Ski Saint Gervais les Bains

14/02/2026

Saint Gervais les Bains is somewhere we have been before, and when we were looking at options to sit out a snowy day it seemed ideal. It’s pretty low elevation so the chance of snow was low. Rain was more likely, and although it’s a bit gloomy we would rather be in the rain than snowed in.

Saint Gervais is also an excellent base for all sorts of reasons. It’s a proper town rather than being a ski resort and it has a wide selection of shops and amenities so it’s not a bad place to while away a few days.

We stayed in the patinoire (ice rink) car park just like we did last time. This time our new slim van slotted easily into a parking space. By a weird coincidence Bertie’s twin was parked opposite us, giving us a pang of nostalgia.

You can just see us between the trees – it’s not a great place if you need solar power

As you might guess from the name, there is a thermal spa here based around the natural springs rising in the Bon-Nant river. We tried to book into the spa but obviously everyone else had the same idea and it was fully booked. Those who weren’t in the spa were in the patinoire which was absolutely heaving for the two days of rain. So much so that the car park got full on both days with cars squeezing in any gap, even between vans. At one point we wondered if we would be able to get out of our door.

Despite the spa being full we decided to walk down into the river gorge to see the waterfall and feel the warm air billowing from the thermal waters. From the other side of the water we could spy the dressing gown clad guests of the spa. We caught the free funicular back up to the town, a get out for our legs.

Motorhome Ski Saint Gervais – the practical stuff:

This is an update from our previous visit in 2019.

Saint Gervais Aire

You can parking in any long stay carpark in Saint Gervais for up to 72 hours as we understand it. Parking is free. Spaces are mostly marked out for cars.

We stayed at the patinoire parking where there are services but no EHU. Services are kept on all year round. Water requires a payment of €2 made through a website only and uses a bluetooth connection to the terminal. It’s a bit of a faff but once you have everything sorted it’s easily repeatable and there are a few other aires which use this payment method.

In order for the bluetooth to function you need a browser that will work with the app. They recommend Bluefy. The website to use is app.Qipeo.com, you can search for this in the app or use the QR code on the terminal. Then select the Bluetooth terminal option and connect. Once you are connected you will be able to activate the water by making a payment.

The water connection is a standard hozelock push on connection (male) and once you’re connected and your money is paid the water will start flowing, there is no on/off. The water stops once you disconnect from the outlet. Up to 150l is dispensed.

Note that the toilet rinse does not work unless you have paid for water.

Getting to the Slopes

There are free buses serving Saint Gervais and the surrounding area, the nearest stop is at the end of the car park. Bus Routes 2 and 3 service this stop. route 2 is a small circuit so the easiest option. The full timetable and route plan can be found here.

It is also possible to drive to the gondola car park although it gets very busy so I would only recommend that for smaller vans. No overnight parking is allowed at the gondola car park.

Ski passes

Ski passes can be ordered online, bought from self-service kiosks, or bought from a manned kiosk under the gondola. There is a four hour pass as well as a day pass and the usual multi day passes. For the four hour passes it is worth bearing in mind that the ascent of the first two gondolas can take over half an hour at busy times and probably takes 20 minutes if there are no queues.

Skiing Evasion Mont-Blanc

There is a two gondola ride up from the town up to the slopes. The first gondola (Bettex) is a modern fast gondola. The second (Arbois) is older and slower and the queuing between the two is a bit of a bottleneck. You can get off at the top of Bettex and access some chairlifts.

In theory you can ski all the way back down to town, but even after a lot of snow the run was very bare and involved a road crossing. It’s easier to just ski down to the top of Bettex and then get the gondola down.

The ski area is linked to Megeve, and you can get another long gondola ride up to the top of the Megeve slopes.

The area is very large and there are some good long runs in all orientations, above and below the tree line. It is a bit of an undervalued resort in our opinion with a very large ski area and plenty of off piste for downhill and ski touring. We didn’t notice any nordic trails but there are some nice looking snowshoe tracks.