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Val Thorens wins award for World's best ski resort.

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Not sure if this has been picked up on here before.

http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/news/story.aspx?storyID=9021

great news for hte resort and a good reward for the effort that has gone into rejuvanating the heart of the village and the huge investment in lifts and snow making.

We only ever seem to focus on the bad news stories and not so much on the good news pieces.
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That linked story is about them winning it last year - but they did indeed win it this year also, so 2 years in a row, which is a great effort.

It was repeatedly announced over the events tannoys last weekend while I was there, and everyone seemed pretty chuffed.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Surprised at livigno winning for Italy.
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From what I gather the prizes just goes mainly to whoever sponsors or is friends with the organisers of the award. Both years it took place it was hosted in Kitzbuhel in some high end hotel. The high end hotel won best hotel in Austria, Kitzbuhel won best resort in Austria and the Kitzbuhel lift company won another prize! They also seem to have some link with Laax as it keeps winning best Swiss resort and the lift company gets a special award. Though I haven't been to any other Swiss resorts, I've been to Laax and if this is the best that the country has to offer then I am baffled why anyone would go there!

Also it is quite random to only have one nominee for best resort from each country when some countries have so many top resorts and some so few. Surely Bansko and Are will always win their best resort in country award!
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I looked at the voting and it seems that whilst the voting seems open, the picking of the nominees is not. This means that for worlds best ski resort people could choose between Val THorens, Kitzbuhel, Laax, Deer Valley, Lake Louise and Val Gardena together with those such as Bansko which have no chance of winning. Since it seems a massively Eurocentric award, I reckon neither North America resorts have much chance. Of those left, I reckon Val Gardena is the best ski resort/area, but it is nowhere near as fashionable as the 3 Valleys,

Who knows what the winner would've been if voters could pick from multiple French and Austrian resorts. I thought Saalbach was a way better area than Kitzbuhel, but I did have rubbish snow in Kitzbuhel so who knows.
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Quote:

Surely Bansko and Are will always win their best resort in country award!

Except I preferred Borovets
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I thought Saalbach was a way better area than Kitzbuhel, but I did have rubbish snow in Kitzbuhel so who knows.

I always find those kind of comments a waste of time. primarily, because unless you were in Kitzbuhel the same day you were in Saalbach, the chances are that considering they are only a valley apart, Saalbach was similarily suffering.
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@emwmarine, that link is dated 2013.
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Quote:

This means that for worlds best ski resort people could choose between Val THorens, Kitzbuhel, Laax, Deer Valley, Lake Louise and Val Gardena together with those such as Bansko which have no chance of winning.


Well that is just marketing puff then isn't it?
I don't think any of those would get into an objective top 10. That is not to say I dislike the ones I've skied (VT, Kitz., LL, Laax) just that they are not even the best resorts in their own countries. All that said, I don't pace so much weight on the "best" resort anymore - the best skiing can be found where you know the secrets spots and the crowds don't!
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Hells Bells wrote:
@emwmarine, that link is dated 2013.


Sorry.

http://www.valthorens.com/winter-en/awards.654.html
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How else would you compare resorts other than your view on different days? No one is going to drive around and try each resort for an hour just to compare them when the weather is the same!
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@Hells Bells, @emwmarine, even if the link related to 2013 I think VT was awarded best in france and best in the world again in 2014.

Which to me is kind of weird considering the amount of building they have been doing recently. Its almost like they are going for the most over-developed as well. Just as well the development in VT and les Menuires down the road has so far only resulted in about 50,000 tourist beds as opposed to the 100,000 in the original plan approved by the commune when these resorts were just a plan on a piece of paper. Fortunately the numbers were later reduced when they started to realise the effect it would have on the eco systems amongst other factors.

I just hope they do not kill the golden goose, the Belleville valley has a lot to commend it but not if it is too crowded. Inevitably its going to be tempting for them to develop in (one of) the highest resort in Europe but the pistes can be madly busy as it is. Meanwhile in Menuires, at least they are going for better quality and better looking development to replace the older stuff.
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andy1234 wrote:
@Hells Bells, @emwmarine, even if the link related to 2013 I think VT was awarded best in france and best in the world again in 2014.

Which to me is kind of weird considering the amount of building they have been doing recently. Its almost like they are going for the most over-developed as well. Just as well the development in VT and les Menuires down the road has so far only resulted in about 50,000 tourist beds as opposed to the 100,000 in the original plan approved by the commune when these resorts were just a plan on a piece of paper. Fortunately the numbers were later reduced when they started to realise the effect it would have on the eco systems amongst other factors.

I just hope they do not kill the golden goose, the Belleville valley has a lot to commend it but not if it is too crowded. Inevitably its going to be tempting for them to develop in (one of) the highest resort in Europe but the pistes can be madly busy as it is. Meanwhile in Menuires, at least they are going for better quality and better looking development to replace the older stuff.


It's a good point. But the development has all been of upmarket hotels that look a lot better than many of the original buildings from the first phase of development, although the new huge club med building has gone up opposite our apartment. I can't really see they have the space for much more development though. I thought they were up to about 70k beds now?
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
andy1234 wrote:


I just hope they do not kill the golden goose, the Belleville valley has a lot to commend it but not if it is too crowded. Inevitably its going to be tempting for them to develop in (one of) the highest resort in Europe but the pistes can be madly busy as it is. Meanwhile in Menuires, at least they are going for better quality and better looking development to replace the older stuff.


There's also the natural limiting factor on Val T in that it's not necessarily the sort of habitat that everyone loves as it's like a moonscape and prone to being whited out or very cold for Yurp during certain months. Tip top early and late season doesn't always make for the best in Late Jan early Feb.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
biddpyat wrote:
Surprised at livigno winning for Italy.


Dunno about that. wink

I've skied a fair few Italian resorts over the years. The Val Gardena area extensively and the rest less so. I like Livigno, quite a lot, but better than the 'Valley'? Come on. Very Happy
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@emwmarine,
Quote:

I thought they were up to about 70k beds now?


Hmmm, now I'm not 100% certain. I know Les Menuires claim 26,000 beds as that figure is on their website. Can't now recall exactly where the VT beds figure came from to round up the bed count to circ 50,000. It might have been from an economic study of the Savoie Mont-Blanc ski resorts or it could have been from the permanent exhibition of the history of the Belleville valley in the museum at St Martin. That's well worth a visit if its a lousy day for skiing or you just want a day off. Takes a little over an hour if you do it properly and listen to all the audio guide. Skiing certainly seems to have saved the valley from being emptied of economic activity (and people) and has had a hugely transformational effect on local people's lives and how they are lived.

You're right about the newer developments in VT, they are no way on a par visually with the legendary Brelin in Menuires, for example, but the scale of them is quite staggering, including the new UCPA.
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andy1234 wrote:
@emwmarine,
Quote:

I thought they were up to about 70k beds now?


Hmmm, now I'm not 100% certain. I know Les Menuires claim 26,000 beds as that figure is on their website. Can't now recall exactly where the VT beds figure came from to round up the bed count to circ 50,000. It might have been from an economic study of the Savoie Mont-Blanc ski resorts or it could have been from the permanent exhibition of the history of the Belleville valley in the museum at St Martin. That's well worth a visit if its a lousy day for skiing or you just want a day off. Takes a little over an hour if you do it properly and listen to all the audio guide. Skiing certainly seems to have saved the valley from being emptied of economic activity (and people) and has had a hugely transformational effect on local people's lives and how they are lived.

You're right about the newer developments in VT, they are no way on a par visually with the legendary Brelin in Menuires, for example, but the scale of them is quite staggering, including the new UCPA.


I'm getting hazy here as well. The 100k figure and 50k figure also rings a bell coming from the museum in Belville. It really is a fascinating visit, especially the stuff about how the farmers used the valleys and mountains before skiing took off. As you say it also has the early development plans for Les Menuires and Val Thorens laid out.

I think my numbers came from a conversation with developers in Les Saints Peres in June last year. They were mentioning something like 20k beds having been/will be added in the last couple of years and when the latest set of developments have been completed. Can't remember whether it was for Val Thorens on it's own or included Les Menuires. Club med on it's own must be adding at least 1,000 beds.

They were saying that there has been a deliberate plan to bring in better architectured buildings more in keeping with the Savoie style. Our apartment building was 're-faced' 5 years ago and had to be done in a certain way. It seems to be working as looking at the property prices, certainly the asking prices there have gone up in the last few years which seems to be bucking the overall French trend.
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@emwmarine, another 124 units being sold off plan at the moment in the "Le Coeur des Loges" development near the garage as you enter Les Menuires.

I had forgotten about the big new Club Med coming on top of the Hameau de Kashmir in VT. The number of cranes up there in the summer was amazing and I lost count of all the cement trucks going up the valley. Well I wasn't actually counting ... Little Angel
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Who do they ask though? are they ski reps? or actual skiiers? if one was to do a poll on SH, france seems to win all the time, but really I lost my interest and love of france for several reasons, maybe it is what I look for in a resort, also I DIY so therefore, I will nitpick what suits me. I still feel VT is a soulless place, don't care what gimmicks they have put in.
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Zermatt voted best resort in Europe! Not sure how they sort this out with Val Thorens. Me suspects marketeers at work rolling eyes
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I can't work out how they arrived at the nominees. For France they had 10 resorts. It seems that anyone could vote http://worldskiawards.com/voting-rules .

Clearly, a lot of marketing hype but it's all good for the industry. Those who didn't win should try harder next time.
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@emwmarine, Good point, but I feel that it is clearly marketing, all good resorts indeed, but yet not all places I would rush to iukwim.
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