Saint Gervais Snow Forecast

Peter Forrest from United Kingdom writes:

I can agree with practically everything other reviewers have said. St. Gervais is not Chamonix or Verbier, but it is a super resort in its own right, giving you the chance to roam a great ski area without spending an absolute fortune. The nightlife is limited, and ski-in ski-out is really only available from above le Bettex (the mid-station in the lift system up from St. Gervais to Mont d'Arbois), but there isn't much else to criticise.
The town is really lovely, and although it has its fair share of recent apartment blocks it also has some classic Belle Epoque buildings, a great Baroque church, and some excellent restaurants and shops.
It's also excellent in summer, unlike some resorts, and the views of the Domes de Miage and the Mont Blanc massif (both permanently snow-covered) are magnificent all year round.
It used to have a regular afternoon traffic jam coming up the hill from le Fayet, but with an impressive new bridge completed in 2012 that has been banished. The bridge even has a covered climbing wall and bungee jumping if you like that sort of thing.
The bridge spans a truly impressive gorge, which must be 100m plus to the bottom - with a slightly scary footpath going down to the famous spa at le Fayet.
We've been going to St Gervais for five years in a row, after flirtations with Plan Peisey, Val d'Isere, and Chamonix, and will be delighted to continue for the foreseeable future.
The Evasion pass gives you the whole of St. Gervais, Megeve, St. Nicolas and les Contamines to enjoy - with les Contamines the only area which can't be accessed by lift or free bus, so a paid bus trip or a car is needed to get you to the beautiful wide-open bowls and long meandering paths of this end-of-the-valley gem.
The real heart of the area, though, is the Mont d'Arbois - Mont Joux - Princesse section, full of huge rolling slopes, often tree-lined, and always offering a good range of fun pistes for most levels.
More challenging areas are at Cote 2000 on the Megeve side, and Mont Joly and l'Epaule going towards St Nicolas.
You can also take the Tramway du Mont Blanc up to Les Houches Saint Gervais for a change of scenery, though this isn't part of the Evasion pass.
St Gervais is one of the easiest good resorts to get to, with Geneva airport only an hour away, or the train at le Fayet if you want. Snowcoach also has regular coaches to its hotel in le Fayet, which you can get tickets for if space is available. By car, too, there's every chance you can get to the town without needing chains or having any disruption to your journey.
In high season (Christmas, New Year, February half-term) there are queues at quite a few lifts, but that is no different from most resorts, and much better than some we've been to; and the rest of the time it is amazingly uncrowded, with hardly a minute wasted queuing for lifts.
Personal favourites for eating include le Boitet above Bettex, Freddy for a picnic in cold weather, la Petite Fontaine on the Megeve side for cheap snacks, and, in the town, a whole load of nice places to eat, including 4 Epices, la Galeta, and, pushing the boat out a bit, le Serac, which serves the sort of classy food that would cost maybe double in Megeve.
To update a couple of points from earlier reviewers, there are now quite a lot of English visitors (probably encouraged by the good write-ups here) but that doesn't stop St Gervais being a delightfully French resort; and a main meal price up on the mountain is maybe 16 euros (as long as you avoid the expensive places like Mandarines or Super Megeve.
The lifts are reasonably fast, too - and in particular the long slow grind of Monts Rosset has been banished, with a smart 6-man which does the trip in less than half the time.
Evasion Mont Blanc isn't the highest ski area by a long way, so the snow isn't as reliable as the high resorts; but if at the beginning or end of the season things get difficult, and even les Contamines closes, St Gervais is only an hour or so away from Flaine and Courmayeur, and only half an hour from Chamonix.
All in all, a great resort in a great ski area.