Deborah & The boobs of les Sybelles (officially called “Les Aguilles d'Arves”)
Almost 40 years ago, my parents met on a ski holiday in Austria.
Seeing that it worked out so well for them, skiing became a family tradition, and I spent most of my childhood Christmas holidays in the Swiss, Austrian, Italian or French Alps. We love exploring new ground, so you can imagine what a happy surprise it was when my mum discovered that there is an extensive winter sports region in France that we somehow managed to overlook so far: The Haute Savoie. So we booked a chalet in Le Corbier, packed our gear and set out for a snow trip.
The Boobs of Les Sybelles
I hate to disappoint you after my guide to the kinky side of Cardiff, but “the boobs of Les Sybelles” is not a reference to some sort of extreme après-ski entertainment. I was there with my folks and the only après-ski we sampled was hot chocolate with whipped cream. No, the ‘boobs’ are two high peaks that can be seen from almost everywhere you go. It was these peaks that kept reminding us we were in Les Sybelles and not in Les Trois Vallées, Paradiski, Les Deux Alps or Espace Killy. I know comparing mountains to the female body isn’t very original – nor classy for that matter – but it was difficult not to…
4th largest ski region in France
As the 4th largest ski region in France, Les Sybelles is especially popular among French people. 26 Chair lifts and 50 drag lifts connect over 300 kilometres of lovely slopes, which means my parents and I were able to explore a different area every day and drink hot chocolate milk in a new mountain restaurant every afternoon. The routes range from long, wide green and blue runs to steeper red slopes and a couple of narrow, bumpy black pistes. There also is an irresistible Snowpark with 3 kickers where skiers and boarders of all ages and abilities queue up to launch themselves.
I always wonder how they measure this, but for those who care about the numbers: Le Corbier is 1550 metres above sea-level and the highest lift of the area reaches 2600 metres.
