St Gervais Advanced & Off-Piste Skiing
The on piste opportunities for St Gervais based advanced skiers using the Evasion Mont Blanc pass are limited but there is excellent off-piste in the ski area, and it does not get tracked out as quickly as in other resorts.Mont Joly, the high point of the area at 2525m, is the most obvious destination for advanced skiers. The black run from the top (Chamois) deserves its grading. There is plenty of off-piste to the side and also off the back heading to Les Contamines, but hiring a guide is recommended.
L’Epaule (between Mont Joly and Mont Joux) is another ridge with good runs on both sides. Marmottes, heading to St Nicolas is graded red but is fun. Perdix Blanche heading towards Megeve is a nice black piste. And there is plenty of off-piste to either side of them.
Closer to St Gervais on Mont Arbois are Voltigeurs and Bridans,moderately steep black pistes snaking down through the trees; often left unpisted, they can be good for mogul practise. The nearby black Princesse run is great fun for a blast but not steep.
For real bumps, try the run under the Mont Joux chairlift or the moguls at the top of Marmire which can be very large and icy.
It’s also worth working across to Cote 2000. There is a black piste here, and some good off-piste too.
The Le Torraz-Le Christomet sector is often uncrowded and there is a black run coming down from both theses summits, with some off-piste to the side.
Les Houches, accessed via the rack and pinion railway from St Gervais, is not really an advanced skiers’ resort, although off-piste skiers can meander in and out of its trees. It has a world cup downhill run, which is graded black, but it’s not particularly steep. Most advanced skiers will enjoy taking it fast when it’s uncrowded, and in les Houches this is more likely to be on a sunny day (when all the advanced skiers based in Chamonix head up the valley to Les Grands Montets) than a cloudy one (when they all descend on Les Houches bacuas it’s the only place with tree-skiing).
Lastly remember St Gervais make an excellent and inexpensive base for skiers with a car who want to visit all the other Haute Savoie resorts, including those with superb advances and off-piste skiing like Flaine and Argentiere / Chamonix.