Les Dames de Carroz | Uncovering a Hidden Gem

Snow visits the small French Alpine ski resort of Les Carroz and meets three women who are at the heart of its thriving community life.

les-carroz-france — Les Servages d'Armelle

Details: Written by: Roger Fulton; Last Updated: 30 Sep 2025

Les Carroz is one of those charming, family-friendly French ski resorts that often go under-appreciated and even undiscovered by UK skiers. The sort of place that usually then gets tagged as a ‘hidden gem’. In this case, rightly so.

Under an hour from Geneva, Les Carroz should certainly be more on the UK skier’s map than it is, being wonderfully placed both for a weekend break, and longer stays. One of four villages that make up one sector of the large Grand Massif ski domain, Les Carroz and its neighbours – Morillion, Samoens and Sixt – provide a more authentic counterpoint to the bruising architecture of the purpose-built main area resort of Flaine which has the higher altitude and more snowsure skiing.

If it’s tree-lined runs and quieter slopes you’re after, the villages (which have their own, cheaper, ski pass) are a better bet than the open faces above Flaine. The Marvel green run down to Morillion, especially, is a family favourite, but when the visibility is poor up high, you’ll find many good skiers dropping in to enjoy the scenic piste that flows gently through the pine trees.

The French have been skiing in Les Carroz (the ‘Z’ is silent; the name rhymes with snow) since the first drag lift opened in 1938. And skiing has transformed Les Carroz: from farmers and watchmakers, the inhabitants became ski instructors, ski patrollers and rescuers, ski lift employees and shopkeepers. The village itself now has plenty of chalet and self-catering accommodation, plus three hotels and ample restaurants. There’s also a spa/pool complex, Aquacime, and a busy programme of family-orientated events, centred on the attractive village square, and activities from snowshoeing to husky sled rides and an Alpine rollercoaster. It all makes Les Carroz the perfect base for families in search of gentler slopes – but still with easy access to the tougher stuff – and without the rowdier side of après.

The home run is gorgeous, an easy-going red called Timalets that offers stunning panoramic views over the resort and Arve valley and meets the village outskirts at the Servages district alongside the signature hotel/restaurant Les Servages d’Armelle. This village landmark is owned by Armelle Linglin, one of the leading lights of this close-knit community and the first of three ‘dames des Carroz’ Snow was invited to meet, who are all playing integral roles in the life of Les Carroz.

Armelle Linglin | Hotelier/restaurateur

The view from Armelle Linglin’s place is amazing. Below us, the village of Les Carroz stretches across the Arve valley towards the nearby town of Cluses. To the left, the Aravis range towers into the sky; to the right, the Pic de Marcelly, and in the centre, wreathed in a ring of cloud, stands a singular conical peak called The Môle, which locals also refer to as their Fujiyama because of its resemblance to the iconic Japanese mountain. Armelle’s beautiful hotel/restaurant, Les Servages d’Armelle, is as high end as the view – but it was not always so. Forty years ago, it was little more than a large ramshackle-looking wooden building.

A former member of the French Olympic ski squad, Armelle was working as a ski instructor in Les Carroz when a neighbour approached her with an offer that was to change her life – and transform this corner of the resort.

‘This was the clubhouse of the Ski Club of Macon,’ she says, showing an old framed black and white photo of the building with the inauspicious initials SCAM painted on the front. ‘I was given one night to decide whether I wanted to take it on, before the place went to auction.’

She clearly made the right choice, and with energy and commitment she and her husband Patrick turned it first into a mountain restaurant and then into the 4-star [check] hotel/restaurant it is today. Along the way the couple acquired an old goat farm opposite and turned that into a luxury chalet, adding on a second chalet, before a major renovation in 2004 turned the main building into its current configuration.

The transformation was remarkable. Massive wooden beams, salvaged from an old farmhouse, are teamed with local stone. Striking photographic art adorns the walls.

With rooms including prestige two-floor suites with a wood and metal spiral staircase and their own hot tub and hamman, and a string of Gault-Millau culinary awards for chef Pascal Flécheau, Les Servages has been a jewel in the Carroz crown ever since, a ski-in, ski-out gem sitting at the foot of the famous Timalets red run where Alberto Tomba won the European Cup slalom in 1986. And Armelle has been an always-there presence throughout that time. (Servages means ‘a place of servitude’ – and Armelle has certainly paid her dues!)

‘There was no structural plan to the way things evolved,’ she remembers. ‘As we had a bit of money we would think “what can we do now?”. Opening the hotel was the most satisfying achievement; the night before we opened, we were still varnishing ceiling panels!

Guests have included French politicians, sports stars and TV celebrities, including our own Question Time and Antiques Roadshow host, Fiona Bruce, plus the family from the French Netflix series The Parisian Agent… who could perhaps be useful in what happens next.

For now, Armelle and Patrick have decided to retire from their own ‘life of servitude’ and will be selling Les Servages, which comes with a €6million price tag. ‘We have no particular plans for our retirement, but we are starting a new chapter of our life,’ says Armelle, adding that she cannot contemplate leaving the area. ‘This has been my life.’

And Armelle is not the only strong woman who loves her life in Les Carroz…

Julie Montay | Conducteur

As a gondola driver, Julie is very much a woman in a man’s world, being one of only three women taking on the role of conducteur de téléporte. She’s been working in Les Carroz since 2021 and absolutely loves her job, which also includes ‘driving’ chairlifts and the resort’s ‘luge’ rollercoaster.

‘I love the diversity, both of the machines and the people,’ she says, adding: ‘the men are very supportive

To drive Les Carroz’s main Keudeuse gondola, the 44-year-old is based at the top of the lift ‘where you can see more’ and once a week she practices the all-important breakdown recoveries – though fortunately has yet had to deal with a real-time emergency.

While many jobs in the ski industry are seasonal, the lifts keep turning during the summer months, when hikers and bikers take over from the skiers and boarders giving Julie the satisfaction of job security. Not that it has persuaded her daughter to consider following in mum’s footsteps. Julie’s 20-year-old daughter instead works as a hairdresser.

Morgane Gevaux | Ski instructor

In contrast, it was probably inevitable that Morgane Gevaux would become an instructor with the Ecole de Ski Francaise (ESF).

Her grandfather Andre is a local legend of the ESF, who was still skiing at 90 until his hips stopped lying and told him it was time to quit. Her father Jean-Francois is an instructor, as is her uncle and various siblings and cousins, while her grandmother taught children.

Morgane is proud of this family tradition and relates how once her grandfather broke both legs skiing off-piste. ‘His student had to ski and hike back to the village to get help. The rescue took six hours. There were no helicopters then!’

It says something about Morgane that she and her family are so deeply entwined with the fiercely protected traditions of the ESF, wearing the red jacket with huge pride, reflecting the skill and dedication it takes to merit the coveted uniform. Possibly the most difficult sporting qualification to gain in Europe, it’s the gold standard when it comes to ski instruction.

‘The red jacket has such a big history; it is our story and it’s important to keep it as such,’ says Morgane. Now 35, she started her ski instructor journey aged 18, qualifying at 25 after nailing the legendary speed test where aspiring instructors have to ski a 400m course down a black run within something like 2 seconds of a top pro ski racer.

‘You have to ski fast and strong to show you can do it,’ she says. ‘It is an important element. If you cannot do this well, you will not have the physical capacity to take someone off-piste for example.’

Morgane estimates that 15-20% of the 120 local Grand Massif ESF instructors are women. ‘It is hard to get more women into teaching skiing. Lots of women don’t see it as something for them; they think of it as a man’s world. But a lot of parents prefer to have a woman instructor for their children. Anyway, the job is the same for men and for women. Once you could be a ski instructor just for children. You can’t now.’

During the season she works 8-hour days seven days a week. ‘It’s a 4-month season; you work as much as possible.’

New for 2025/26 in Les Carroz

New chairlift

Last winter marked the end of the Gron chairlift's history, after 26 winters and 15.5 million passengers carried. During this year, the route has been redesigned with a new chair – open this Christmas – allowing visitors to rediscover the Combe de Gron (a little-known area despite its excellent snow conditions) and to improve access to the neighbouring resort of Morillon.

New magic carpet

A new, completely free area for beginners has been created by moving the Bardelle carpet, from the village's tobogganing area to Les Molliets, renaming it Louveteau.