Val Thorens
From snowheads
Country
Region
3 valleys
Website
http://www.valthorens.com/ not a bad site but a bit reliant on Flash. I like the panorama camera at http://www.belhorizon.com/, go to the 'Webcam' menu item and select Panorama.
Basics
In the Savoie region of the French Alps, a 3.5 hour transfer from Geneva. Route from Geneva takes you through Annecy and Albertville - most of it on single carriageway, the last hour or so of the journey is a long climb up the valley from Moutier.
Lift system
Part of the 3 Vallees area. Modern detachable chairlifts all over the place, too numerous to count. No t-bars (that we found), 3 drag lifts around the village area and a handful of others aroundabouts. Very little queuing (never more than 10 minutes), there are a lot of lifts coming out of the village and they're pretty high capacity. Queuing seemed a bit more civilised than in Austria or in Switzerland. The chair out of Orelle (the 4th valley) seemed to get crowded around lunchtime and if you catch the ski school start time (9am) or hit the staggered opening of the lifts wrong you can wait a few minutes.
Terrain
A wide area at the head of a valley, with two forks up to separate glaciers. Crossing over ridges takes you into Orelle and the Meribel/Mottaret valleys. The area around the resort is completely treeless. The terrain means it is relatively easy to scope runs out before ski-ing them - which is nice if you're not so confident. Plenty of easy blues around the resort with more difficult blues and reds higher up. The link over to Orelle involves a bit of a walk back (200m) if you want to stick to blue runs, but there is nice ski-ing over there and well worth the visit. The run down into Mottaret is red at the top, but is not particularly challenging and the run on into Mottaret is a chance to see some trees! The Mont Vallon runs have been recommended by others but we didnt ski them.
DO NOT TAKE THE OURS RUN INTO MOTTARET ITS REALLY A FOOTPATH IVE NEVER POLED SO MUCH IN MY LIFE! -- IanHopkinson
The snow
How does this section work? It's very variable. Should we link to a history of sorts?
Ian put: We had fantastic snow conditions! It snowed fairly heavily on two nights giving around 15cm of fresh powder on top of the piste. Only the slightest sign of slush at resort level in the late afternoon. Snow cover continuous down to the level of Les Menuires, which is a little down the valley.
Off-piste
No info yet.
The resort
A purpose built ski resort with no 'original village', however it is not unattractive, certainly if compared with Les Menuires! Plenty of cafes, restaurants, ski gear shops, a sports centre, a number of small supermarkets, no bookshop!
Eating
Around the slopes a wide range of eateries.
Le Scapin on the Place de Caron has a good value menu and a large sun terrace on the main ski area (2 croque monsieur+cokes for 15 euro), service can be a bit slow at busy times. Le Delice, next door, does savoury crepes which I like. Le Pette Ferme on Rue de Soleil. Had dinner here with jonpim et al, busy (booking essential) but friendly staff and a good pizza. Café at the bottom of the Moraine lift is good for waffles on the upper terrace. Genepi (part way down the Moraine lift) has a cosy ambience and an open fire - when we were there they were playing French Ska (groovy!). Bar de le Marine close to the top of Cascade chairlift is pleasant too, Friday mid-morning it was home to a succession of childrens ski school classes having chokky. Why does French bread only taste so good in France?
Accommodation
Hotel Portillo at the top of the resort, near to the Place de Peclet. Ski out but a 100 metre walk to get back in, boot room with individual lockers for each guest room. We liked the Portillo, food great, room spacious and staff friendly. They do residences as well as half board.
Costs
Cheap compared to Switzerland!
