 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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rjb1, we found with a group of mixed but early intermediate ability that a lot of people liked the area around Borsat, Genepy etc. It has several runs that you can loop easily and not get bored for a good while, and the runs are as easy as any in the EK area with the option of blues and reds nearby for the more adventurous.
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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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The start of the runs from the top of the Borsat chair can sometimes be a bit mogully, not what you'd expect on a green!
Avoid Santons like the plague, it's hardly a blue, can be carnage late in the day and, unless you ski down the shuss pretty quick can result in a lot of poling to get over the lengthy flat.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| rjb1 wrote: |
| Verte seems to generate a lot of comments - I'm not sure why |
Dogs are red/green colour blind. Whoever graded "Verte" may have had canine ancestry.
If you look on the piste map for "Zone Tranquille", those would be good areas to head for.
If you want to go to Val d'Isere, consider taking the lift down. None of the runs to the town are easy, whatever the colour-coding. Do not do Santons.
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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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| Quote: |
we found with a group of mixed but early intermediate ability that a lot of people liked the area around Borsat, Genepy etc. It has several runs that you can loop easily and not get bored for a good while, and the runs are as easy as any in the EK area with the option of blues and reds nearby for the more adventurous.
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This.
IMO the "green triangle" area between the Brosat, Grande Pre and Marmottes area is IMO the best area I've ever been to for improving beginners (i.e. people who have progressed beyond the nursery slopes but can't yet reliably move arround the mountain).
It's a big area so you feel like you are out on the mountain rather than lapping a village run or some such. The pistes are wide, quiet and well pisted (appart from the bit at the top of the Borsat chair but you can go round this on a path). Its a massive confidence building area as you are really skiing arroud the mountain without being scared whitless. Beginners can access from both Tignes and Val in bubble lifts so no need to take on the hairy ski down the mountain. From Tignes it's up the Toviere and then the blue Creux or Edelweiss are easy enough to get to the area.
Don't drop below the Mormottes lift on Verte as it then goes all the way down to La Daille, isn't that green and is a fairly narrow path most of the way so not worth skiing unless you need to get back to Val and the lifts are closed.
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| dogwatch wrote: |
| Dogs are red/green colour blind. Whoever graded "Verte" may have had canine ancestry. If you want to go to Val d'Isere, consider taking the lift down. None of the runs to the town are easy, whatever the colour-coding. Do not do Santons. |
That's solved the 'Verte' mystery thank you! Rather ironically, I am red/green colour defective too, so I'm glad I'm not skiing alone!
I have been mooching through the various youtube piste videos and although its impossible to tell how steep/difficult a run is, Santons doesn't look friendly at all, so one to avoid without a doubt.
Thanks to all those who've replied so far...
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I've stayed in Les Brev once. Strange choice for beginners and low intermediates. Also in mid-April. As I recall the runs down to the village either a stiff black or a tiresome zig zag red. And it's one of the lower villages in the valley. Sorry, I know that doesn't answer your question just a bit curious I guess.
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| Quote: |
You lot make me sick with envy Going green
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don't worry, we're not all weathercam. Some of us are just "happy holidaymakers"
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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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A lot of runs in EK are undergraded - blues which should be reds, reds which should be blacks. The short blue section from Toviere to Creux/Edelweiss is usually chopped up and crazily busy. But you'll have to ski it.
Anyway, you'll have a great time and improve your skiing 
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rjb1, One thing to be very aware of particularly in April is that conditions on a run can change quite dramatically during the course of a day. Some runs can go from tough and icy to beautiful piste to ridiculously slushy in the space of a few hours. If you are on a good piste take note of its altitude and aspect and go for similar things at that time of the day . Though just to be awkward it can also vary quite a bit from one day to the next.
As a very rough rule of thumb North facing slopes tend to hold their snow best , East facing slopes are at their best earlier than south facing ones which are usually at their best late morning and then west facing ones though a lot depends o the altitude and prevailing weather.
Also never be to proud to download particularly late in the day, crowded runs back to resort that have been heavily skied are rarely fun for anyone and can be very unpleasant for an early intermediate.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The blues from the top of the Palafour lift are nice, handy for Brevieres. As others have said the blues from Toviere down to the bottom of the "Zone Tranquille" are lovely, and the Zone is perfect. When you are returning then I would suggest downloading to Le Lac on the Olympic Gondola. The black run back can be tricky and it is a long way via Val Claret
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Wed 12-03-14 15:24; edited 1 time in total
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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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| T Bar wrote: |
| Also never be to proud to download particularly late in the day, crowded runs back to resort that have been heavily skied are rarely fun for anyone and can be very unpleasant for an early intermediate. |
It's worth adding there is a good (free) bus service along the valley, so if you want try different areas in Val d'Isere you don't have to ski between them, you can take the lift down and then the bus.
I know someone who has skied for many years in Val d'Isere, spends several weeks there each season and never skis down. He doesn't like the crowds.
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dogwatch, True and there are no really easy ways of skiing from the Bellevarde area to the Solaise or visa versa whatever the piste map may suggest
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You know it makes sense.
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I seem to remmeber the glacier area at val d sere has some very friendly piste but cant remember if there is an easy way up or down from le fornet cable car. Not sure that would be that convenient from Le Brev anyway
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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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rjb1, definitely go and find Grattalu, it's one of my favourite pistes in the EK. Very confidence building and great fun.
I would avoid the blue that goes down into Tignes past the half-pipe to the Lanches chair as the bottom section is very steep for a blue.
As said, the Ski Tranquille area in Val is great (when you get off the top of the Borsat lift, don't turn immediately left down the horrible mogully bit, go straight on and you can head around it!)
Madeleine is a lovely green as well.
Most of the reds have steep sections, and definitely avoid all the blacks!
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Layne wrote: |
| I've stayed in Les Brev once. Strange choice for beginners and low intermediates. Also in mid-April. As I recall the runs down to the village either a stiff black or a tiresome zig zag red. And it's one of the lower villages in the valley. Sorry, I know that doesn't answer your question just a bit curious I guess. |
You're right, it is a bit of a strange choice.
Its due to a joyful mix of politics, stubbornness and the "we've stayed there before and it great and we're not staying anywhere else so there" attitude that you get when trying to organise a group outing.
Even the travel arrangements have been a pain particularly given that one of the group suffers from the same problem as B.A. Baracus ("I ain't gettin' on no plane... fool"), another refused to travel on anything other than a coach and another refused to travel on a coach! I am surprised we're all still taking to each other to be fair.
Hopefully the way back to Les Brev should be do-able. There are a bunch of blues (we will be avoiding reds and the awesome 'Sache' black run that you mentioned) that don't seem too challenging assuming a reasonable covering of the white stuff. That said, the way things have gone so far, I would imagine I will ski down, one will get the gondola and then discover an extreme fear of gondolas, one will demand a helicopter and the others will refuse any of the above and camp overnight!
All good fun!
R
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| rjb1 wrote: |
Hopefully the way back to Les Brev should be do-able. |
No. It's hell. It's a difficult red, and by the time you're going might well really be a black if it's thawed and frozen enough. Download on the bubble and enjoy your ski holiday. By 4pm it's crazy busy too. It's a narrow road that they put some snow on during the winter.
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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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Many good tips on here, and I would add to the suggestion that going home in one of the bubbles is the way to play it. There is NO green/blue home run in the EK that is suitable for beginners and no point in being a hero/heroine when you're knackered from an otherwise brilliant day's skiing.
Others have said AVOID SANTONS and I second, third and fourth that. It should be a red - or maybe a "dark blue" - and I have often encountered newbies stranded on it who have skied other blue runs and are reducing to quivering wrecks halfway down a crowded, icy mogul-field. I met one guy walking down it alone (such a newbie that he'd chosen the middle of the piste as his trajectory of choice) and it was the FIRST blue run he had ever done. I was kind.
You will have a fab time though - it is a great area for improving your skiing and you will learn that "the way of the Side-slip" is your friend!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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PS the blues at Pissaillas are great - good practise for keeping your speed swooping up and down some very uppy-downy slopes. And you can ski down to Le Signal where, should you be planning to treat yourself to a posh sit-down lunch at any time, is highly recommended. Go up the Glacier Express lift and play on those blues - then get the up-and-over Lessieres lift (woo hoo!) to Pissaillas, ski down to Le Signal then go up by the bubble to get back. It is rather a long way from Tignes Les Brev though!
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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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I think that the blues on Solaise are really nice, as are the runs on the Val Glacier above Le Fornet. Not been there for a while but I seem to recall the glacier reds being on the blue side - the opposite usually being the case in this resort!
Don't take any notice of the green grading of Verte. It might be nice at the start of the day but it is an absolute pig as the day wears on - cut up, mogulled and very busy. As others have said, there is no shame in taking the lifts down. I think it is only called a green so that Val can say they have a green run home.
In Tignes, definitely go for Grattalu and also the blues and reds at the top of the mountain above Brev (such as Myosotis and particularly Rhodedendron) were lovely as I recall. The Black down to Brev (Sache) can be very varied and not recommended for the less experienced skier.
Wouldn't want you to read all the comments on here as overwhelmingly negative as there is some beautiful skiing to be had in EK. Enjoy
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Wed 12-03-14 19:55; edited 1 time in total
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^^ What Big Dave says, the blues on Solaise are great, quite varied - some with nice undulations where you can keep towards one side for some steeper stuff or the other for something easier - one of them is is massively wide. If you're feeling brave, Piste L can be really nice - once you're over the steep start most of the rest is a wide natural half-pipe until it narrows further down before the red comes in from the right - can be busy late in the day but is often quiet. Dont bother with the road back to Val, get the bus from Le Laisinant.
Also don't bother with the Solaise self-service the little place near the bottom of the Madelaine chair is much better.
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| Hairybiker wrote: |
^^
Also don't bother with the Solaise self-service the little place near the bottom of the Madelaine chair is much better. |
L'Ouillette. Yum. Proper sized hot choc there too.
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| James the Last wrote: |
| rjb1 wrote: |
Hopefully the way back to Les Brev should be do-able. |
No. It's hell. It's a difficult red, and by the time you're going might well really be a black if it's thawed and frozen enough. Download on the bubble and enjoy your ski holiday. By 4pm it's crazy busy too. It's a narrow road that they put some snow on during the winter. |
There's a blue, which I think is the run you are describing (follows a road much of the way). Easier than any of the blues to Val d'Isere valley level and IMO fairly graded. I'm sure it could be nasty if icy, as could anything.
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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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| dogwatch wrote: |
| There's a blue, which I think is the run you are describing (follows a road much of the way). Easier than any of the blues to Val d'Isere valley level and IMO fairly graded. I'm sure it could be nasty if icy, as could anything. |
That's the one... Basically, down Rhododendron, down Melezes into Tignes les Boisses and then finally down Myrtilles to arrive at the bottom of the Sache lift. It may or may not be the one James the Last was speaking about, but either way, I suppose it will be pretty busy at 4pm!
As another note, just to say a huge thanks to all contributors so far. I don't think that I've ever come across a forum quite so friendly - you put all the Chemistry forums I participate in to shame! 
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| Big Dave wrote: |
| The Black down to Brev (Sache) can be very varied and not recommended for the less experienced skier. |
Certainly less crowded, and often easier than the blue, Santons.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| James the Last wrote: |
| Big Dave wrote: |
| The Black down to Brev (Sache) can be very varied and not recommended for the less experienced skier. |
Certainly less crowded, and often easier than the blue, Santons. |
They are, of course, in different resorts. Santons is in Val d'Isere; Sache is in Tignes! But neither are great.
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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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hello! I am a very nervous '3 weeker', think about a grandma in skis and you get me!
So I can ASSURE you that the below pistes are doable by a 'beginner'.
My personal favourites are on the Pisailles Glacier (we got the bus to Le Fornet and worked our way up to the very top).
Easy blues such as: Montet and Pisailles were the highlight of my first week in Val d'Isere back in January.
I have also skied down Vallon, which was very long but again doable.
I didnt want to take the 'up-andover' lift to the next mountain as my instructor warned me that I would probably be scared on that chairlift, so I took the bubble down to Le Fornet and bussed it to Val d'Isere Village.
On the main 'Solaise' sector accessible from the Village, I would recommend:
- Madeleine (another personal favourite) and when at the bottom, don't miss out the bar with chairs outside overlooking the frozen laze of L'Ouillette, a very beautiful place!
-Fourche and marais are slightly more challenging blues, but I managed and the satisfaction you get is great! Also they were not busy at all
I always took the lift down from Solaise.
As i stayed in La Daille, I have often taken the funicular train to the top.
Now, a note of warning when you get up to the top of Bellevarde - several lifts all congregate there, so it will be extremely busy from all sides. I was a quivering wreak initially. You need to get down a small steepy bit in order to reach the 'easy' pistes, again i would wait for a bit of peace and quiet then get down it.
The blue 'Collet' could be a green really, it is long and flat and will get you to the 'Ski Tranquille' green area, where I recommend:
Grand Pre - amazing wide, easy green - perfect to practice
verte - only the first bit is doable!!
I actually DID ski down to la Daille down Verte....with a stopover at Folie Douce.
Fine up to Folie Douce, where there is a very steep bit right before the place, but again with a bit of sideslip and sheer patience I managed.
HOWEVER - we experienced a couple of days with absolutely ZERO VISIBILITY and that was another story. I was terrified.
Verte has a lower narrow corridor between the trees where my mind told me to stop, as I was terrified. Not enough space to turn and cliffs on either side.
My instructor had to convince me for a long time to get down it...the last bit towards La Daille is challenging but wider so at least I could turn.
Borsat is another run i can recommend.
I didnt get to ski in Tignes as the wind was awful and visibility scarce...
Hope the above helps!
You will defo enjoy Val d'isere, I definitely did and it did wonders for my confidence
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Snowheadette, Excellent post!
But you should have taken the up and over chair (Leseurs??), your instructor was pulling your leg. How can a chairlift be scary?
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You know it makes sense.
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It is actually quite a scary lift, my OH did it and he was ok but didnt seem in a rush to do it again!
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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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Myrtilles is definitely a blue, and I'd agree it is correctly graded.
It can get a bit icy in places, and it is also narrow in places, but it's one of those runs that is not intimidating despite that. And it doesn't get that busy, as everyone else is looking for 'more exciting' ways home at the end of the day.
We stayed in Les Brev twice last season, and I was pretty nervous at that stage, but most days chose to ski back down. I think it had something to do with knowing I had the choice of whether to ski, or come down in the lift. What used to freak me was when I knew I had no choice but to take a run that I didn't like the look of.
On the first day we skied, our instructor took us down Myrtilles to explain how to approach it, and that made a difference, too.
Make sure you make it up to the 'Zone Tranquille' in Val. That is the most confidence-building area I've ever skied and is probably responsible for the fact that we are now looking to buy an apartment in the Alps..... 
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FAQ
!!).
) I've been having a look at what Espace Killy has to offer and looking for some nice pleasant blues or even greens that would be suitable for a mixture of beginners (i.e. just completed the learn to ski in a day course) and low intermediates (i.e. a couple of weeks) who would like to ski together... I have done a bit of a forum search (I am a good boy) and pieced together the following:
