UCPA Val Thorens 2012

A snowHead

This is a really long post, but before I went away I couldn’t find anything specific about UCPA Val T so though I would get all the details of my holiday down in case anyone else was looking to go.

I went on my own to the UCPA in Val T in March 2012. Went away on my own because I wanted to go snowboarding but it didn’t work out with friends. Decided on UCPA because I didn’t want to pay a single supplement for a chalet and I was quite keen on having lessons after many years without.

I was a little bit worried before I went away, mainly about language (I can only say a few words in French) and also I haven’t been away on my own on holiday since I was a kid going on PGL holidays. I needed have worried on either count.

I was in a room with two French girls who spoke passable English and were reasonably happy to talk in English with me, a Chezh girl who spoke very good English, French, German and chezh and two girls from Hong Kong who spoke good English. So that was fine. My snowboarding group was mainly comprised of Norwegians who spoke faultless English and our lessons were conducted in English and briefly translated into French for the two French guys. Not massively fair on them going away in France, with a French company, with a French instructor and having their lessons done mainly in English but good for me!

I found plenty of people to talk to, the girls in my room, the people in my snowboard group and their friends and so on. Everyone had a really nice inclusive ethos so even if people were away with their friends I found they were happy to include me in the evenings.

Snowboarding

One this to note is that the lift pass is the Val T lift pass, not the full 3 V lift pass. You can upgrade for €24.50 per day though, which I did on the first day where there isn’t any instruction and on the half day.

I have to rave about the lessons somewhat. BEST snowboarding ever.

I booked the full time instruction, and put myself down as confirme levels because although I am highly competent I can not “board all terrains, piste and off piste, in all conditions – icy, powder, crust. You are comfortable on slopes at 40 degrees” which is the expert definition.

However I was a little miffed to see I had been placed in the Mastery/Confirme group rather than the Confirme/Expert group. Again, no need to worry! The first morning we all boarded together and I was placed in the top group and others were moved down so everyone in the group was of a very similar level.

It had just snowed, and the instructor asked us what we wanted to do. Everyone said “off-piste”. Val T don’t actually offer snowboarding off piste courses, but our instructor got us the avi kit, did some avi training with us and then we spent the rest of the week off piste. He was still finding us fresh snow at the end of the week which was a fabulous feat of local knowledge, because the wind trashed most of the snow the day after it snowed and then it turned quite warm again.

The places we went were amazing, some of the snowboarding was very difficult but some of it was though nice cruise-ey valleys, often each route was a combination of the two. It was fantastic to be in the beautiful mountains, in the sunshine, with no one else around apart from our group.

We didn’t do that much actual instruction about technique, the instructor was more concerned with the snow pack and the safe route down but when on piste he gave specific tips on technique and gave us some generic advice about off piste snowboarding.

It was just really great to be with others of a similar ability and to get to snowboard such amazing routes.

We returned to the centre every day for lunch rather than get a picnic. When our instructor said we would do this I was a little miffed as I like to be out all day but he said “I think, after 5 hours a day with me it will be enough” and by god was he right! The hot lunch, small rest and then putting dry and warm boots back on was an absolute pleasure.

Accommodation

Wifi is available for €19.50 for 7 days. However be aware you can’t transfer this around between devices.

Accommodation was in dorm rooms of 6 people, in three bunk beds. Each room has two sinks in it, a small locker each, some shelves by the sinks and some hooks about the room. The rooms aere quite small without much storage space, but it wasn’t too bad. I recommend packing light, but also taking a couple of hangers with you as there is only one in each locker. Also one girl had some ‘S’ shaped hooks she could use on the hooks on the wall to make more storage space which were quite good.

Each bedroom is locked by a key and everyone in the room gets a key, and you can also lock your locker with a padlock. Take a slim one with you, mine was too fat to fit (standard UK virgin active gym one) but reception rent them for €5.

The beds are comfy enough but the pillows were awful, very thin and lumpy. I recommend taking your own pillow if you like your neck pain free!

The bedrooms are on the bottom two floors, and there is a central circular common room and then there are pos of three bedroom, two showers and one toilet. There are also a couple of toilets off the common room and upstairs in reception. That doesn’t sound like a lot but it was never a problem to shower or use the toilet. Everyone is getting back and getting up at different times so there is never one massive rush. The showers are in quite small cubicles (difficult to wash feet!) but the water is very hot and the pressure is strong.

I took ear plugs and an eye mask but didn’t need to use them. Everyone was very considerate both in the room and the common areas which were quiet after 10 .

The bar is on the top floor and a circular shape with a big open fire place in the centre of the room. The drinks are very reasonably priced and most people hang out in the bar before and after dinner. There are some organised activities in the evenings (line dancing, karaoke, quiz) but joining in is optional.

One thing I felt the centre lacked was a drying room, there wasn't really anywhere to put your wet ski kit and no radiators in the rooms to dry out wet gloves etc.

There is a big ski room by the front door with a key code access. There is enough space for skis and boards, and, best thing of all - heated boot racks.

There is a big new UCPA centre being built next door to the current one so there will be plenty more UCPA beds in the near future.

Location

The location is fantastic for skiing. Ski in ski out down a little track.

The location is not so good for après ski as it is a long walk up the hill to Val T. It may say ‘only 15 mins’ but unless you are super mountain fit this is a bit optimistic in the dark at altitude. Except the location is very good for having a couple of drinks straight after skiing, either in town, at 360 or Folie Deuce because as UCPA is below town you can ski back very easily.

Food

The food was good and plentiful. Meals are served in a canteen style way, the food is out and you go and help yourself and then clear and wipe down your tables after you have finished.

Breakfast:
Coffe / hot chocolate / tea – drank out of bowls
An orange juice drink - not exactly orange juice
Cereal
Bread, jam, butter
Plan yogurts
Oranges

Lunch and Dinner were of similar types of things:
Salads, usually 4 or 5 different types
Plenty of bread and butter
3 or 4 hot choices including meat, fish and veg
Cheese board with about 6 or 7 different types of cheeses
Flavoured yogurts
Fruit
ICE CREAM in a fabulous choice of flavours. I particularly recommend the blackcurrant sorbet, with the coconut ice cream and chocolate ice cream. Amazing.

For dinner there was usually another pudding as well, one night it was pineapple, another chocolate tart, another some kind of funny cream cheese and chocolate flakes.

You can get a picnic for lunch if you ask the night before. I did this on one day and the bag of food was huge! Felt like I was carrying my entire bodyweight of food around with me; massive sandwich, box of rice salad, lots of fruit, chocolate, crisps, some more stuff I can’t remember and a bottle of water.

There is no way you can go hungry on this holiday.

There is a bar upstairs where you can buy coffee after lunch or dinner if you like, and they also sell carafes of wine you can take down to dinner. However it is also OK to go to the supermarket and buy your own wine or beer to drink at Dinner.

Transfers

I booked my holiday and transfers with Action Outdoors. The transfers are with Bens Bus and the information you receive form Action Outdoors says that you will be dropped off at the bus station, and from there you can get the free resort buss to UCPA. This is inaccurate information.

The free resort shuttle bus doesn’t go anywhere near UCPA.

IF you are arriving in proper season, when it hasn’t snowed recently, and during peak hours on a Saturday then you may be able to get the ‘parking bus’ from the main bus station down to the parking which is near UCPA. From there you will be able to see UCPA and you can walk through the car park, down to the next terrace, through that car park, then scramble down a very steep and quite big snow bank with all your luggage to get to UCPA. If it had been snowing I would not have been able to do this (wheelie suitcase and wheelie board bag).

The return journey was even worse. Thank god I was with a girl who knew the short cut to get through town. If you have to get a transfer from the bus station you really really need to reccy this route in the light and during the week…

Go out of UCPA, climb up snow bank, walk round the car park to the road.
Go up the road a bit and up a snowy track onto the piste.
Go up piste and into the first apartment building on the right.
Go up two flights of stairs.
Get in lift and go to the top.
Exit onto the road, quite a long way through the apartment building but its like a walkway.
Then go along the road for about 5 mins and you will come across some stairs and a lift on your left, get in this, go to the top, exit along a long walkway into the bus station.

That might sound easy but even just getting out of the car park with my suitcase and board bag was a nightmare and I’m not that unfit. The short cut shaves off a massive distance, one guy on the transfer bus went on the road and set off 20 mins before us and arrive 15 mins after us, absolutely dying.

I have done the route on Google maps and the Val T village map but not sure if I can attach it.

If you don’t fancy this massive hike for your transfer, then book your transfer with Altibus. Receptions confirm with altibus that there are UCPA people and they do a drop off / pick up at UCPA on request.

Ok, rant about the transfer over.

Overall I had a fantastic holiday and I wouldn’t hesitate booking another trip with UCPA. Next time I’ll be booking the snowboard off piste course at one of the centres that offers is.

A snowHead

IF anyone knows how to attach a pdf, let me know and I'll attach the map showing how to get to the bus station

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Haha I thought our walk up from the Cheval Blanc to the bus station was a pain when we left, that sounds like a right PITA. We chose not to go to the UCPA in VT because of the distance from town (I say we, I still wanted to go there but was outvoted).

I've stayed in the UCPA Argentiere before and have to agree, food and instruction is absolutely fantastic, second to none.

Altibus are a pretty shambolic operation, I personally wouldn't recommend using them.
They don't have reps in resort if you are on a super early transfer and their phone lines don't open till 8am, which isn't so good when there's rolling road closures for avalanche control and you have no idea whether a bus will be showing up or not. In the end I blagged us onto a Crystal transfer direct to the airport because the rep actually seemed to know what was going on. Altibus was alright in decent weather I guess, but it's still a massive free for all to get on because all the French yoofs use it. Even in mid-January it was carnage, I would hate to see it in French holiday season.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Yeah fair point about altibus - and it fairnes is nice with Bens Bus not having to change. But since I brought a 'transfer' with Action Outdoors I was expecting to get a bit closer than 3 km by road!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Thanks for the post. Have struggled to find good information about UCPA VT elsewhere!

You'll need to Register first of course.

No worries Pentelk. It has been refurbed and now offers twin rooms for an extra £46, bargain.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Also looks like the Val T centre offers off-piste snowboarding, beginner snowboarding but not standard snowboarding now! Looking to book a week in January at a centre that does off piste, normal snowboarding AND has twin rooms, and isn't Cham.

After all it is free

Kat, Thanks for all the info, I am heading there this Saturday. I am using SnowBus.co.uk for transfer and they say that drop off is at the main bus station so if you had that map showing the shortcut I'd love to get it. I'll see if I can sweet talk the driver into dropping me at the UCPA, a small bribe might be in order cause I don't like the sound of the trek.
I will return here with a report when I get back regarding the extension and refurbishments. I hear the place is much improved now.
I am a bit dismayed to hear that your ski pas only covered the Val Thorens area. I am doing the Off-piste expert course so maybe they will give us the full 3 Valleys pass, if not I will be paying the supplement. There is no tree skiing in Val Tho and the current forecast of for more snowy weather so hopefully we can head over to Meribel and Courcheval for some tree skiing.
For your week in January I would recommend Val d'Isere. You will love it, amazing ski terrain, loads of off-piste and the UCPA there is pretty good.

I'm there in less than 2 weeks. Let me know if you bribed the driver. Don't fancy trekking either.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

I was just on to SnowBus.co.uk and they said there shouldn't be any problem getting the driver to stop at the UCPA. I'll ask nicely in my best French

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I'm recently back from a fantastic week in UCPA Val Thorens. The centre is brand new (old circular building completely renovated and brand new building beside) so I think a comprehensive review is merited.
I arrived late on Saturday 22nd December with a transfer from Geneva with Snowbus.co.uk. They dropped me right to the door which was excellent. I would recommend these guys, very good service. It turned out that we were the first week of the season and so were the very first people to sleep in the new beds and the first to do everything. In fact they were still finishing the place when my buddy had arrived earlier in the day and it was obvious that there was still more to be done, but not much.

Number of beds has gone from 150 to 366. As far as I can make out, all rooms are for 4 people. Two single beds with two bunks over at right angles to the beds below. It is possible to book the room for two, so if you want you can push the two single beds together. Twin rooms still have the two unused bunks above. Each room for 4 has a large shower and sink area. Two rooms share a toilet. Beds were very comfortable. Showers brilliant, lots of hot water, though there were some teething problems earlier in the week. Each bed has its own electrical socket. There is loads of storage space, more than you will need and space in the hall to store luggage. Lockers can be locked with your own padlock. Each bed has reading light.
Overall the place was too hot and the air too dry so you tended to wake up in the morning with sore throat. Hopefully they will rectify this.
All the bedrooms are in the new building as well as the restaurant. There are lifts too and the place is suitable for wheelchair users. This new building is linked to the old round building by a bridge. Old building houses the reception area, bar, ski school office, ski locker area, ski shop, large lounge area adjoining the bar with stage. The lounge area could do with more seats for sure. The old bar upstairs is now a secondary hang-out area with pool table of by the looks of it a 2nd bar was due to be installed with tapped beer etc. Apparently the old bedrooms below in the round building are being used for staff and as offices.
The lounge and general hang-out area was ok, plenty big enough for everyone, but as I said they need more seats and tables. Atmosphere in the place was good and lively. They have introduced a new plastic card which you load up with money for the bar instead of the old bar voucher books. There were quite a few teething problems with this. You can use an ATM to load the card using your credit card but if you want to use cash you need to go to reception with is not open after 8 and often had a queue. This UCPA card was also used in the ski shop to log your gear. It would be a good idea if they could get the card to work on the pool table and the table football.
There was no wifi yet when I was there but it was due to be installed, you will have to pay for it.
Checkout is 9am on leaving day, but if you want to ski that day there are now separate showers that you cna use beside the luggage room. I availed of this option and it worked well.
Food in the restaurant was really good, best I've had yet at a UCPA, head chef Rudolph is a bit of a character, nice guy. There was to Goute (afternoon tea) the week I was there but Rudolph assured me that it would begin as soon as a new baking oven arrived.
The few Swedes were disappointed at the lack of porridge for breakfast, but it seems they only lay that on when there are bus loads from Sweden.
UCPA Val Thorens are now offering off piste courses which I think is new. I was lucky to get Edouard who is on load from Val d'Isere and he is one of the few who actually knows the area.
Overall I had a great week, the new centre is very good. The only real downside is the fact that it is a long walk uphill for heading out on the town.

snow reports

Thanks for all the info guys. I am going there in April, so some useful info here, cheers 😀

kat.ryb, are there no taxi firms there? W hen I go in April I need to get from UCPA to L'Oxalays for the snowheads EoSB and if I cans get lift I was hoping to get a taxi.

Help!!

UCPA Val Thorens 2012

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