Sainte Foy Tarentaise : 04 December 2021

Today, for the first time in twenty one months I was able to take a chair lift up the mountain rather than head up under my own steam. I’ve enjoyed my ski touring, but I’ve missed the conviviality of group skiing around the Sainte Foy ski area. Well it’s back on the menu now, and we had some important guests in town for our opening day of the season.

Président du Région skiing in Sainte Foy

Above, Laurent Wauquiez (adjusting his mask,) Président of the Region Auverne-Rhône-Alpes was out on the mountain with Yannick Amet (orange and blue helmet), Maire of Sainte Foy.

They cut the ribbon to officially open the new Arpettaz six-seater detachable ‘télésiège’ chair lift, before enjoying a few turns in lots of early season snow.

Cutting the Ribbon to open the new Arpettaz lift in Sainte Foy

It feels like a long time ago that I was writing about the building of this new chairlift in summer 2020, and waiting to have a go on it seems to have taken forever, but today was perfect. It’s early December, it’s snowing bucket loads, and brightly-coloured skiers and boarders are out en masse.

Life’s little pleasures are important, and no morning’s ski in Sainte Foy would be complete without popping into La Marquise to see Nadine (below), and grabbing a quick hot chocolate with a splash of Cointreau in it!

Nadine behind the bar of La Marquise

Also new this season, is Nuts & Foxy. This is brilliant! But rather than tell you about it, I’m going to leave it for you to discover for yourselves. Possibly, it was designed with kids in mind, but it’s definitely to be enjoyed by big kids as well!

The name ‘Nuts & Foxy’ was chosen by local school children, many of whom are perfectly bilingual.

Nuts & Foxy in Sainte Foy

The day wouldn’t have been complete without a little refreshment to celebrate our new chairlift, so here’s Yannick stylishly opening a Methuselah of Tattinger champagne with a ski !

Opening a a bottle of champagne Sainte Foy style

 

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