By Daniel Elkan
St Gervais is one of those resorts that sits below the radar for many skiers, yet has a loyal following that keeps returning. Having just got back from a trip there, it’s easy to see why they do.
Admittedly, sunny days and great snow conditions can cloud any skier’s judgement, but the resort does boast spectacular scenery. There are lots of rolling, twisting red and blue runs flanked by pine trees. There’s also plenty of accessible off piste, as few visitors seem too fussed about trashing every fresh bit of powder as soon as it’s fallen.
For such decent terrain, it was surprising never to hit a lift queue, nor to find a crowded piste. The slopes, linked with neighbouring Megeve to form the 450km Evasion Mont Blanc area, have a laid-back atmosphere. Everywhere it’s nods and smiles from other skiers and boarders, as if in recognition that this resort is a bit of a happy discovery.
A similar thing happens when you head for lunch. Take the inconspicuous mountain hut, La Terrasse de Freddy (pictured above, 00 33 450 21 20 56) on Mont d’Arbois. You could ski past it twenty times and not realise that the rustic timber building is actually a restaurant. Step inside and you join a contented band of ‘in-the-know’ diners enjoying a set menu of potato rosti, charcuterie meats, salad and terrine (€15) followed by a formidable cheese board.
The resort of St Gervais incorporates four villages. While there is no throbbing nightlife, there are some lovely restaurants, one of the best being Le Chalet Remy (00 33 450 93 11 85) in the village of Le Bettex, where for €25 you can carve bubbling shards of raclette cheese onto your plate, served with potatoes, meats and salad.
Le Fayet itself is a spa town, and after skiing we bundled into a taxi to the Thermes de Saint-Gervais (00 33 4 50 47 54 57). The smell of sulphur as we entered the grand old building had me hoping for a huge pool of hot, bubbling, thermal water. There wasn’t one. Instead, we tried a few treatments, such as the very enjoyable jet bath and the (disappointing) Torrent de Bionassay, where you basically stand in a room and get hosed down. There’s also the intriguing donkey milk bath (good for the skin, apparently). For me, the most enjoyable treatment of all turned out to be a relaxing massage.
The journey by train to St Gervais is simple, with a Eurostar to Paris and then either a daytime TGV or an overnight Corail Lunea sleeper. We stayed in Le Bettex – the furthest village from the railway station but closest to skiing – at the pleasant-but-functional Arbois Bettex hotel (00 33 4 50 93 12 22), The hotel’s location on the foot of the slopes means that you could ski to the door, and fall out of bed and into the gondola the next morning. Well, almost.
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