450km of empty pistes, a beautiful historic village, less than an hour from Geneva airport, but you've never even heard the name before? Welcome to St Gervais Mont Blanc
Some of you well-travelled skiers will have heard of St Gervais before, yet few have ever skied there or even know much about it, the British just don't tend to go there, with the massive drawing power of Chamonix and Megeve only 15 minutes either way down the road from St Gervais, it just literally gets passed by.
I'm going to tell you why it shouldn't (and why it's great that it does!).
Founded in the Roman era - the town flourished during the middle ages as one of the largest market towns in the Alps - and bringing in tourists since 1806, St Gervais is that very rare thing, a ski resort with real character and real history. The first ski lift, the famous rack and pinion railway, situated just 200m from our chalet, was installed in 1904 and still runs today as the highest rack and pinion railway in Europe!
St Gervais feels like a genuine French town, Why? because it is. Here is a town with a weekly market, a museum, a baroque church, two professional local artists, three local potters, a train station, an Olympic sized ice rink, a public library, an all year-round riding school, a husky sled company, proper primary school, and one of the finest spa's in the whole of France. Then theres the pretty town square with its stone fountain, park and permanent fairground carousel. On this side of town are all the restaurants, bars and nice accomodation, witht the ski lift up into the area just the other side of the dramatic gorge that runs down the centre of the village. A casual 10 minute walk or a two minute ride on the excellent free buses gets you right to the lifts.
If you're after a crazy apres-ski and wild nightlife, then I highly recommend Val D'Isere or St Anton, they're great resorts, but its not really what we do here. Though not famouts for its night-life, St Gervais offers over 50 bars, cafes and restaurants. From classy cocktail and wine bars, to dingy little locals spots. But this is not a party town, we dont have drunken gordes stumbling home from the pub at 2am, and thats fine by us. Families love the creche and ski school, plus the well groomed pistes and great mountain restaurants.
Then there's the location. Everyone who skis knows the pain involved with airport transfers: when you finally find your luggage and battle your way to the arrivals lounge, you find that becasue another flight was delayed, you'll be sitting in the carpark for another hour and a half waiting. Then 3 hours up windy mountain roads in a coach full of 4 year olds. There's none of that here; with numerous great value transfer companies, you can get from your seat on the plane to the cake in the chalet in an hour!
As for the important stuff, the skiing: St Gervais, and its area, the Evasion Mont Blanc, has 450km of runs. The area is predominantly suited to improving beginners and intermediates who enjoy being able to ski or board the whole mountain-range on empty runs without horrible blacks or icy blind corners.
So, St Gervais Mont Blanc, a beautiful, peaceful resort; easy to get to, great skiing and empty pistes. Just don't tell too many people...
Author Resource:-
Jamie Forrest is a passionate skiier and chef, who has been running private Catered Chalet Holidays for 8 years. He now runs three in St Gervais sleeping from 4 -10 guests, and offering freindly service and great food. see why 'The Guardian' called him "the sweetest and most devoted chalet host in the Alps" http://www.ski-bliss.com
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