St Jean d'Arves Ski Holidays 2024 2025 | Skiing St Jean d'Arves

St Jean d'Arves Ski Resort

This beautifully authentic alpine village is tucked away in the Sybelles ski area, in the Maurienne Valley in the Savoie region of France. As well as stunning wood and stone architecture that could have come straight off the front of a Christmas card, the quirky extras like visits to donkey farms guarantee such a good holiday.

This is a super resort for families or groups that don’t particularly buy into the gimmicks of some larger, more mainstream resorts.

This village offers so much more than an overpriced warm pint in an overcrowded bar, it may be small, but great transport links with nearby Saint Sorlin d’Arves mean you have heaps of bars, restaurants and snow activities to peruse at your leisure. Cheese lovers will be interested to know that Beaufort cheese is produced in the area, so if nothing else, you are sure to get a decent fondue, whilst safe in the knowledge that the food miles are pretty much non-existent.

The ESF provide excellent ski or snowboard lessons and there is day-care available to parents who want do some slightly more heavy duty skiing. As well as day-care, you’ll find family friendly things to do throughout the season, as well as a designated children’s play area so if they’re not worn out after a day on the slopes, they certainly will be after an hour here.

The local ski pass grants access to 90km of runs around St Jean d’Arves and neighbouring Le Corbier with plenty of skiing to more than satisfy beginners and intermediates. The special beginners pass caters well for those who don’t want to pay for a full pass when they’re unlikely to progress off beginner slopes for the first couple of days. More experienced skiers can take advantage of the full Sybelles ski area, and clock up their mileage on over 300km of varied terrain.

Stats & FAQ

Location: Rhone Alps, Savoie, France

Established: 1968

Open: late December – late April

Downhill: 90km

View our detailed St Jean d'Arves snow forecast or snow report and see all live webcams, piste maps, road and travel maps and lift pass prices. For a picture of historic snow conditions see the snow depths month by month with our St Jean d'Arves snow history.

Nearest Airport & Transfer Time:
Chambery	102km 1h
Grenboble	127km, 2h
Beginner Intermediate Advanced 24runs 63% 9runs 26% 2runs 6%
Top Altitude:	2265m
Bottom Altitude:	1450m
Resort Altitude:	1600m
Longest run:	1.52km
Slope Orientation:	S
Vertical Drop:	815m
Skiable Vertical:	815m
Night Skiing:	Yes
Glacier:	Yes
Snow Report Top cm Base cm Forecast cm Web Cam
Downhill Runs:	90km
Beginner slopes:	63%
Intermediate:	26%
Advanced slopes:	6%
Lift Pass Price:	€158 (adult 6 days)
Nearby resorts: St. Sorlin d’Arves, Le Corbier

Skiing/BoardingSkiing in St Jean d'Arves

Beginners and intermediates are well catered for here, as there are a huge number of green and blue runs across the 90km area.

The generous provision of a beginners pass means that learners don’t need to pay full price for 6 days of skiing when it’s unlikely they’ll progress off greens for the first couple of days of the holiday. The beginner area has 3 lifts that give access to several gentle green runs like the Echaux to get started. Once confidence has built up on the greens, hop on the TSD de Rouet lift out of the village and ski the very gentle Lieves blue back to the village. After that, ski further afield to Le Corbier for a bigger challenge. Don’t be put off by the name of this lovely blue, ‘Torture’ will offer some stunning views and good parallel turn practise!

Intermediates have some brilliant red runs across the whole area to test themselves on. Ski across to Le Corbier on some blues and greens to blow the cobwebs away, and take the TK du Torret lift to ski the Pirouette red, a short run perfect for first day of the holiday. Next, hop on the TSF des 3 Lacs lift right up to 2265m to test those newly awoken ski legs on the long red Frite run.

Advanced skiers have plenty of reds and a couple of blacks to test out over the week. Upgrade to the Sybelles ares ski pass, which has over 300km of runs, if you really want to explore the area, and make the most of the varied terrain it has on offer. For a long challenge, with a stunning views in the St Jean area, and enough adrenaline to keep the most hard-core skiers happy for at least an afternoon, try the J.N Augert run from 2265m right down to about 1800m, it will not disappoint.

There is also a Snowpark in the area to keep boarders more than amused and a huge cross-country ski trail between St Jean and Le Corbier, for anyone who fancies trying something a bit different.

St Jean d'Arves Apres Ski

The après–ski isn’t the liveliest in the Alps but that said, there are a number of nice restaurants and bars to satisfy the need for a beer after a long day on the slopes. The resort runs a free bus to the slightly larger village of St Sorlin d’Arves, so if you did fancy a bigger night, access is super easy and doesn’t take too long.

Le Skwal is a nice café/bar with a solid list of alcoholic favourites to ease aching muscles. Alternatively, try Le Bouj for a friendly atmosphere and excellent drinks list. There isn’t a nightclub in the village itself, but close by in St Sorlin there’s the d’Sybelles nightclub, open late, it’s the perfect place to round off a night, and in past years if you ask at the Tourist Office, you’ve been able to request a free bus home, what could be better?

The restaurant choices are great, with the firm favourite being La Grenouillere, which has a beautiful sun terrace for an early evening aperitif with panoramic views over the surrounding valley. They serve really high quality French cooking, with the scallop gratin or burger with homemade mayonnaise coming highly recommended. For a family friendly restaurant with a cosy atmosphere, try Les Melezes for some delicious mountain classics and a good children’s menu too. Finally, try the Oule Rouge for super fresh ingredients and homemade dishes galore. The service is really friendly and the sun terrace has beautiful views.

There isn’t a spa in St Jean, but there is there is the beautiful Harmonie centre in St Sorlin, which offers a range of massages from Californian to Swedish as well as a really unique opportunity to make your own cosmetics. For really high class pampering hop on the bus and have an evening to yourself, you probably deserve it!

Best time to go

Best time to ski St Jean d'Arves

Best time to visit & ski St Jean d'Arves

Due to the high reaching and north facing slopes around the St Jean area, the snow tends to be pretty good throughout the season. With easy upgrade options to the whole Sybelles ski area, with even higher reaching slopes, you don’t need to book depending on when there will be snow, but rather what kind of holiday you’re after.

Early season holidays usually see good snow and festive cheer by the barrel load, anyone heading to St Jean over the Christmas period won’t be disappointed by the traditional Christmas markets and abundance of vin-chaud on offer.

Mid-season is arguably the best time for snow, so serious skiers will enjoy nothing more than catching the first lift and tearing up some fresh powder. Mid-season is also great for learners, as powdery snow is so much more pleasant to learn on than ice.

Late season will see the arrival of the sun in St Jean, and whilst this can mean a decline in snow quality in some resorts, the high reaching slopes of over 2000m should still have decent snow to be enjoyed. The resort also offers special pedestrian lift passes, so anybody keen on skiing in the morning and doing some mountain exploring in the afternoon will be more than happy pottering around for a week.

Peak Dates

Lose yourself in the magic of Christmas in St Jean d’Arves this festive season with vin-chaud, beautiful alpine scenery and great skiing. With snowy, Christmas-card scenery and past events including a visit from Santa, you’ll have the best Christmas yet.

Celebrate New Year’s Eve in St Jean d’Arves in style, think French mountain road trip, vin-chaud and fireworks. Intrigued? You’ll have to book and experience it for yourself!

Children and adults will appreciate the relative calm during February Half-term in St Jean d’Arves with quiet slopes and shorter queues, it’s the ultimate destination for a chilled out family break from school and work.

The sun, scenery and good snow will be difficult to resist over Easter in St Jean d’Arves. With lots of extra activities to enjoy, and sunny weather without the slush, it’s the perfect late-season destination.

St Jean d'Arves Ski Holidays