Posted on January 26, 2009 - by Rob

Saint Jean d’Aulps – Espace Roc d’Enfer

Recent Snowfall : 30cm on Friday 24th Jan, 5cm on Saturday 25th Jan.

Total Accumulated Snowfall 08/09 Season : 215cm

Espace Roc d’Enfer is one of the twelve resorts included the Portes du Soleil ski pass.  With 40 km of pistes and 41 snow cannons, it can be reached from either St Jean d’Aulps or Bellevaux / Chèvrerie.  The two sectors – St Jean d’Aulps and Chèvrerie are combined to make up the Espace Roc d’Enfer.  Confusingly, the area is also commonly refered to as Le Grande Turche.

The resort is very family friendly and is made up of mainly blue and red runs and is a fantastic place to go when the other resorts of the Portes du Soleil are chock full (especially the New Year and other main holiday weeks).  The main reason the Espace Roc d’Enfer remains quiet when the rest of the Portes du Soleil is busy is because there is no link by ski.  You either need to self drive from Morzine-Avoriaz or jump onto one of the buses tranporting you between Morzine and St Jean d’Aulps.

The pistes are located between 950m and 1800m above sea level and are all superb tree-lined runs.  Beginning from the Col de Graydon (1800m) and the Col de Follys are two excellent cruisy blues both of around 5km in length -  beautiful scenery.

Off-piste in Le Turche often lasts longer than in the rest of the Portes du Soleil too as there are fewer people chasing it.  There is some very challenging off-piste directly under the chairlift inspiringly named ‘J’ that takes you up to the Col des Follys.

The resort is dotted with a few mountain restaurants, two larger ones are located at the top of the bubble car (’A') and offer great views over the mountain and the nursery slopes.

The Village des Follys also has a lovely, small and cosy restaurant named Le Tavaillon.  Very charmingly restored from it’s previous farming days with original wooden beams and flooring throughout and a centrally placed log burning fire providing the warmth.  Large portions and very reasonable prices for mountain.  Salads, omelettes, and more tradtional Savoyarde dishes are all on offer.

There are also a number of picnic spots both indoor and outdoor should you wish to take your own lunch on the mountain.

Off the slopes, Le Grande Turche provides a number of ski rental shops, sportswear shops and a small collection of restaurants as well as a local Sherpa supermarket.