Les Gets Ski Resort

A charming traditional village on the edge of the huge but low lying Portes du Soleil ski area, Les Gets offers a good variety of skiing when snow conditions are right. It’s not as central as Morzine or as high as Avoriaz but its much less busy than either of them during high season.


An excellent location for a family skiing holiday in the middle of the season, Les Gets is particularly good for beginners and intermediates, but still offers some off-piste challenges for advanced skiers.

The village is about 8kms from Morzine, and at 1172m, a little higher. It’s quite narrow and, for its small size, rather strung out, but there are lifts at both ends and near the middle so it’s unlikely that you will have to walk far to get to and from the slopes. The resort has an authentic French feel that visitors like. Most of the chalets, apartments and hotels in Les Gets have been built recently but they blend in well with the traditional rural buildings, as do the cosy bars and restaurants. Although the Morzine to Les Cluses road runs through the village, it’s not usually busy enough to spoil the atmosphere.

Skiing is on both sides of the valley. To the North West (the right-hand side of most piste maps) is Mont Chery. There are mostly black and red runs here, and its far side is an uncrowded playground, on-piste and off-piste, for confident skiers. To the East (the left-hand side of most piste maps) are the rolling hills of Les Chavannes, La Turche, La Rosta, Le Ranfoilly and Pleney. From here you can ski into Morzine, or keep going to the Chamossiere and Pointe de Nyon lifts which at just over 2000m are the high points of the Morzine-Les Gets ski area. The journey over to them is almost entirely on blue or gentle red pistes, but there are some tougher runs when you get there, including an official freeride area and some unofficial off-piste opportunities for advanced skiers with a guide.

Across Morzine lies the main Portes du Soleil circuit linking  Avoriaz, Champery, and Chatel, and providing literally hundreds of runs to choose from. Les Gets is not perfectly located to explore its furthest reaches but with a bit of determination a confident skier can complete the circuit and return before the lifts close. (Samoens which connects with Flaine is also within an hour’s drive if you want to experience a totally different ski area.)

Being off the main Portes du Soleil circuit also has its advantages: the pistes, mountain restaurants and apres-ski bars around Les Gets are often less crowded than those of its more famous neighbours. The resort becomes livelier at weekends however because transfers from Geneva airport take little more than an hour.

So there are many good reasons for choosing Les Gets for a ski holiday, but there is one drawback: its slopes are simply not high enough to be snowsure. There is rarely a problem in the middle of winter, and when it’s actually snowing the treelined runs around Les Gets are much more enjoyable to ski than an exposed open bowl above a high-altitude resort; but if you plan to come here in December or April, it’s best to book last minute and check the webcams first.

Helpful Links

  • Accommodation in Les Gets. Hotels, Chalets, Self-Catering Apartments, Package Holidays, Where to stay… Read more >>>
  • How to get to Les Gets. Nearest Airports and Railway Stations, Airport Transfers, Hire Cars… Read more >>>
  • Ski Schools & Guides in Les Gets. Ski & Snowboard Schools, Mountain Guides, Private Instructors… Read more >>>
  • Discounted Ski & Snowboard Rental in Les Gets:
    • ALPINRESORTS.com works with several ski hire shops in and around the resort and can secure big discounts if you book online here.
    • SKISET has two outlets in Les Gets and also gives generous advanced booking discounts if you book online here.

Les Gets Pros and Cons

+ Lovely traditional village
+ Good variety of uncrowded local runs
+ Part of the vast Portes du Soleil ski area
+ Easy to reach / good for ski weekends
+ Inexpensive

– Not snowsure
– Runs are short
– Quiet at night
– Not on the main Portes du Soleil circuit

Les Gets Ski Area

Les Gets is made up of the popular Chavannes Bowl and the quieter Mont Chery sector, which has uncrowded black runs and good North-facing off-piste on its far side. There is more skiing at lift-linked Morzine which is also the gateway to the rest of the Portes du Soleil,

The Les Gets ski area is divided into two main sectors; the popular Chavannes Bowl and the quieter Mont-Chery.

The Chavannes Bowl

The Chavannes Bowl is the main objective for most skiers and is filled with blues, reds and some blacks off a number of high capacity lifts. A new addition is easy access to the micro-area of La Turche - whose tree lined runs can be a delight on a powder day. From here you access the rest of the via Chamossiere, Nyon, Morzine and beyond.

Mont Chery

For a quieter and possibly more challenging day, across town is the Mont Chery bubble. It lifts you above south facing slopes, sometimes skiable, onto Mont Chery itself. The southern slopes are wide open red and blues, where the ski club often races and trains and with a decent snowpark. The older eastern lift brings you back to the summit from a straightforward red or a bumpy, narrow and steep black. On the north face you have again a good red and a great wide, bumpy black pitch leading to the Col d'Ancrenaz. Out of high season and in good snow Mont Chery can be an unpisted playground.

Morzine

Everyone apart from beginners staying in Les Gets will also want to explore Morzine's slopes which are covered in our Morzine section.

Portes du Soleil

For keen competent skiers there is enough skiing in Morzine and Les Gets to last a weekend but not a full week, so they will want to explore Avoriaz, Champery and other parts of the huge Portes du Soleil ski area.

Les Gets Ski Lifts & Lift Passes

The high-speed lift system in Les Gets helps to avoid queuing even at peak times.

Les Gets has an excellent high-capacity lift system out of the village and onto the slopes from different locations, which helps avoid queuing even in peak season. The Chavanne bowl has recently been updated with a mixture of 4 and 6 person high-speed chairs that enable great access to this intermediate playground.

Les Gets Beginners

The plateau at the top of the Chavannes bubble is Les Gets' beginners territory.

Beginner Skiing in Les Gets

Beginners will probably spend much of their time on the plateau at the top of the Chavannes bubble or the runs down from there into the village. There's plenty of space there for first time sliding and a couple of bars and restaurants handy.

Ski Schools & Ski Lessons in Les Gets

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Les Gets Intermediate

There are only a few black runs but enjoyable bumps down the Yeti and down the north and east of Mont Cheri.

There are only a few black runs but strong skiers will enjoy the bumps down the Yeti - under the chair of course - and down the north and east of Mont Cheri. You can also burn a lot of energy doing fast sweeping GS turns down the wide and open red runs.

Les Gets Advanced & Off-Piste Skiing

Avoriaz's Wall is not far away, but there are also less famous, and therefore less crowded, off-piste opportunities closer to Les Gets on the North face of Mont Chery and below Chamossiere.

There are challenges in Les Gets own area. The far side of Mont Chery has black runs below the Planeys and Chery Nord lifts, and it's not hard to find good off-piste opportunities near them. On the other side of Les Gets there is off-piste in the open bowls at Chamossiere and Nyon above Morzine, and some unmarked routes between the trees at La Ranfoilly.

But experts will want to take advantage of their Portes du Soleil pass and tackle greater challenges around Avoriaz including the steep black runs at les Hauts Forts down to Les Prodains,  the Swiss Wall into Champery and the offpiste below the Pointe de Mossette heading towards Les Crosets. Further around the circuit, there's good off-piste coing down from Tete de Linga near Chatel and genuinely challenging moguls from the top of the Comebois to Plaine Dranse near Ardent.

And if that's not enough, advanced skiers with their own car should head for Samoens (about 45 minutes drive) to ski the on and off-piste challenges that resort shares with Flaine.

Les Gets Snowboarding

Les Gets has plenty of boarding action on piste and a good snow park on Mont Cheri.

As usual in the Portes du Soleil there's plenty of boarding action on piste and on Mont Cheri there's a good snow park with jumps, rails and platforms.

Les Gets Mountain Restaurants

Generally all of the restaurants on the mountain are of a decent standard and value.

Generally all of the restaurants on the mountain are of a decent standard and value with La Rossetaz at the top of the Rosta chair standing out for innovative baguettes such as "L'Americain" - a whole baguette with two burgers, topped up with fries and special sauce. As the area is fairly compact with easy access to the village, it's quite common to ski down into town at lunchtimes - giving greater variety.

Click on the links for more information on the mountain restaurants near the other Portes du Soleil ski resorts of Morzine and Avoriaz.

Les Gets Village

Sensitive development using local techniques and materials has allowed Les Gets to grow while retaining a true Alpine charm.

Some time ago the commune of Les Gets decided that they would be unusually strict about planning control. Sensitive development using local techniques and materials has allowed it to grow while retaining a true Alpine charm lost in many comparable villages. It also benefits from a sensible one-way system with three main drags surrounded by shops, restaurants and hotels.

While it is popular with the British it has a strong French following during the school holidays. For non-skiers there's a small ice-rink and a museum of music boxes. In the summer it's a mecca for downhill mountain biking and regularly hosts world cup events.

There is a wide range of accommodation in the village, including hotels, chalets and apartments. To check current availability and make a reservation, use our Les Gets Accommodation page.

 

Les Gets Bars & Restaurants

The village has more civilized venues than many other small ski resorts.

Les Gets has a few more civilized venues than many other small ski resorts. 

Spacious and smart is the Bear (or Canadian) Bar above the Irish Bar, which itself is cosy with alcoves for more intimate refreshments. 

Perennially popular with English speakers is Bar Bush owned by a near legendary extreme skier called Figs. Interesting places include the Zebra bar, Bar Canadie and the Boomerang in the hotel of the same name and of course L'Igloo nightclub.

Les Gets Restaurants & Bars

There are many restaurants and bars in Les Gets, but the choice is mostly limited to typical, but tasty Savoyard food.

Restaurants and bars abound through Les Gets, mostly offering typical Savoyard food. Good quality restauration can be found at Le Tourbillon,  Le Tyrol and Le Vieux Chene, but expect a fairly similar menu wherever you go.La Tanniere at the bottom of the main slopes is certainly worth a visit.

Les Gets Activities

Savoyarde delicacies are the thing to buy in Les Gets.

The compact village of Les Gets offers good shopping with a typical mixture of upmarket boutiques and fabulous Savoyarde local speciality shops.

For those still requiring exercise there is a charming outdoor ice rink in the heart of the village.

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Les Gets Map

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