faces.
 
I don't recall you ever posting a report from a non-resort in the Alps. Looked like a pleasant day (other than the marshmallow glop) and virtually no people: my kind of place!
You’re correct in that I’ve not been to many of the smaller places. See in Austria is an exception. Saint Foy felt about the same size as that hill from memory.
 
I have always wanted to ski Ste. Foy, but it hasn't worked out yet. It looks great!

One of the UK guys I ski with worked a winter in Val d'Isere. He said he went there for quiet powder days.

Even Frasier puts it on his Top 10 Powder Destinations.

Was the snow between the pistes compact enough to become a corn-type consistency? That can be rare in the Alps. Often, things are too unconsolidated.

I had to look up Ste. Foy's orientation: mostly W and NW. This explains the slow warm-up.

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The bit that I’m skiing in the photo is low angle so probably gets skied regularly. It was supporting me nicely. Of course I’m no expert on spring skiing…..
 
I joke to Kylie that she’s not 11 anymore.
It reminds me of The Sopranos when Tony's wife Carmela says to the depressed hitman Furio (the object of her secret affection), "here's some coffee with extra cream and sugar -- it's more comforting that way!"
 
Here's an article from the Quebec website Zoneski about Sainte Foy's offpiste: in English or French (since you and the family always go to the French Alps, I assume that someone would like to practice reading it?). :icon-smile:
 
I had to look up Ste. Foy's orientation: mostly W and NW. This explains the slow warm-up.
Perhaps not as slow as the warmup at Obergurgl we had two years ago. A vast majority of west facing in spring can be a detriment as discussed then. In St. Foy's favor is that it is more under the radar, so perhaps afternoon corn snow was smoother than a busier area.

That Zoneski report looks like winter snow, probably earlier in the season.
 
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