 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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New Gen guys in Val / Tignes are excellent.
There's an independent Sainte Foy / Val local called Alex Rippe who is fantastic too.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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TDC (the Development Centre) are very good too, all good British instructors.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Double YYYIIIIPPPPPEEEEEE
YYYIIIIPPPPPEEEEEE YYYIIIIPPPPPEEEEEE
Just found out that winter X games are on in Tignes when we're there 
must buy longer lens for my camera before we go
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I have skied with Alpine Experience (AE) several times. They have many repeat clients. Henry (the 'H' in HAT or Henrys Avalanche Talk ) is a member of the AE team. Over the years, as best as I recall, we skied off piste every day with AE except when there is so much new snow that the on piste is as good as the off piste. When snow conditions are poor the AE guides find interesting off piste places, not always powder but good to ski. All of the AE guides are either ski teachers or UAIGM, and some have both qualifications; most have many years experience of teaching off piste in Val d'Isere.
I know that several other Snowheads ski with AE.
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Ditto what Adrian, said, have skied with AE on opening day of Val and found them very good.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Laurent bastian 0033614640619 local man fantastic teacher taught my wife and I to ski then my daughter, has lived in val for years, very nice ! Good English think he now works for ESF but this is his direct line, highly recommend him, have fun and save some snow for me, there april 
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shoogly, We skiied with Alpine Experience a couple of years ago for a half day in Val D and they were excellent.
We had a great guide and the prices are very reasonable.
I would definitely recommend them and would use them again without hesitation.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| shoogly wrote: |
Double YYYIIIIPPPPPEEEEEE
YYYIIIIPPPPPEEEEEE YYYIIIIPPPPPEEEEEE
Just found out that winter X games are on in Tignes when we're there
must buy longer lens for my camera before we go |
We where there the last year the Airwaves where on, Take some warm gear to wear (like you wouldnt anyway) when you go spectating is bloody cold stood by the half pipe at 8pm.
The lighting used on a night to light up the arena is excelent, I had a pretty modest HD camcored that took some great pics and videos.
Its an awsome sight being next to the huge kicker and pipe seeing the best in Europe doing there stuff. Enjoy
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Rorie (on here) is based in Tignes. He is as good as you will find.
If he is booked (likely) TDC are excellent.
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For off piste guides in Val d'isere I usually use Alpine Experience whose office is in The Jean Sports Shop on the main road, opposite the Moris Hotel/Pub about 100 metres from the Tourist Office.
Henry Schiewind (sp??) who is Henry's Avalanche Talks (HAT) is one of Alpine's guides. All of their guides speak fluent English they are from Canada and Australia.
If Alpine are fully booked I use Top Ski whose office is in the Galerie Des Cimes, opposite the little bus station.
The official Val d'isere Website used to have the details of all of the ski schools and mountain guides. They keep changing the look of their website so I'm not sure where this info is now and I don't think the full website is up and running yet.
When will you be in Val D, I'll be there from the 4th to 15th of December.
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You know it makes sense.
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does anyone want to name a bar to meet in in Val ? I will be there from dec 1.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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not 'til march that we're going. the days will be longer, hopefully warmer and we'll have a good shot chance of some pow
also got the 3 year old with us so don't want to risk the really brutal temps that Jan/Feb can bring - want her to enjoy it basically.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Another vote for Alpine Experience. They will put you in a group (Max 6) of the same standard. Friendly people and good guides and off-piste teachers with a democratic sharing of clients.
However, although I like the people and structure I personally now tend to use Top Ski who are the more hierarchical French firm who the founders of Alpine Experience broke away from. That's because they draw good French skiers so the top group tends to be more challenging at Top Ski.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| welshflyer wrote: |
If Alpine are fully booked I use Top Ski whose office is in the Galerie Des Cimes, opposite the little bus station.
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They have moved and are now on the main strip near the centre.
PS One thing I would say is that whoever you choose, if you want to use a particular school it is worth booking in advance some of the popular ones do fill up.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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limegreen1, I'll be in Val for the weekend from 2nd Dec at the UCPA so I will rely on you to find out where Mullit are playing for the weekend and let me know 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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The apres ski in Val d'isere probably won't be in full swing until after the 10th of December. Mullit probably won't be playing live the first week in December.
My favourite bars are:-
Bananas next to the slopes by the Bellevarde Express Chairlift, ski down the Face at the end of the day and you'll have earned a drink here.
Blue Note a tiny door (usually open so you can't see the bar name on it) diagonally opposite to the right of the ESF Ski School Office.
Alsace underneath the Kandahar Hotel on the main street (before dinner try thr Tarte Flambe unique to this bar).
Alexandra Bar (ground floor of Hotel De La Glise??) between the Post Office and main street (a good mix of Brits & French) best pool tables.
Moris Pub the English Pub??
Bar Saloon for the younger ground on the "snow square"
Fall off the slopes in La Daille and treat yourself to the best Vin Chaud in the Rose Blanche before getting the bus back to the centre.
Cafe Face opposite Dick's T-Bar.
PM me if you want to meet in Val.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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shoogly, I believe that Chevallot is the place your 3.5yo needs for Apres Ski.
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Adrian, naaaah... she's more up for dancing on some tables and getting the place rocking [joke]
That looks good though. I think I'll need to use her as an excuse to go sample the local pastries
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I think the adverts on Radio Val d'Isere claimed that Chevallot is the best bakery in France. They do a wonderful range of chocolates and cakes and buns and so on. I imagine that any lady over 15yo would love to shop there and, afterwards, grumble about calories and blame you or me for encouraging them to visit.
Some guardians of young children have been known to promise their kids a visit to Chevallot if they stop whining and get on with the skiing.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I'll pm you for a meet.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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2 more votes for AE! (From me and Mrs MA.)
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Just got a few more questions about the resort and some ski stuff...
• Can anyone pinpoint exactly on a map where the Ducs de Savoie hotel is? A google search comes up with "Rue Olympique, 73150 Val d'Isere, France" but having entered that address into google maps it shows no sign of the hotel.
• The bumf says that we get use of the swimming pool as part of the lift pass. Is this free use throughout the week, or limited to a certain number of times?
• Any other snowheads out there for week from March 11th and would like to meet for a ski once or twice?
• The blue into Le Fornet, "mangard", is it an easy blue or difficult blue. My folks are only on their 2nd ski holiday and I doubt they'd like to tackle anything too far away from a green, but i'd be keen to take them somewhere that they feel they've really accomplished something and treat them to a nice lunch. Is that piste a good choice and is there an "affordable" place to eat at the bottom? I notice there's a red and black either side of the blue. Does this mean it's possibly out of their reach?
• Is the Sache run in Tignes a "difficult" black or "easy" black. I'd like to get my wife out of the way for a while and show here the delights of some more remote piste skiing. She managed a very icy and mogul-fest J Pachod piste of the Chanrossa chair in Courchevel last year. She coped very well and surprised herself. I'd like to see that "accomplished something I never thought possible before I did it" look on her face again
Sure there'll be more questions as time goes on, but maybe it'll become a useful thread for other people as well. Always handy to hear about good "cheaper" places to grab some food on the move up the mountains as well. Not too fussed about the sitting down and eating/drinking whilst there's skiing to be had.
Many thanks to any kind snowheads who have some info.
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shoogly, I think the hotel is on a side street just off the main drag between the main bus station and tourist office.
Not sure on the swimming pool - on the first year it opened, you got a voucher for one visit, but have never used it - although friends have.
The blue into Le Fornet is OK although can get quite icy. I would almost definitely avoid Santons (the blue down from Belvarde) although, if it is open, Piste L from Solaise can be a nice run - very steep but wide for the first 150m though. Verte (into La Daille from Belvarde) is unpleasant and IMO is pretty much only green because it was the best option out of some very tricky returns to town for beginners / early intermediates and they needed to have one green run back to resort. However, you can easily take the bubble down from La Folie Douce at the end of the day and the resort bus will drop you about 50m from your hotel. Your folks will have a great time on Solaise and Belvarde - the greens off Borsat (they've pisted a track around the steep drop into the green runs there now) are lovely as is Grand Pre, and they will soon pick up confidence to head down into Tignes or tackle some of the easier blues.
Sache is mostly un-pisted and IIRC has some quite tricky sections - a few narrow points that get very moguled - especially if it is warm. It is a fantastic run though and if the weather gods are nice to you, that last steeps won't be to icy and the moguls not to slushy. The blue cat track to Les Brev is very pretty and goes past the 'bear caves' and the red run is pretty good too. Definitely take a trip down there and have lunch at L'Amilly (across the bridge and over the road). You could always check with the lifties on the way over there to see if the sache has been bashed the night before - that would make it a lot easier.
Alas, I'm out the week after you so will miss you. Have fun
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You know it makes sense.
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THanks Scampi Dellahanti, much appreciated.
At the risk of asking a very obvious question: What are the "bear caves"?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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shoogly, the top 200 metres of Mangard, the section immediately as you leave the cable car station, can seem narrow and steep. After that the piste is (as best I recall) easy. The final 200 metres are uphill and most people either side step up, or walk up with skis on shoulders; the piste goes across the valley floor and the road is slightly above the lowest part of the piste. There is a restaurant just over half way down Mangard and it has had very good reviews, it makes a good lunch stop. The restaurant is on a knoll that elevates it above the main slope and so it has great views around.
Not sure about the hotel Ducs de Savoie. From Scampi Dellahanti's words and from these Valdinet words I think the hotel is on or very close to the main road in squares C5 or D6 on the Val d'Isere street map.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| shoogly wrote: |
THanks Scampi Dellahanti, much appreciated.
At the risk of asking a very obvious question: What are the "bear caves"? |
There are a couple of man-made caves along the side of the track about 2/3 of the way down are caves that get filled with ice and are stunning to see (I don't know why they are called the bear caves though).
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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shoogly, We're there that week with our two boys so we'll see you in the bar! My OH has skied a lot with AE over the years - excellent for skiers - they don't generally take boarders which unfortunately rules me out!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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lib-banana, Waynes daily diary shows that Thomas of Alpine Experience often takes boarders, see eg 2 January.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I've signed up for a couple mornings guiding with alpine elements... Official excitement
lib-banana, what you drinking?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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That blue track to les Brev is a really nice blue track - very very lively in blue sky days - not so much fun on white out days
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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shoogly, unless your folks are pretty adventurous I'd encourage them to enjoy the slopes higher up and download to Val D'Isere by lift.
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shoogly, I did an off-piste course in Tignes a few years ago where we spent a lot of time on the Leisse black on the Tignes glacier. I think this run was rarely pisted which was why it was a black but it's really not steep so might be a nice confidence builder that you can do a few times, I'd say if she's happy on an unpisted White Lady she'll like this one.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I have done Sache quite a few times. The mogul field at the lower part is not much fun unless it is slushy. I have done Sache once when it was pisted top to bottom and it is a stunning piste then. Otherwise, doing the top and cutting right on the red is the best option. The red can often be closed due to avi risk though so be careful. No idea why that bit is a red as it is flat. On a board it equals a long walk.
Does anyone know what the caves are actually for?
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| shoogly wrote: |
My folks are only on their 2nd ski holiday and I doubt they'd like to tackle anything too far away from a green, but i'd be keen to take them somewhere that they feel they've really accomplished something and treat them to a nice lunch.
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You can create a great circuit on the top of Bellevard. Take the Olympique bubble up from Val, ski down Mont Blanc or Vert to the bottom of the Borsat Express chair; up that and then down genepy to the bottom of the grand pre chair; up that and then down grand pre to the fontaine froid chair; then repeat with variations. All easy pistes and sufficient variety to be interesting even if repeated many times. After a while they can progress onto some of the nearby blues. You can also use the Marmottes chair to extend this and then move on to the Tommeuse chair when they are comfortable on blues. Note that Fontaine Froid chair can be very cold.
There's usually a short escalator running at the top of bellevard to link back up from the fontaine froid chair to access the Olympique gondola back down to Val or you can ski down to Folie Douce and get the gondola from there to La Daille and bus it back.
By the way I would add my recommendations for Alpine Experience.
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FAQ
