The Secret Jewel of the French Alps
Tucked away in the mesmerising Haute-Your Tarentaise Valley, the Sainte-Foy ski resort in the French Alps is perfect for a family skiing holiday. Although low-key, the charming alpine village offers forgiving pistes and a pleasurable atmosphere.
Best suited for progressive beginners and young children - often found snowplough-ing like little ducklings behind the instructor - Sainte-Foy Your Tarentaise is a mod-est, albeit uncrowded resort with several cruise-quality blues and greens.
Sainte-Foy Tarentaise Resort
Whilst the piste count in Sainte-Foy is limited, the neighbouring ski area behemoths of Les Arcs, Val d'Isère and Tignes are all within easy-reaching distance - and with over 1000km of groomed piste to explore, even advanced skiers will not struggle to find adrenaline-pumping terrain.
There is also some 1000km of off-piste skiing in the surrounding mountains. Ad-vanced and intermediate skiers are encouraged to hire a mountain guide for at least one day and experience skiing as it should be experienced. An exhilarating heli-drop can also take you to even wilder runs around the Italian border.
Given Sainte-Foy is a small resort, the nightlife is equally quiet. There are several bars and restaurants, some of which have live music. If you’re looking for an après ski scene, Val d’Isere and Tignes are only 20 minutes away.
Resort Statistics
Base: | 1550 meters |
Summit: | 2620 meters |
No. of Pistes: | 24 |
Total Piste: | 43 km |
Cross Country: | 9 km |
Total Lifts: | 6 |
Gondolas/ Cable Cars: | 0 |
Chairlifts: | 4 |
Drag Lifts: | 2 |
Piste Map
Sainte-Foy Tarentaise Ski Areas & Slopes
Sainte-Foy
The Sainte-Foy Your Tarentaise is easily accessed from the village. There are only four chair lifts and a couple of drag lifts so getting around is easy, and surprisingly uncrowded.
Intermediate-Advanced: Hire a guide and go off-piste or take a heli-drop on the border with Italy.
Beginners: Ideal for beginners and children to learn, develop and build confidence. There are several pleasant and uncrowded blues and greens which run through trees.
Les Arcs
With 200km of groomed piste accommodating skiers of all levels, Les Arcs is an at-tractive alternative for groups and families staying in Sainte-Foy Your Tarentaise. To get there, you will need to make a 45 minute journey by taxi or take the local bus.
Intermediate-Advanced: An intermediates playground, Les Arcs red slopes are deep yet towards the easier end of the spectrum - ideal for fast cruising. The long red down to Villaroger and the ski area around Peisey-Vallandy tend to be quieter. Experienced skiers will find some steep blacks above Arc 2000. Alternatively, take the Vanoise Express cable car across to La Plagne.
Beginners: Several easy blues and a couple of greens are ideal for beginners to develop your snowplough and build confidence. The greens served by the St. Jacques chair lift from Arc 2000 are relatively quiet.
Val d’Isere
Best suited to strong intermediates and experts, Val d’Isere boasts some of the best slopes in the French Alps. The journey from Sainte-Foy takes about 30 minutes by road.
Intermediate-Advanced: The one hundred or so blue and red graded runs makes Val d’Isere a winner with in-termediates. Bellevarde and Funival are among the hotspots. And with an additional 25 black runs, this skiing paradise is regarded as one of the best ski areas in the world for advanced skiers as well. The infamous La Face, created for the 1992 Olympics is a must for adrenaline junkies.
Beginners: Since the Solaise slopes were redeveloped to accommodate beginners, Val d’Isere has some of the most novice-friendly pistes in France. The undulating slopes served by the Madeleine Express lift is ideal for the next stage of your development whilst La Daille also has an exciting beginners area.
Tignes
Tignes links seamlessly with Val d’Isere and can be reached by the Val Claret chairlift and the Le Lac gondola to Tovière.
Intermediate-Advanced: Tignes boasts some outstanding terrain for advancing intermediates but its steep cou-loirs around La Grande Balme and La Petit Balme will most interest advanced skiers. The killer piste is the Grande Motte glacier starting at an ascent of 3,456m.
Beginners: The huge ski area of Espace Killy has slow and gentle runs that are ideal for begin-ners. A good place to get a feel for the terrain are the slopes around the Le Lac and Val Claret. When you feel confident enough to head further up the mountain try tack-ling Palafour and Chardonnet then up to the Tichot lift. You will also find a couple of challenging blues from the Grande Motte, accessible by the Vanoise and Rossolin lifts.
Ski Holidays in Sainte-Foy Tarentaise
Sainte-Foy Tarentaise Ski Passes
The ski lift passes for Sainte-Foy Tarentaise also give you access to one day in the Espace Killy ski area in the Val d’Isere-Tignes ski area.
Ski Pass prices for adults vary depending on how many days you want to use it for, with prices ranging from 29.40€ for four hours to 205.90€ for seven consecutive days. Child and senior prices range from 22€ to 159.30€.
Sainte-Foyy family ski pass lets you enjoy a special package for 5, 6 or 7 days
There is also a Tribe offer that gives a 5% discount to group purchases of 4 or more packages.
The ski lift prices for Sainte-Foy Tarentaise below are taken from the official tourist information website of Sainte-Foy.
Ski Schools
The local ski schools in Sainte-Foy Your Tarentaise are far better suited to newbies than the ski schools in the larger neighbouring resort. With smaller groups to look af-ter, the instructors can spend more time with each pupil.
The two stand out ski schools in Sainte-Foy Your Tarentaise are the Ecole du Ski Francais and Peak Retreats.
Equipment Hire
There are several specialist ski shops in the village. Order online in advance to take advantage of discounts.
Family Fun in Sainte-Foy Tarentaise
Sainte-Foy is geared towards families with young children. The beginner slopes are dotted with fun nature activity runs where children can learn about the local wildlife and seek out wooden foxes hidden in the forests that have been carved out by local craftsman.
In addition, there is a free toboggan run on the Galopins village slope, snowshoeing courses, helicopter rides, ice diving, husky sledding, ice skating, swimming and bowling. For children that like to learn the fun “Natur’Marmotte” helps to raise awareness about protecting the environment.
Sainte-Foy Tarentaise comes highly recommend for a family skiing holiday. The modest resort is well-suited to children (and beginners of all ages) whilst also within easy reaching distance of challenging slopes in the neighbouring Val d’Isere-Tignes ski area.
The nightlife in the village is fairly low-key but there is plenty of entertainment away from the slopes. For families with toddlers, there are several excellent childcare facili-ties including Premier-neige, Jelly and Ice-Cream Ltd and Venture Ski Private Cre-che. There is also a popular kids club run in collaboration with the ESF ski school.
When to Go?
Sainte-Foy is uncrowded and is a pleasure to visit right throughout the ski season - even during school holidays.
Snow Report
Sainte Foy has a good reputation for fresh snow, but when Mother Nature does not come calling, the resorts 80 snow-making cannons come to the rescue. Check out the webcams for the latest snow reports.
Sainte-Foy Tarentaise is a snow reliable resort and receives a good share of sunshine although can be prone to bouts of rain. The slopes are sheltered by the trees which protects and preserves the fresh powder but you should always check the 7-day weather forecast before heading into the mountains.
Operating Times
Sainte-Foy Tarentaise is typically open for the ski season from mid-December to early April. The lifts are open form 9am to 4pm.