Winter & Ski Home Ski Resort Reviews Alps Les Gets

Where high-life meets high-mileage

The local terrain includes plenty of wide cruising for intermediates.

Les Gets lies in the Massif du Chablais, just below Lac Léman (Lake Geneva), a 15min drive from the A40 motorway exit (at Cluses, which offers high-speed rail links from Paris) and around an hour’s drive from Geneva airport. This degree of accessibility has helped establish Les Gets and the neighbouring ski villages in Les Portes du Soleil as longstanding favourites with travellers from the UK. The often substantial snowfalls, combined with predominantly north-facing slopes, go some way to offsetting the comparatively modest altitude.

The landscape has real drama in the Portes du Soleil - and there's a lot of it.

With access to 650 km of slopes, spread across 12 villages in France and Switzerland, the vast Portes du Soleil area offers near-limitless skiing. Les Gets’ own pistes are spread across both sides of the village's valley location, each topping-off at 1826m. There's rapid gondola access to the pistes of Mont-Chéry, for some good, north-facing onward (red- and black-graded) drops into L’Encraz – plus less-steep south-facing return cruises. It's a fun way to start the day but, distance-wise, the more obvious attractions lie above the opposite side of the village in the Chavannes sector. Only the upper slopes here are above the tree-line, so there's useful shelter in less-that-perfect visibility plus a sense of being back to nature. Although the figures might suggest otherwise, intermediates won't find it too daunting and debutantes have plenty of facilities to ensure a confident start.

The chalet-style skyline sits well in the valley, and there's easy access to the ski-lifts.

Although regarding itself as small, Les Gets has a reassuringly established feel to it and offers a refreshingly traditional alternative to high-altitude purpose-built resorts. It developed around the Col des Gets (1170m) and became a ski resort in 1936. Both architecturally and culturally you somehow sense that Switzerland is nearby. After fresh snowfalls the heart of the village looks and feels like something from a Christmas card. Not that it's unsophistcated; quite the reverse, in fact - but nicely so. Ski boutiques (and boutique chalet hotels) tell their own story, but Les Gets remains a friendly, down-to-earth place to spend some time, and has a particularly loyal following among skiers from the UK.
Access to the ski-lifts couldn't be easier – and you can take 'le petit train' rather than a shuttle-bus between access points on opposite sides of the village. Now that's different...

Targeted investment in lift infrastructure and snowmaking underlines a commitment to quality.

As a Famille Plus Montagne resort, Les Gets provides activities and services for all ages plus skiers with a disability. Mixed-ability groups will find variety locally, but you'll need to build your fitness levels if you intend really covering some distance to explore the Portes du Soleil area. Closer to home there's obvious potential for those looking to raise not only their stamina but also their technical abilities. And if you're happy skiing red-graded runs (or ready to step up) then you'll be spoilt for choice. For independent travellers, there's a wealth of of luxury accommodation options – hotels as well as chalets.

First run of the day, high above the mists hanging down in the nearby valleys.

Our early evening approach to Les Gets gives little idea of its setting, or how it might all look in daylight. But there's no denying that the heart of the village looks a picture twinkling appealingly in the chill darkness, while mounds of snow are piled up at the roadsides. It's visibly upmarket too, as our check-in at the Hotel Marmotte confirms; when your first visit makes you feel more like an old friend making a welcome return you know you’re in good hands.
We sleep soundly and awake to brilliant sunlight. It’s been some time since the most recent snowfalls but a combination of exceptionally low temperatures and skilled piste management (including judicious use of snowmaking) has kept things in good shape for skiers. Nevertheless we make an early start, and climb aboard le petit train – an interesting alternative to the usual shuttle-bus, which drops us on the opposite side of town at the Mont Chéry gondola lift. It's a good place to begin, not least since snow-quality on the mostly south-facing slopes holds up less well than across the valley.

Disabled skiers still gaining experience have plenty of wide pistes plus dedicated instruction.

After the gondola ride a quick transfer to the Pointe chairlift gets us to the 1826m mark, to add our tracks to the neatly-groomed corduroy of Marmotte. The red-graded piste crests a top-of-the-world ridge benignly before spearing off right onto a breathless plunge down through the trees into L'Encrenaz. It's still cold down below and snow quality is good, rewarding us for our early start. There are a couple of black-graded access runs on this side too, but our time is limited, so we ski back to the gondola and down to the village. Next time we’ll make a point of taking the Grande Ourse chairlift or the Super Chéry draglift, which serve a slalom piste plus further red and black runs down through the trees to the Planeys chairlift. There’s more skiing over here than you’d imagine, and since most skiers are focused elsewhere it can be a good place to head for low-pressure skiing (especially in the mornings).

We take the train...

Meanwhile, back at the base of the gondola, another slightly surreal ride on the shuttle-train gets us back to our starting-point. Having got Mont Chéry out of our system, we now take the Chavannes Express chairlift and during the ride check out the new Déborah Anthionaz boardercross run, one of the longest we’ve seen. Turning left at the top of the lift (at 1620m) offers a red-graded run into Morzine, but we head the other way to ski the blue-graded Violette over to the next chairlift, the Ranfoilly Express, which whisks us up to the 1826m summit of Le Ranfoilly. The views from here are fantastic, as is the scenic cruise on the red-graded Tulipe over to the chairlift serving another viewpoint: La Rosta (1665m).

It had been some time since the last snowfalls but pistes were well managed - just days later it snowed (and snowed).

From the summit there there are blue- red- and black-graded options, our choice being the Eglanine red, which falls away to enter the tree-line above the base of the La Rosta sector’s chairlifts. This time we take the la Rosta lift’s companion, the Grains d’Or Express up to the Pointe de la Turche (1633m) to take Vorosses, a blue-graded piste, which we soon leave to join a red. The aptly-named Mélèzes (‘larch trees’) fires us down the Perrières Express six-seater chairlift.
From the top it’s just a minute or so’s gentle run down to our lunch-break target. The Restaurant La Païka is the definitive mountain hideaway, and the fine weather finds the terrace filled with appreciative skiers pondering the temptations of the today’s chalkboard menus. Grilled chicken from the barbeque gets our vote.

It’s (historic) drag-lift time...

Access to the restaurant is via the blue-graded Vorosses piste, so leaving means finishing the run, the lower section of which turns out to be a quite icy, all the way down to a welcome sight: the Turche draglift. This modest but important lift dates from 1945, and is still both privately owned and operated and even has its own Facebook page. After launching out from the covered departure area we climb steeply through the trees for a 1.2km-long haul, climbing around 330m.

The Territoire du Grand Cry American Indian-themed village - one of the special attractions for younger skiers.

When we finally wobble off gratefully at the top a gentle blue cruise on Renardière marks the start of our return journey to the village. Next comes the Nauchets Express chairlift, which hauls us high above the Stade de Slalom to the start of a blue-graded run down Gentianes. The route passes the Mappy’s debutante area, the Anthionaz boardercross area and the new Territoire Grand Cry – an American Indian-style children's village complete with tepees, a mini boarder/skiercross run with sound system plus activities including war-paint face-painting, treasure hunts and drawing competitions. It's a fun place and designed to delight the mountain visitors of the future.
Before we know it we’re back to our starting point, after a great day’s skiing on the pistes above Les Gets. Evening, then, finds us in a fittingly mellow, satisfied mood in which to enjoy the simple pleasure of being here, in what could so very easily start to feel like a home-from-home.

© Roger Moss