Winter & Ski Home Ski Resort Reviews Alps Les Saisies

Les Saisies: quietly getting on with offering near-perfect family skiing.

The nearby presence of Mont-Blanc accounts for Les Saisies’ impressive snowfall figures.

Located just south of Megève, Les Saisies is part of the underrated Espace Diamant, which unites the ski areas of the Val d’Arly and the western end of Hauteluce (the opposite end being linked to Les Contamines). The result is currently one of the better-kept secrets in the French Alps, with a wealth of varied terrain and great snow record, thanks to the nearby presence of Mont Blanc. Like its Espace Cristal Predecessor, the name might not sound too familiar, but this is an area about which you’re going to be hearing a lot more as it continues to expand and develop.

The emphasis is on relaxed intermediate cruising, with any steeper sections generally wide and well-groomed.

Compared with other French ‘grande domaine’ areas, the Espace Diamant’s greatest selling-point is the possibility of skiing a full circuit around the mountains and back again to your starting-point, within a day. And unlike its famous Sella Ronda counterpart in Italy, here you’ll have plenty of time for a relaxed lunch along the way. It’s great cruising terrain for intermediates, and the varied scenery brings a sense of getting well away from the outside world.

Being based in Les Saisies brings easy access to gentle novice and ski-school slopes, while intermediates who don’t feel up to doing the whole circuit have plenty of other options (including skiing a different area each day). The lift system over here is also among the most efficient in the Espace Diamant.

The main village sits between Mont Bisanne's wide open spaces and the more wooded terrain on the Val d'Arly side .

Accommodation-wise, the choice has been between the original village (above) at the foot of the slopes and the more discrete Hameau du Beaufortain (shown in our banner image), accessed by the Route du Mont Bisanne. For families the comprehensive range of services and easy access to ski-school areas make village the more practical option, while purists looking for a quieter, premium ski-in/ski-out location will find le Hameau du Beaufortain does not disappoint.
For potential property investors, however, the options are expanding. Beyond le Mont Bisanne (above Villard-sur-Doron and close to Hauteluce) lies the new development of Bisanne 1500. Spearheading the dramatic expansion here is MGM Constructeur, which is developing not one but two sites: La Perle des Alpes and le Chalet d'Ameria – in total 70 new luxury slopeside apartments. We'll be profiling these new releases soon.

Families come from nearby Albertville to enjoy both downhill and cross-country events for young skiers.

Family skiers and mixed-ability groups with varied interests will have plenty of options here. There's an infectious buzz to the village, which combines the traditional, down-to-earth feel of the Beaufortain with a perceptible (and growing) move towards mountain chic. So you can ski (downhill or cross-country) all day then relax in a salon de thé or unwind in a spa – or find a lively bar, if you prefer. All of which makes it a tempting option for those in search of a substantial and affordable ski area yet with plenty of gentle terrain close at hand for novices or early-intermediates.

We’re no strangers here, having already spent a memorable day putting a full circuit of the Espace Diamant under our skis a couple of seasons ago. On that occasion we’d been based in nearby Crest Voland, and our experience of Les Saisies had been been confined to simply skiing past it a couple of times. Even so, what we saw had been enough to put it near the top of our growing mental list of ‘we’ll come back here’ ski areas.
We were finally able to return last season, our approach (from Albertville this time) taking us through the Beaufortain valley towards Beaufort-sur-Doron, on the outskirts of which we turned off the valley road to climb steeply through conifer forests towards one of our favourite spots, the village of Hauteluce. After a few final hairpins the climb relents and we approach Les Saisies, where just a few minutes later we’re safely parked and transferring our gear to an impressively spacious and well-equipped apartment at the Hameau du Beaufortain.

Les Saisies provided some of the best snow conditions we encountered during what turned out to be an unreliable season.

The views from our balcony confirm that it is indeed good to be back in the area once again, with the benefit of fine weather and with the prospect of some great skiing ahead of us.

Filling in the gaps

Next morning we take advantage of the ski-in/ski-out location and take a leisurely blue- and green-graded cruise over to the front-de-neige of Les Saisies 1650, where the ski school groups are already assembling and confirmed skiers are converging on their preferred departure points. Ours is the Chard du Beurre lift. The powerful high-speed six-seater whisks us smoothly high above the Route des Grandes-Alpes, which passes through the heart of the village, before climbing to the 1889m Chard du Beurre. Although in absolute terms not that high, the sweeping panoramic views from the summit provide the perfect vantage point for newcomers keen to get their bearings.
Turning our back for now on the unmistakable outline of nearby Mont-Blanc (4810m), we take a blue-graded cruise via the Trolliers and Lézette pistes though wide open landscapes to the base of the Brichou lift. The onward steep haul takes us through some of this sector's steadily-increasing tree-cover and drops us onto a ridge from which green, blue, red and black pistes return to the base of the lift, while ahead lie blue- and red-graded pistes dropping into the Grattary/Douce bowl.

The Douce chairlift shares the snow-covered alpage landscape with a classic Beaufortain chalet.

Each turns out to be well worth trying, but for now we take the Coudray blue, which snakes its way down to the Douce chairlift, a useful link over to Praz-sur-Arly, Crest-Voland and Notre-Dame de Bellecombe. At the top we're sorely tempted, but instead turn around to ski the Péchette red piste, a relatively steep run which swerves beneath the lift, skirts more forest and eventually fires us back to the Grattary chairlift. On reaching the summit we ski off onto the Grattary blue, before peeling off to take Arcosses for a red-graded swoop beneath the Brichou lift and onwards to the Roche Blanche 4-seater fixed chair.

Dropping into Hauteluce

This time when we leave the lift at 1865m we do give into temptation, in the form of a long red-graded descent on the Lanches and Balme pistes which between them plunge through 715m of vertical all the way down to Hauteluce. The lower section is the steeper of the two, but since each piste has its own lift, you have the option of returning before you commit to the start of Balme. Having come this far, we press on, and find that snowmaking, combined with low temperatures have actually produced better conditions than we encountered during our previous visit. The run terminates beside la Ferme du Chozal, one of the better places to stay in the Beaufortain and offering a fine restaurant with a large sun terrace.

Fresh snow above Hauteluce, the snowline descending right to the valley floor.

Our planned lunch break is elsewhere, however, so we relax and take in the amazing scenery during the lift rides back up to the La Legette sector. From the top a gentle glide is all it takes to bring us to Le Benetton – see our brief review (left).
Some time later, when we finally summon the will to leave this seductive spot, we join Blanchots for a gentle, green-graded cruise back past Les Saisies 1650 and join one of the onward chairlifts serving Mont Bisanne (1940m). This impressive viewpoint has orientation panels to help identify the surrounding peaks, but our sights are set on a spot currently hidden from view but much closer at hand. Getting to Le Planay is simple enough, via a scenic cruise on the blue-graded Le Planay piste (or the rather more direct Bouquetin black) which winds its way down the far side of le Mont to reach the steadily-developing ski village of Bisanne 1500. The sensational scenery and away-from-it-all setting make this a premium location, as developers like MGM Constructeur are keenly aware.

Ski-in/ski-out chalet apartments at Bisanne 1500 are transforming the range of visitor accommodation.

After riding the Rosières chairlift back to Mont Bisanne we recall that building up some speed during the long schuss on the far side of Bisanne would be enough to carry us smoothly over to pick up the beautiful forested run over to Crest Voland. This time, though, we explore some of the terrain above Les Saisies before dropping down into the village to rest our much-travelled legs over a vin chaud in the Tahiti Eden Spa's salon de thé.

Winding down

Outside the afternoon is winding down, while the kind of buzz familiar to habituées of ski resorts is starting to build. So before the lifts close, we glide off to join our last lifts of the day, which drop us neatly just above our apartment.
Within a very few minutes we've stowed our skis, changed out of our jackets and salopettes, and are savouring the glow of accomplishment which rounds off the perfect ski day. Thank-you Les Saisies – and the remarkable Espace Diamant.

Dusk falls on Les Saisies, heralding another spectacular sunset.

© Roger Moss