What is Les Sybelles® ?

Les Sybelles® is the name of the ski area to which our resort of La Toussuire is attached. But it’s not the only resort: the Sybelles® ski area comprises a total of 6 linked resorts.

Quite simply, the number of resorts in the area: 6 beautiful resorts = Les Sybelles®.

First of all, the 6 resorts were initially independent. The first to see the light of day was La Toussuire. Situated on a sunny plateau at an altitude of 1,800 metres, La Toussuire is a 2nd generation resort that came into being in 1926. At that time, there were no ski lifts or chair lifts, and skiers were still trekking in sealskins. The very first ski lift opened in 1937. Over the next 30 years, the other resorts in the Vallée des Arves were also created, with the installation of their first ski lifts in 1948 for Saint Sorlin, 1953 for Saint Jean, 1958 for Saint Colomban, 1967 for Le Corbier and finally in 1975 for Les Bottières.

However, it was really from the creation of Le Corbier that we were able to glimpse the beginnings of Les Sybelles®. During the 1984-85 winter season, the resorts of Le Corbier and La Toussuire opened a link to create a first ski area called “Grand Large”.

In 1991, the introduction of a shuttle service between Saint-Sorlin and Saint-Jean d’Arves, linking Le Corbier and La Toussuire, enabled the ski area to be extended with the “Super Grand Large” ski pass.

1998 was to be a decisive turning point in the birth of the Sybelles® ski area. This turning point was to be taken by one man, Gaston Maulin, the main shareholder in the Corbier ski lifts at the time. His plan was to create one of the largest ski areas in France, by linking the 6 resorts. He teamed up with the Saint-Sorlin d’Arves ski lift company to obtain a UTN (Unité Touristique Nouvelle), a building permit for tourism development projects such as extending a ski area.

It was in 1999, when this permit was finally obtained, that the development work began.