On this ski trip to Megeve, France I wanted an all day, First Run to Last Run, tour on totally unfamilar terrain to show how a guided ski tour is well worth the expense. In Megeve, as in most European resorts, you can choose from a varity of certified guide services. Ski instructors, both from the heralded Ecole du Ski Francaise, and from the independent French certified ski schools, are mostly locals well familiar with the area and can be hired out for day trips.
For a day skiing the L' Espace Diament I hired Sophie Feige, an independent local ski instructor referred by Mike Beaudet, Owner and Operator of Ski Pros Megeve. When it comes to skiing the L'Espace Diamant, Sophie is not your average "local guide" - we actually skied on her family's land and passed her parent's home. In fact, much of the terrain embraced by ski resorts is privately held and a lot of it returns to working farms in the off season.
Getting Equipped
The L'Espace Diament begins about 8 km from the last lift of the Megeve area, and Sophie met me at the LaCroix Sports Center at the Hotel Rocheburne. I had asked around for a good ski rental shop that had a variety of skis for a varity of snow conditions, and was referred to LaCroix Sports. They first set me up with a pair of Slalamon X-wing skis, but when they heard I was going to the L'Espace Diament they suggested changing to Rossignol Z-9 Oversize and it was an excellent suggestion.
Espace Diamant accesses 176 individual marked trails and encompasses 5 resorts. This is a great area for family skiing in that it covers 41 marked Green trails, 68 Blue, 56 Red, and 11 Black. Red trails are advanced intermediate and maybe a little narrower than the Blue trails, but nothing an intermediate skier can't handle.
Over and above these marked trails is the opportunity to ski wherever you like. You will see bowls and hills all over the L'Escape Diamant that you can head down. I think the main caveat on this area is just to make sure the snow is good and not windy and crusted over, that is, of course skiable, but not as enjoyable as the long marked cruisers.
The L'Espace Diament ski pass will allow you to ski all of these interconnected areas - Praz sur Arly, Crest Voland Cohennoz, Flumet, Les Saisies and Notre Dame de Bellecombe. Praz sur Arly is the closest to Megeve, and Sophie and I arrived at the base of Praz sur Arly just at 9AM and parked in the front row, not uncommon at all even though the lifts had been open a few minutes.
Starting At Praz sur Arly
We headed up on a new detachable quad chairlift that was much quicker than the double chair that Sophie used to ride as a student. This chair set us at a mid-point of Ban Rouge where we skied down a short valley and up a chair to the top of Ban Rouge at 6,500'. This is typical of the skiing in Europe, where you work your way up and down, and over and down, and down and back again, all the while moving across the interconnected resorts.
From the top of Ban Rouge we headed down a series of Red trails where we got on a drag lift - "drag lift" being the European for our Poma style or paddle lift. These lifts are quite commo,n so try to introduce children to these when you see them in the US. This Poma brought us back up to Roc des Evettes at 5250' where we skied down to the Village of Notre Dame de Bellecombe.
Notre Dame des Bellecombe to the the top of L'Escape Diament
The Village of Notre Dame de Bellecombe is in the valley where the main road of travel - N212 - runs through at a little less than 4000' elevation. We rode and skied through a set of 6 lifts that brought us to Mont Vores at the highest point of L'Escape Diamant about 6800'. At this elevation the snow was great, and the panoramas are breathtaking. I wouldn't have a clue what I was looking at - except of course for Mount Blanc - but Sophie named each peak and valley, and pointed out where the resorts making up the Evasion Mount Blanc where located.
Lunch at La Legette - top of Les Saisies resort area
We skied a ridge line from Mont Vores to La Legette (6100') where we stopped for lunch at a rustic alpine styled restaurant typical to all the areas. Over the expanse of the L'Espace Diament there are about 15-20 of these, and many more at the larger regions. Lunch selections are varied and includes local food, cheese, and wine. Sophie and I lunched for about an hour. This is a quick break by European standards where lunch can run 2 - 3 hours, but we still had some mile to cover before even starting to head back.
From the top of La Lagette, we watched a tandem paraglider with a professional and client take off, both on skis and we actually saw them after they landed in the back valley near, Hauteluce village, that we skied down to before starting our return journey.
The Way Home
While we retraced our way back through the same resort areas, Sophie led us through trails and trees that amounted to all new terrain, except where we had to access lifts. It was really amazing, as Sophie pointed out, that while we traversed the L'Espace Diamant, the panoramas revolved around our point of reference.
Near the end of our return we stopped at Le Petit Tetras, about halfway up the Ban Rouge, above Praz sur Arly. Le Petit Tetras is a restaurant and refuge. It includes a downstairs restaurant, snow porch area for sunning, and an upstairs that sleeps about 20 people. A unique experience for anyone to spend a night on an Alp under the stars.
Actually, minus the two short breaks, we skied hard and fast, I might add. Sophie guided me through constantly changing scenery and magnificent views across the L'Espace Diamant and back. She charmed me with her French accented English, her Savoyard sense of humor, and she knew the answer to every question I asked regarding anything L'Espace Demant.
You can take a million photos, but experiences like a day with local guide are the kind you will never get off a trail map or out of a travel guide. For some of the best memories of your trip skiing spend a day with a local guide. If, by chance you are in Megeve or Chamonix I'm sure Sophie would love to show you around, contact her through Ski Pros Megeve and see my L'Espace Diamant Tour photos.
