Sainte Foy Ski Area
In the South-Eastern part of France near the Italian border lies Sainte Foy ski area. Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise is a quaint village in the Rhone-Alps region in Savoie, France. About 4km above the old village is the small ski resort with 15 different slopes to suit beginners and expert skiers and snowboarders alike.
The ski area has four chairlifts and accommodation for up to 2500 people. One of the great aspects of this resort is that it remains a small area so the slopes are not crowded with hundreds on skiers and snowboarders. There is accommodation in the in the main village in the form of luxury hotels and popular chalets. There are also more chalets in the nearby villages of La Masure and Le Miroir.
The resort is approximately 1500m above sea level and was previously an old farming hamlet with few chalets. Most of the village is more modern being built with good quality stone and wood. You’ll find two spas at the resort which include saunas, jacuzzis, swimming pools and for those looking to spoil themselves, even massage and beauty treatments. There are five different ski shops and three restaurants with many tasty dishes on the menus to fill your appetite as well as a supermarket for those who prefer to self-cater.
For beginners there are two magic carpets on the learners slopes. There are about 20 pistes for all different levels of skiers. There are several green, blue and red grade runs but only one groomed black grade run. The resort is known for its choice of off-piste slopes of which there is a variety to suit every skier. Thankfully the powder lasts for days due to the north-west facing slopes. Guides are available to show you around the area and perhaps down the well-known descent of Fogliettaz.
There is a new automated lift pass system that allows a hands free check in. You can purchase or re-new your passes online and there are now dedicated sales points for tour operators. The resort has introduced a new piste machine of the latest technology and design to prepare the pistes in time for the peak season. The waste from the resort is treated in a biological grease disposal unit as well as a hydrocarbon separator to minimize the impact of the environment.
A picture table has been introduced, to show the surrounding summits from a top Col de l’Aiguille which is located at about 2600m above sea level. All in all the resort offers great opportunities for skiing and snowboarding and not just for advanced skiers but the whole family.
The official website offers loads of interesting links for the type of skiing, accommodation and passes available. There is a lot of information on the area as well as webcams and updated snow reports. See www.saintefoy-tarentaise.com for more information.
Image courtesy of: http://www.saintefoy-tarentaise.com/hiver/ski/pistes-et-remontees/
How to ski backwards
So you’ve mastered forwards and now you’re looking to ski backwards.
There is no doubt it looks very cool and when you see those instructors effortlessly skiing backwards faster than most of us can go forwards you decide that its time to learn.
Since learning myself I’ve picked up a few tips that will no doubt help. My own feeling is that the easiest terrain to practice on is a big wide open blue in bright sunshine and no lumps and bumps, anything less steep and you’ll not have the speed you need to keep going when things get a little wobbly and anything steeper and you might scare yourself.
Its probably worth saying at this point that you really do need freestyle (twin-tipped) skis for this. These ski’s have essentially the same upward curve on the back as they do on the front allowing you to travel backwards as easily as you can forwards.
When you’re ready to begin, start pointing downhill until you’re moving at a pace. I find it far easier to ski backwards while moving rather than from a standing start – for some reason the momentum seems to help. So when you’re travelling forwards (not more than a few mph) begin to move into a parallel stop but keep the back of the skis kicked out until you’re facing the other way.
Just as you do when skiing forwards you’ll need to have your weight on one foot and the other foot will move naturally to a position further backward and down the slope. You’ll want to be looking backwards over the shoulder of the ski furthest down the mountain. What you do with your poles are down to you but I tend to have them pointed out to the side about 45 degrees for a little stability – it seems to help my balance.
When you want to change direction (and I’d suggest you’re not doing large traverses across a slope here), you’ll need to unweight your foot and slide (or scissor) the ski downhill until you have the reverse position to that you had before. Make sure you look back over the other shoulder now.
Boom – you’re skiing backwards.
When I learnt this technique, I did it from this video which is excellent – Id highly recommend watching it.
*photo credit – My favourite rider Bobby Brown from one of his videos
Black Crows Ski Poles
I didn’t really need new poles but something grabbed me about these in the shop – perhaps the bright luminous yellow colouring, I don’t know.
These Black Crow Furtis poles set me back a cool 90 euros after bartering with the shop owner and getting 10 euros off the asking price. Still felt a bit pricey but hey I was never going to lose these bad boys on the slopes was I.
So what are they actually like then?
The pole is made of a 22mm aluminium shaft which is, according to the manufacturer, practically unbreakable, making it a true freeride pole for any occasion.
The first thing you astute people will notice (although I didn’t) is that there are none of those bits which stop your hands moving down the grip at the top of a standard pole. Instead, one has to rely on the hand strap which can be adapted to your preference or taken off completely if you really want. This, for me was one of the weirdest feelings, having skied with traditional poles since I was young. I was almost ready to give them back at the end of the first day but every-time I looked at them, I reconsidered and persisted. By the end of the second day I was loving the ability to rely on the straps as I’d put more trust in them. I felt a little freer in fact. Hard to explain but I’m super glad I stuck with them.
The basket is large, great for playing in powder. Unfortunately I didn’t find any powder that week (I was lucky enough to find snow!) so can’t really comment much on that.
I don’t know if I’ll go back to standard poles with normal grips after these, but I’m going to have fun for a few seasons before I find out.
All in all, well done Black Crows.
Cervinia, Italy 2014
2014 and its my second trip skiing. Not because I’m greedy or spoilt but because my wife and I were expecting our first child in Feb so for fear of not missing out on the yearly holiday with Dad, we opted to go in mid December.
At this time of year you have to aim high so we looked at Tignes, Cervinia and St Christoph, finally plumping for the Italian ski resort. Wow what a stroke of luck. When we arrived we were told by the rep that Cervinia was one of the only resorts in Europe with any snow, many of the larger well known areas being closed and some without any snow at all! Chamonix, Courchevel and St Anton all struggling to get any lifts open at all!
Cervinia is a pretty Italian town and forms part of the Aosta Valley. Its connected on the border to Zermatt which is well worth skiing down to if you get the chance.
I’d say that as a fairly competent skier its perhaps a little on the small side to keep you busy and not carving the same runs every day. That said, with an area pass (called International) you can get over to Zermatt on the left hand side (looking at the Piste Map) and to your right you have Salette and Valtournenche which are great ski areas with lots of good runs.
As a resort it offers everything you need for a great holiday. A lovely town which you can walk up and down in under 15 mins, all your basic amenities, nice bars and restaurants (although I can’t vouch personally for these as we were catered) and some nice souvenir type shops for the loved ones back home.
We stayed in the Dragon and Thistle which is an Inghams run hotel and has a bizarrely half Scottish, half Welsh theme! Being away from England with pictures of Lochs everywhere or Welsh rugby teams on the wall was a little odd but we were looked after well.
My Favourite run of the week was probably the long wide red (69) on the Zermatt side of the Matterhorn although 24 on the Cervinia side, tucked right under the fantastic mountain was good fun, shooting down the slope, rocks either side of you.
I’d definitely go back to Cervinia, maybe not for a few years but one day I’ll return.
Ratings
Runs: 7/10
Restaurants: Didn’t sample enough
Apres Ski: Didn’t sample enough
Town: 8/10
Overall: 7/10
Have you skied in Cervinia yourself? Find any hidden gems? Keen to hear from you and keep building a great resource for others to learn from.