Tignes Snow Report: 29th December 2011

We had an early start, and left Val d’Isere before nine. The car was packed with skis and boards, and off-piste packs. We were all excited, some of us knew what to expect, and others had no idea. I was one of the latter. I had never skied in St Foy before, but had heard the almost legendary tales of the snow on a good day there. Our guide for the day, Frederic Baude (Fred) from SnoCool, was the kind of guy you instantly liked, and he had a snowboard with him, an instant plus in my books (he can ski too though). In St Foy Station we picked up our ski passes (with Carre Neige insurance just in case) and headed toward the first lift.

Our group comprised of three skiers and four snowboarders (one being the guide), so it was a complete mix. We were also joined by Fred’s sister and brother in-law for the mornings expedition, both on snowboards. We were all more than competent skiers and snowboarders, and looking forward to the days riding.

St Foy ski area is on the road up to Tignes and Val d’Isere and consists of only four ski lifts. The small, and relatively unknown, ski area boasts some fantastic pistes and the legendary off-piste runs that we were there for. It’s only a short trip from Tignes or Val d’Isere and well worth the visit, especially just after a dump of snow. If you do want to head off-piste you should take a guide unless you know the area, as it would be very easy to end up with an insane hike out if you went the wrong way. It’s also nice to know you’re going to end up at a bus stop and not in the middle of nowhere!

We went right to the top of St Foy, using three of the four chairlifts, and when we reached the summit of the final one, we strapped our equipment onto our packs and began to hike. We headed to the Pointe de la Foglietta, which is between forty-five minutes and an hour’s worth of walking. The views were out of this world, panoramic beauty all the way up. Our guide, Fred, was perfect, he chose a pace that everyone could follow, and was patient and helpful over all the places where we had a bit of a scramble.

When we reached what we thought was our destination, we were disheartened to see that it looked rather tracked out, had this really been worth the hike? Only then did Fred let us in on one of his secrets, a little further along the ridge, a slide across an open face, and a short scramble later, we arrived at an untouched powder field, accessed by a very narrow shelf round the rock but, all the same, it was perfect.

The ride down was out of this world, the snow was perfect and Fred knew the lines well enough to make sure none of the snowboarders got stuck on the flat. The bottom of the slope flattened out slowly into some variable terrain, a few trees, some wind lips and other bumps and lumps. The boys were launching off the wind lips, and the girls weren’t doing half bad either. The bottom of the run was a little bit sticky, being a little too flat, but we got across it, and then onto a thrilling, almost white knuckle ride though the trees, ducking and diving under the few which had fallen across the path. We skied though a village seldom used in the winter, and the down to a perfectly situated bus stop. Fred had timed it perfectly and within ten minutes we were on the bus, heading towards our next run.

St Foy is the perfect place to spend a day, particularly if it’s horribly windy or the weathers pretty awful in Espace Killy. The tree runs are exceptional and, on the perfect day, like we experienced, there is no better place to be. St Foy is even hosting the Freeride Ultimate Test Tour on the 7th and 8th of January which certainly says something about the quality of the off piste there.

A massive thank you goes out to our guide for a truly amazing day, and also to the group of people I was with. Couldn’t have done it without you, literally!

We took a day out from Val d’Isere and Tignes because we wanted to do something different, most of us had been intending to ski St Foy for a long time, and it more than lived up to expectations. It’s a wonderful day out for anyone who is into off-piste skiing, or if you just want to escape the busy lift queues of the higher resorts for a day. The pistes looked perfect!

Val d’Isere and Tignes are expecting more snow tonight, around twenty centimetres, and a little more on Saturday. Sunday should be sunny and after that it looks like it’s anyone’s guess as to what the weather will do. Temperatures should be mild, but always take extra layers if you can.

And don’t worry, the skiing in Espace Killy is still amazing!