News – 2019/20

A new spa ‘Les Sources du Chéry’ opened with massage and treatment rooms and a 1000sqm area reserved for adults with steam baths, saunas, underwater massage jets, waterfalls, swimming lanes and salt caves. There’s a kids’ area with pools and a waterslide. Snowmaking has been increased and now cover 50% of the pistes. On Mont Chéry, there’s a new dedicated uphill piste for ski touring.  And there’s a new ‘luxury picnic area with BBQs’.

News – 2018/19

A new fat bike trail on snow was opened.

Summary

Les Gets is an attractive, small, family-friendly resort with a very French feel to it, partly because of appetizing food and wine shops lining the main street. The area of slopes it shares with Morzine is the most extensive local network in the region, and in some respects Les Gets is the better base for that shared area. If you have a car, you can quite easily access the main Portes du Soleil circuit by driving to the gondola at Ardent. If you don’t, the circuit is much more easily accessed from Morzine, with its quicker access to Avoriaz.

THE RESORT

Les Gets is an attractive, sunny village of traditional chalet-style buildings, on the low pass leading to Morzine. The main road over the pass bypasses the village centre.
The local pass saves a fair bit on a Portes du Soleil pass, and makes a lot of sense for many visitors.
Village charm The village has a quiet ambience that appeals to families, though it does liven up at weekends. The main street is lined with attractive food shops, other shops and restaurants. The centre is fairly pedestrian-friendly, too, and a popular and attractive outdoor ice rink adds to the charm.
Convenience Although the village has a scattered appearance, most facilities are close to the main lift station. Depending on where you stay, you may have long walks to the lifts, but there is a road-train shuttle that appeals mainly to families, and also free conventional buses around the village and buses to Morzine. You can store skis and boots at the Perrières ski shop. And there are ski lockers at Chavannes too.
Scenery There are good views from the high points: from Mont Chéry, in particular, you get a great panorama of the village and slopes, with Mont Blanc beyond.

THE MOUNTAINS

Slopes The main local slopes – accessed by a gondola and a fast chairlift – are shared with Morzine, and are mainly described in that chapter. On the opposite side of Les Gets is Mont Chéry, accessed by a gondola followed by a chair or drag. The slopes here include some of the most challenging in the area, and are usually very quiet. Both sectors offer wooded and open slopes.
Fast lifts The main village lifts are fast, but there are a lot of slow chairs both on Mont Chéry and in some sectors of the slopes shared with Morzine.
Queues No real problems.
Snow reliability The lower slopes benefit from a slightly higher elevation than Morzine, but otherwise our general reservations about the lack of altitude apply. The runs to the resort have snowmaking. The front slopes of Mont Chéry face south-east – bad news at this altitude; but the other two flanks are shadier. Grooming is good. The grassy slopes don’t need much snow-cover, and in a sparse snow year you may do better here than in higher, rockier resorts such as Avoriaz.
Terrain parks The park suits all ability levels and there’s a snowcross on Chavannes plus a mini-snowcross.
Experts Black runs on the flank and back of Mont Chéry are quite steep and often bumped. In good snow there’s plenty to do off-piste, including some excellent wooded areas.
Intermediates High-mileage piste-bashers might prefer direct access to the main Portes du Soleil circuit, but the local slopes have a lot to offer, with excellent reds on Mont Chéry.
Beginners The village nursery slopes are convenient. At Chavannes there is a bigger and more snow-sure Mappy’s area with four free lifts (you pay for a return gondola trip to reach it). There are lots of easy runs to progress to – including the Bleuets on Chavannes.
Snowboarding The local slopes are good for beginners and intermediates.
Cross-country There are 12km of good, varied loops locally.
Schools and guides There’s a choice of schools, including at least two that are British-run.
Families This is a good resort for families. There are comprehensive facilities, including an American-Indian-themed trail area on Chavannes with tepees and various activities – the Grand Cry Territory. See en.lesgets.com/discover-dream/family.html. British family specialist tour operators Esprit Ski and Ski Famille have chalets here.

Blogs, features and news

• Covid and Brexit force Ski2 closure
• 10 cute villages with decent skiing
• Skiing mind games: returning after accident
• Les Gets launches Lumina night walk
• Tour operator Ski 2 branches out