Les Gets or Saint-Martin-de-Belleville: two old villages, very different heights
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Les Gets and Saint-Martin-de-Belleville are built on the same idea. Each is a traditional French village with a lot of linked skiing beyond it: Les Gets sits at the gateway to the Portes du Soleil, and Saint-Martin, an old Savoyard village, sits inside the Three Valleys. Our matching engine puts Saint-Martin third closest to Les Gets of all the resorts we cover, and Les Gets second closest to Saint-Martin. Both run from December to April, and Geneva serves both.
They are on different lift passes, though, so this is a choice of ski area as well as village. What separates them most is height. The skiing at Les Gets tops out at 1,965 metres by our measure; at Saint-Martin it reaches 2,691. After that it comes down to who is in the group, because Les Gets is listed for families and Saint-Martin for food and quiet. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Les Gets | Saint-Martin-de-Belleville |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,172 m | 1,450 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 1,965 m | 2,691 m |
| Linked ski area | Portes du Soleil, 600 km official, 580 km measured | The Three Valleys, quoted at 600 km, not measured by us |
| Piste we measure around the village | 99.4 km | 75.1 km |
| Green and blue | 55 km, 56% of the piste | 50 km, 67% of the piste |
| Black | 9.6 km | 6 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 23% | 20% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 34% | 36% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 1% | 75% |
| Season | December to April | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Geneva | Geneva or Chambéry |
Neither has marked off piste itinerary in our data, so that row is gone. Les Gets takes the rows about quantity near the village. One row is worth more than the rest put together, and it is the one about 1,800 metres.
Altitude: Saint-Martin is higher everywhere
Saint-Martin's village sits at 1,450 metres, 278 above Les Gets at 1,172. The gap grows on the hill. Saint-Martin's skiing reaches 2,691 metres by our measure, 726 metres higher than Les Gets's 1,965, which is the lowest top of the 17 French resorts we cover.
The shares make it plainer. At Saint-Martin, 75 percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres and 55 percent is above 2,000. At Les Gets, 1 percent is above 1,800, the second smallest share of the 55 resorts we cover, and 40 percent is above 1,500. Half of Saint-Martin's piste lies above 2,040 metres; half of Les Gets's lies below 1,463, which puts the middle of Saint-Martin's skiing 577 metres higher.
Our snow sure test asks for more than half the piste at or above 1,800 metres and skiing that reaches 2,500. Saint-Martin passes with room to spare: 75 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 2,691. Les Gets does not pass, and we would rather say so plainly. Nobody can promise snow anywhere.
Size: two huge areas, more at the door in Les Gets
Both villages open onto very large linked areas, and neither number is simple. The Portes du Soleil is twelve villages across two countries on one genuinely linked circuit. It is 600 kilometres officially, and an older claim went to 650. It has been measured at 580, and an independent measurement puts it nearer 426. The sector Les Gets shares with Morzine is 117 kilometres. The Three Valleys is quoted at 600 kilometres and is genuinely linked, but that is a figure we have not measured ourselves. On the headline figures both are 600 kilometres, and we would not try to split them.
Closer in, the picture is clearer. We measure 99.4 kilometres of piste around Les Gets and 75.1 around Saint-Martin, the second least of the 17 French resorts we cover. That is 24 kilometres more on the doorstep at Les Gets. At Saint-Martin, more of the week is spent skiing out into the wider area.
The skiing: both gentle, in different places
Neither is a steep mountain. Twenty three percent of Les Gets's piste is steeper than one in four and 20 percent of Saint-Martin's, both under the 26 percent at the median resort we cover. The gentle shares are close too, 34 and 36 percent.
55 km green and blue 56%35 km red 35%10 km black 10%
50 km green and blue 67%19 km red 25%6 km black 8%
Saint-Martin leans harder to the easy end. Sixty seven percent of its piste is green or blue, 50 kilometres of it, and its reds average 21.9 percent, the second gentlest of the 17 French resorts we cover, against a typical French red at 24.3. Les Gets has 55 kilometres of green and blue, 56 percent of its piste, and reds averaging 23.2. These are average gradients per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as how the week feels rather than a verdict on any one run.
At the hard end, Les Gets has more. There are 9.6 kilometres of black against 6, and they average 33.2 percent, the third steepest of the 17 French resorts we cover, against 30.9 at Saint-Martin and a French average of 29.6. The longest runs we measure are both reds: 1.6 kilometres with 478 metres of vertical at Les Gets, and 2.6 kilometres with 348 metres at Saint-Martin.
Who each one actually suits
Les Gets suits families first. It is warm and traditional by our read, a pretty village, and families, tree skiing and a charming village are what it does best. It has more green and more piste near the door, so beginners and the less confident get more room close to home, and the strongest skier has a few proper blacks and the whole of the Portes du Soleil to roam. It is also the shorter trip from Geneva.
Saint-Martin suits people who want a quiet, authentic village and care about food, with the Three Valleys for the skiing. It suits people who pick a resort by the height of its skiing: 75 percent of the piste at or above 1,800 metres. Most of the piste we measure near the village is green or blue and its reds are gentle, so a group happy on blues and gentle reds will be at home. We do not tag it as a family resort, and it is quiet rather than lively. Chambéry is an option as well as Geneva.
The bit nobody tells you
On the piste map, Saint-Martin looks the easier place to learn: 67 percent of it is green or blue, against 56 percent at Les Gets. For someone in their first week, though, the colour that matters is the blue, and on the gradient Les Gets's blues are the gentler. They average 15.0 percent, under the French average of 16.2. Saint-Martin's average 16.6, a touch over it.
Les Gets also has more green to start on, 7.7 kilometres against 4. So for a family with a true beginner, the low village has the kinder first few days. For a group that is past that stage, Saint-Martin's height counts for more than a point or two of gradient.
So, which one
you are a family with beginners in it, you want more piste near the door and the trees, a charming village and the shorter trip from Geneva, or the size of the Portes du Soleil is the reason you are going.
you want the snow sure skiing on our measure, a quiet old village for people who care about food, and the Three Valleys beyond it, and your group skis blues and gentle reds with confidence.
It is the same idea as Les Gets, an old village opening onto a huge linked area, with 75 percent of the piste above 1,800 metres instead of 1 percent, and height is the one thing you cannot change once you arrive. Les Gets is the right answer for a family with a true beginner, or when the Portes du Soleil is the reason for going.