Les Gets Ski Resort Guide
Les Gets is an attractive and friendly ski resort which has retained a traditional French atmosphere despite its growing popularity. Located on the road to its more famous neighbour Morzine, Les Gets’ chalet-style buildings and quiet streets will appeal to families in particular. An influx of tourists on weekends does see the small village’s nightlife get a little livelier though.
The main street through Les Gets resort is lined with gourmet food and wine shops which are excellent to peruse in the early evenings. Most of the village amenities are located around the main lift station with a surprisingly good selection of bars and restaurants for a smaller ski resort. Accommodation in Les Gets is a little spread out for some people, but there are free buses around the town as well as a road-train which appeals to families.
Les Gets has developed from a farming village into a popular ski resort. Planning restrictions mean building has largely been in keeping with the natural surroundings and added to the unique character and ambience. Although the relatively low altitude of Les Gets at 1172m means snow is not guaranteed in the village, the slopes it shares with Morzine are high and extensive. Les Gets is also part of the Portes du Soleil – fourteen interconnected resorts spanning the French-Swiss border.
Les Gets has had a long history with snow sports and the first Ecole du Ski Francais opened here in 1940. The resort is usually quiet with few crowds and will appeal to families more than groups looking for lively nightlife. Apres-ski is centred around the hotel bars and restaurants mostly, while there are options for bowling, ice skating and going to the cinema too.
Skiing in Les Gets
Les Gets takes its name from the old Savoyard word meaning ‘ pathway through the trees’. As you would imagine, much of skiing closest to the village itself cuts through the local forest and is both scenic and sheltered at the same time. The resort shares its local slopes with Morzine and the varied pistes pass through the lightly wooded slopes on both sides of the valley.
For beginners staying in Les Gets there are well kept and extensive nursery slopes located immediately around the centre of the village. There are several excellent ski schools operating out of Les Gets and first-time skiers & snowboarders of all ages are well catered for.
Les Gets and Morzine’s shared ski area consists of two distinct sections. Mont-Cheri is served by a gondola and has some wide blue and red runs plus access to a snowpark with jumps and rails for the more adventurous. The Chavannes Bowl area has a mix of blue, red and black runs all starting and finishing at similar points. One major advantage of this area is that groups of differing abilities can ski their choice of piste difficulty and still meet-up along the way.
The Les Gets ski area is conveniently laid out and rarely suffers from lift queues or crowds. There is enough here to keep beginners and intermediates occupied for a week but more advanced skiers may want the freedom of a larger area. Luckily Les Gets can offer this an upgrade to the Portes du Soleil pass gives access to 650km of pistes over fourteen interconnected resorts.
Although Les Gets sits a little way from the main Portes du Soleil circuit at Avoriaz it’s still easily accessed via the Chavannes Bowl and Morzine slopes. From here there is a wealth of both on and off-piste skiing available to suit all abilities – and potentially more kilometres of runs than it is possible to cover in a single week. This huge area covers both sides of the French-Swiss border too and it is achievable for quick intermediate skiers to start in Les Gets, get lunch in Switzerland, and be back in resort by the closing of the lifts.
