La Face de Bellevarde and La Sache

La Face de Bellevarde

La Face is our favourite run in the whole area. It's the 1992 Olympic men's downhill, dropping about 850 m from the top of the Olympique gondola straight down to the Stade Olympique in the village. It's really challenging: bumpy and icy in many sections, steep, sustained and direct.

Ski it once the snow softens, usually around 10 to 11 am; first thing it's often hard and icy. The steepest pitch comes at the lip. Slow down at the corner above the drop-off, then don't stand on the steep part for long: pick your line and go.

Below the lip is La Peau de Vache, a hidden restaurant with cult burgers and one of the best views of the village. Book lunch and you've got a reason to stop halfway.

How to get to La Face

Take the Olympique gondola from the village to the top of Bellevarde and bear left. If you warm up on Fontaine Froide first, keep right at the fork at the top: the left branch takes you onto La Face, which catches people out.

If La Face isn't for you, Santons is the red alternative into the village, down a narrow natural gully, though it's often closed for avalanche risk. Or ride the gondola down. Our Bellevarde and La Face day route links the whole morning together.

La Sache

La Sache is the area's most famous black and the closest thing to off-piste on a marked run. It starts halfway down Corniche, below the Aiguille Percée at about 2,700 m, and runs more than 10 km down to Les Brévières at 1,550 m. It's never groomed.

Expect three parts. The first stretch is uneven and choppy. Then comes the best skiing in Tignes, long and open. The finish is steep and often icy, down through the forest, before it joins the red Pavot, with Chardons coming in from the right, into Les Brévières.

Ski it early, before it gets chopped up, and only in good conditions and good light. If it's too much, Arcosses is a red you can bail out onto. Side-slipping a steep pitch is fine; there's no prize for style here.

How to get to La Sache

From Tignes Le Lac or Val Claret, take the Aiguille Percée chair and follow Corniche, a classic, scenic blue under the rock with the hole in it. La Sache leaves Corniche about halfway down. From Val d'Isère, cross over Bellevarde or Tovière first, which is 1 or 2 lifts. At the bottom, lifts take you from Les Brévières back up to Tignes. Our Aiguille Percée and La Sache route plans the full day.

Which is harder?

They're different tests. La Face is short, steep and usually icy, with a crowd watching from the gondola. La Sache is long, wild and tiring, and the snow changes all the way down. Locals who know both rate La Sache as the bigger day out.

If you're building up to them, try Johan Clarey and the other Tovière blacks into Tignes Le Lac, or Forêt at Le Fornet. Our best runs guide ranks the reds and blacks across both resorts.