The location:
Chalet Etoile is only a short walk from the village centre of St Jean D'Aulps where there is a choice of restaurants, bars, shops, banks, post office, gym, tourist office and créche.
St Jean D'Aulps is situated in the heart of the beautiful Vallee D'Aulps. St Jean offers a quieter and more attractive alternative to a more centrally located Morzine chalet, but with easy access to all the facilities. Ideal for a family holiday.
The following web sites provide excellent information on the area. A summary of each site can also be found below on this page.
www.stjeandaulps.com
(Local Village)
www.valleedaulps.com
(Local Valley, Lake Geneva->Morzine)
These sites cover a lot of very useful local information, the links above are directly to the English translations of the sites.
They are simple to navigate and cover:
Ski lift pass types & prices (we can arrange these for you)
Details of local ski areas
Piste maps
Snow reports
Weather forcasts
Webcam live views
Overview of shops & services in the resort
Extra local activities (snowshoe trekking, paragliding, cross-country skiing etc)
Local heritage
Ski hire shops & prices (there are 5 in the village).
The Valley D'Aulps site carries a very similar format to the St Jean D'Aulps site but obviously for the whole valley rather than just St Jean.
All the areas covered on the Valley D'Aulps site are easy striking distance with Morzine just 10 minutes away in one direction and Thonon on Lake Geneva 30 minutes in the other.
Saint-Jean d'Aulps ski resort is part of the Portes du Soleil ski area, with 650kms of slopes the Portes du Soleil is a group of 14 French and Swiss ski resorts, and is the biggest international ski area in the world.
It covers 400 hectares, 206 ski lifts, and 288 slopes (41 green runs, 109 blue runs, 110 red runs, 28 black runs, and 4 snowcross). It also has hundreds of kilometres of freeride areas.
The Saint-Jean d'Aulps ski resort is not linked by the slopes to the Portes du Soleil area, so short car or ski bus ride (10 minutes) is required. This means that the local St Jean D'Aulps ski area is relatively quiet, without queues and ideal for families, paticularly those with young children. [Ski bus will be running for winter 2006/20007 (Balad'Aulps Bus, 1Û per ride) and bring you to Montriond, Morzine and les Gets].
St Jean D'Aulps ski area, a 2 minute drive from the Chalet, is called "La Grand Terche" and is served by a regular free ski bus stopping near to Chalet Etoile. La Grand Terche offers excellent intermediate level skiing and magnificent scenery. The area is also linked to the resort of Bellevaux and it's "Domaine Roc d'Enfer", with an impressive 11 km run descending back to "La Grande Terche".
There is an 'ESF' ski school which provides lessons for all levels and accepts children from the age of 4. Younger children from 2 months can use the nearby créche which has a very good reputation.
St Jean D'Aulps is set in protected environment with fantastic views of the Dents du Midi in Switzerland, Lake Geneva, Mont Blanc & majestic Roc d'Enfer. Portes du Soleil has a massive range of activities available in both summer and winter and has a very strong family feel, there is always something going on in this vibrant community. Whilst it may not have quite the glamour of some of the shops and restaurants to be found in Chamonix or Megeve, prices are lower and there is a warmth and friendliness in its towns and resorts that gives it a welcoming atmosphere.
The main Portes du Soleil web site is shown below, however the 'St Jean D'Aulps' and 'Valley D'Aulps' ones are clearer, have good English translations, and are obviously more focussed on the Chalet Etoile location.
www.portesdusoleil.com
(Whole Portes du Soleil Area)
The Haute-Savoie link below is an excellent source of information on the wider area, you can select smaller geographic areas on the site to find facilites/events nearer to the Chalet. To do this select 'Chablais: Portes du Soleil (74)' from the drop down menu on the site. It is arkward to use at first, but once used to it, it works very well. www.tourism.savoiehautesavoie.com