Les Gets: Then & Now

The practical aspect of skiing has not really altered much over the years.

We slide down the mountain on a pair of long planks attached to a rather uncomfortable pair of boots.

• We need to wrap up well to keep warm.
• Mechanical lifts take us up the mountain.

Then we come down on the snow making turns to steer round the slopes, and control speed.

Skiing serves no practical purpose whatsoever, but produces a feeling like no other.

Lunch should be in the sun on the terrace of a mountain restaurant while soaking up stunning views of the Alps.

As the skiing ends, no good day is complete without a couple of apres ski beers and then a hearty evening meal as one looks back on the day.

• Sleep
• Repeat
• Sleep
• Repeat

Etc…

I have been skiing for more years than I now care to remember – (er, almost 60).

The basics really haven’t changed.

Thirty years ago I skied in Les Gets with my young family and it was where my eldest son, Alex, first put on skis.

Twenty years later he was making more turns, this time as a Level 3 qualified ski instructor in Canada.

Alex started that journey in Les Gets as a 4-year old.

Unsurprisingly, I have rather a soft spot for the place.

Back in the mid-90s we chose Les Gets as it’s a short 1-hour transfer from Geneva airport and sits in the huge Portes du Soleil ski area with its 600+ kms of slopes.

The same is true today.

We stayed in Chalet La Turche 2 with Ski Famille and it was, er, a fairly basic affair.

The staff were great, but were mostly youngsters ‘doing a season’, with little formal training or experience in hospitality.

By today’s standards the food left something to be desired and there was certainly no feeling of ‘luxury’.

But we didn’t care a less – we were skiing and that was all that mattered.

Things have changed hugely over the past three decades, with the accommodation standard and levels of service perhaps the biggest change in the chalet ski holiday.

This time round we are staying with  Ski Weekends in the Chalet Marjorie in Les Gets and it is an altogether different experience.

Here’s our ‘chalet boy’, Mark, with ‘chalet girl’, Emma.

The chef, Markus, comes with plenty of experience and is not straight out of school with a quick ski catering course under his belt as might have been the case thirty years ago.

Chalet Marjorie most certainly provides a feeling of ‘luxury’.

While Chalet La Turche 2 certainly didn’t offer table football as an option.

SkiWeekends is now the only major UK tour operator offering Les Gets in its programme.

The rest have all pulled out as perceived dwindling snow in Les Gets, the impact of Brexit for UK citizens being able to work in the EU, the rise of online booking agents, the presence of AirBNB and a combination of other factors have taken their toll.

“It’s now 36 years working in the travel industry for me and over the last 20 years it has really transformed – before, people just loved to go skiing and their expectations were different,” said the MD of SkiWeekends, Dan Fox, to me as I asked him about how things have changed over the decades.

“Think Club Hotels with basic rooms, shared bathrooms and no sound insulation.

“Back then we advertised in one ski magazine or maybe a Sunday newspaper, now we need to reach our customers in so many different ways.

“Staffing has changed hugely and there used to be thousands of young people earning not much money and they really didn’t care – but holidays were cheaper because costs were lower.

 “Today, we offer all rooms with en-suite bathrooms, smart chalets, easy slope access, transfers without waiting around too long and all of our staff are on French pay role.

“That’s fantastic in many ways and we have very happy staff that work hard, but it does increase costs.

“Everything has gone up in price, including flights, and expectations have really changed.

“People used to muck in and they certainly didn’t care about the wine quality – just that it was included in the price.

“Now everything matters more to our guests and if I had one word to sum up the change over the past 20 to 30 years, it’s ‘expectations’.

“Fortunately we can still provide great value for money and our product is constantly improving too, it’s just different.

“Yes it’s better, but the industry has had to become way more professional that the heady days of the 1980’s.

“Do we drag our customers out at night to bum board down an icy slope endangering all that might get in their way?

“No, which is a shame in some ways, but it makes life much safer.

“Plus the chalet wine has improved vastly.”

This season Les Gets has been blessed with great snow and it was snowing on my arrival.

 

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Three days later it was full-on Spring skiing.

 

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Without doubt the biggest change up on the slopes of Les Gets over the past 30 years is the lift system – it has seen a complete upgrade.

Some of the old lifts remain.

But most have been replaced by high speed detachable chairlifts.

There’s even an 8-person chair, the Rosta Express.

But I am delighted to say this veteran remains.

Why delighted?

It is the only privately owned lift in France and is run by the Combepine family.

It has been operating since 1946.

You can even buy a ticket for one ride,  €5.

It is like going back in time and I utterly love it.

The resort was famous for its gondola lift from the village, and was fondly referred to ‘the red egg’.

It has been replaced by a faster and more functional lift.

It is though just another gondola lift.

Then there is the change in attire.

Very few wore helmets 30-years ago, now pretty much everyone does.

Some in Les Gets still wear clothes from a by-gone era.

Others have the modern equivalent.

There are now a multitude of things to experience out on the slopes apart from just skiing.

At the Nyon area there is this:

At an altitude of 1,500m at the Pointe de Nyon restaurant, Jacques-Olivier Travers has founded Les Aigles du Léman.

An aviary of birds of prey, from the gigantic condor and eagle, to the snowy owl.

PlanetSKI’s chief reporter, Jane Peel, covered it in more detail when she visited a few years ago.

• How green is your ski trip?

Most self-respecting ski resorts now have viewing platforms.

The Les Gets ski area has two.

Including one where you can take a selfie via a Wifi connection.

Who knew what a selfie or Wifi was thirty years ago?

And what a view:

 

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Despite all the changes the character of Les Gets remains.

Lunch in the sun remains as it was and the resort still has a multitude of wonderful mountain restaurants.

Most are family run.

Chez Nannon is our favourite.

The prices are reasonable too with a decent lunch for two coming in at €35 – €45.

The ski area is the same albeit with a couple of new lifts and a small expansion in terrain.

The skiing in Les Gets is rather under-rated in my opinion.

It has something for everyone.

There are the family friendly slopes the resort is well-known for.

And the cruisy blues.

But, there is some serious freeride terrain.

Not a huge amount, but enough for powder days.

There there are great pockets of powder to the side of the Chamossier run.

30-years on it remains one of the great red runs in the Alps in my opinion.

 

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The sport of ski touring has grown in the last 30 years and Les Gets has kept up.

I am delighted to report the main apres ski bar that I frequented all those decades ago, The Boomerang, remains.

It is now a restaurant/bar, but still attracts the apres crowds.

It has though changed location and is now on the main street, and just a short stumble to Ski Weekend’s Chalet Marjorie.

“We love Les Gets, it’s one of our favourite resorts,” said the MD of SkiWeekends, Dan Fox.

“The short transfer makes flexible ski holidays really easy, plus it’s great ski area linked of course to the vast Portes du Soleil.

“The town is becoming more sophisticated, but it retains a local charm and still has reasonable prices compared to other large ski resorts.

“It’s very pretty, not just the village but the ski area with its views of Mt Blanc too and there’s just a great variety of skiing available, including the hidden gem of Mt Chery.

“It’s a great for non-skiers with lift access to get those views.

“There’s still loads of locally owned restaurants both on the mountain and in town – Les Gets is not a purpose built resort, it feels like a proper town with friendly, local faces that create a genuine community feel”.

The Brits are not here in the numbers they once were and many have opted for neighbouring Morzine and Avoriaz.

The Dutch and Belgians now make up the largest number of foreign visitors to Les Gets, rather than the Brits.

It is a shame as Les Gets remains a great option.

The resort has been affected by climate change and though it sits at 1,172m with skiing going to over 2,000m this is now considered low.

The resort is now actively looking at moving the ski base higher up the mountain from the village base to Chavannes.

“It is necessary to move the base in order for people being able to continue to ski,” said Clara Bouvier from the Les Gets tourist office to me.

“Though we are committed to keeping the harmony and culture of the village alive if we move our base area up the mountain.”

It may happen in 15 to 20 years time and the full details can be found here.

In the meantime SkiWeekends is set to be back for the season of 2026/27 as the only main UK operator.

I strongly recommend you give Les Gets a try if it sounds like your sort of resort.

I most certainly will be back.

Each time I visit I like it more, and more.

Even after thirty years since I made my first turns here.

FACT BOX

SkiWeekends has been organising tailor-made flexible ski trips to the slopes for groups and individuals for over 30 years.

Be Happy Ski More is its mantra and the aim at SkiWeekends is to help people ski when, where and for as long as they want, maximising ski time, to some of the best and well-known ski areas in Europe.

SkiWeekends now offers more choice than ever before.

Book flights independently with travel possible from 17 UK airports and stay in one of the catered chalets or one of the 2-5* hotels on offer, with transfers arranged.

www.skiweekends.com, 023 8020 6971

SkiWeekends offers Chalet Marjorie in Les Gets – centrally located close to the village centre and ski lifts, the fully catered chalet can sleep up to 42 people and rooms can be booked on an individual basis.

Guests enjoy the ‘Classic Plus Chalet Board’ experience, meaning all holidays include full breakfasts and afternoon tea 7 days a week and a 3 course dinner with wine on 6 nights a week (Wednesday night off), plus return shared airport transfers from Geneva Airport.

There’s an outdoor hot tub and hamman. www.skiweekends.com/ski-chalets/our-ski-chalets/accommodation/les-gets/chalet-marjorie

Les Gets can be reached in approximately 1 hour by car from Geneva Airport and is located in the northern French Alps.

It’s linked with 12 other resorts in the Portes Du Soleil region that totals 307 ski runs and 208 lifts.

Les Gets-Morzine ski area has 68 ski runs and 50 ski lifts alone, with a lift capacity of over 70,000 / hour.

There’s a free beginners ski area with several lifts.

77 km of trails are available for cross country skiers.

In town, there’s a number of hotels ranging from 4* to 2* as well as numerous chalets and apartments.

There’s a total of 40 restaurants, on and off the mountain. www.en.lesgets.com

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