 Poster: A snowHead
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As some people may or may not remember this trip was our first to France and our first DIY, so the only expectations we had were ones from the likes of  . The trip was just the Mrs and I, both mid 30 with about 5 weeks on snow each. The destination was going to be either Val Thorens or Val D’Isere, trying to aim high to ensure we got some good conditions for the time of year whilst also getting some sun! Val D’Isere didn’t disappoint  Unsure of where we were on 'the scale' we asked during our lesson where we were on the Inside Out skiing scale (http://www.insideoutskiing.com/level.html), Clare from TDC put us at 7.5-8, lacking in the moguls and off piste experience. Luckily our lesson was focussed on moguls and hence a bit of off piste was brought into it too
We flew from Manchester with Jet2 (reasonably good flight times) into Chambery and after many asks for transfer quotes (ranging from €270 - €700 for private transfers or perceived faffing with busses we opted for car hire. £100 for the car and €90 for Val Centre parking it seemed like a good deal, €17 worth of petrol and the ability to go whenever and wherever we wanted, probably the best transfer we’ve done.
As a general feel we thought there were maybe 50% Brits and 50% French in the town, few if any Russians (that we saw) and one or two German speakers. With my first experience of France I wasn’t sure what to expect however there was a bit of a sour taste left, which may not be typical. My main gripe is that at every morning almost religiously at 12:30, 1:30 and 2:30 I was awoken by the noise of people either shouting or singing typically in English voices. The last trip to Soelden in Jan there seemed to be a lot of comments about ‘yobbish’ or ‘ladish’ behaviour but we didn’t see any of that, alas a lot was heard in Val D’Isere. Similarly some guy coming into the end of the piste at speed in Fornet smashed into my poles and knocked poles and ski’s flying no apology. When I asked ‘With respect, what the f**k was that?’ he looked sheepish and was forced into an apology, although he and his friends seemed not to give two hoots. This may not be typical of France or Val D’Isere, but all I can say is that it’s my first experience of the place and I’ve never had anything like that before in my limited experience of Austria and Bulgaria. Now for some more specific details.
Accommodation
We booked a hotel in Val Centre on the main street, Hotel Avenue Lodge (http://www.hotelavenuelodge.com/en/index.htm), the hotel itself was nice if not a little dark (black and red colour scheme). Comparatively expensive to similar target hotels we’ve stayed in in Austria and certainly in Bulgaria although perhaps not delivering to the same level in terms of decor, room size and overall facilities. The room we had did have a bath with a rinser over it and what claimed to be a shower attachment but couldn’t be used as a shower. Sounds a bit snobby, but rather have a quick shower than just run a bath each morning….
The Spa and boot room were on the lower ground floor. The Spa / Pool area had a couple of hairdressers and massage rooms along with a small gym (tiny side corridor off the pool) with a runner, bike and cross-trainer, steam room, two small saunas, hot tub and pool. The saunas were quite cool (as in funky), with outside temperature displays and controls to cool off the room or change the lighting. Inside was the typical hot coals with the bucket of water to increase the temperature. Overall nice, but not comparable in terms of value to a similar hotel in Austria.
Daytime / Mountain Meals & Snacks
We’re not really ones to gorge on the mountain, a big breakfast in the hotel and a stop for a drink & snack usually does us well so can’t really comment on the big feed aspect of mountain eating, in any case some thoughts and experiences from our snacking.
The hut at the top of Toviere had a lovely smell emanating from it whenever we came off the lifts and so on the last cold day we buckled…. Waffles to die for and a cracking hot chocolate. Not noticeably expensive, but it could well be that we’d just become accustomed to it. Really enjoyable little break and plan with the piste map.
La Taverne des Neiges, Val Cllaret (http://www.tavernedesneiges.fr/) less posh than the website suggests but with a good terrace and very very reasonable prices. We popped in for a quick snack and had some tortillas with fresh guacamole and a place of 4 different salamis (each around €4). That being said we realised we’d made a mistake when we saw Pizzas and Burgers flying out, Pizza meal deal for €17 euros and they weren’t small pizzas, worth a visit.
Restaurant Les Clochetons (http://lesclochetons.chez-alice.fr/) assessable either from town (walking) or from the santons blue piste (see comments later on this). The outside deck was a lovely spot for a quite drink before our lesson with TDC. We were just exploring and coming down the piste with the first building seen on town basked in sunshine with lots of people outside sunbathing was just too inviting to miss! We only had drinks, but the outside atmosphere was nice a relaxed and lots of people enjoying themselves in the spring sunshine. One to visit on a sunny day certainly.
The hut at the top of Tichot / bottom of grattalu this was more of a refuge for us the couple of times we visited. Not a recommendation really as a Fanta, Espreso and bottle of San Pelligrino was €16 and to use the toilets you had to pay, not high on the recommendations list, actually I would try to avoid it unless you need to get in somewhere to warm up.
Evening / Meals in Val D’Isere
Dinners were a bit of a mix, we ate in Le Casserole twice, Pizz’n’Love once the hotel brasserie once, once on room service and once just a light snack in the hotel bar. Whenever we ate out we had to air our clothes as the cooking, either Fondue from other tables, or pizza from the take away permeated everything! Even caught a wiff of Fondue in the airport when some guy put his coat on… not the most pleasant of smells.
Le Casserole, a traditional Savoie establishment, recommended for it’s Fondue / Raclette (Tripadvisor review). The first night we had the Raclette, which came as a huge chunk of cheese attached to it’s grill, with some potatoes, salad and meats a hearty meal indeed for two. With a couple of glasses of wine and a couple of half litre beers (literally 2 each) it was close to €100. Again not sure what the going rates are, but it was a good feed, even if it has put us both of cheese for a while!
The second visit was more of a general eat, where I had a steak and the Mrs a salad, not the best steak in the world, but it was ok and the salad was a big full bowl. This was more reasonable in terms of price at around €60 with similar drinks and some water.
Pizz’n’Love, a take-away Pizza place with a few tables upstairs on the Mezzenine level (http://www.pizznlove-valdisere.com/en/) (Tripadvisor review). A bit of an odd place really it’s main business is obviously take-away but upstairs is a bit of a magical mystery tour of hippy 60’s feel. The guys in there were superb though, happy to take your beer if you didn’t like it and drink it themselves! The drinks were speciality Belgian beers and local wines, Pizzas costing €12-15. We shared a pizza and had a couple of drinks each which came to €30 give or take and was probably our favourite meal of the entire week even if the decor and atmosphere is a bit odd.
The Skiing
We went with the full Espace Killy pass as we’re explorers on the slopes and looking at the map there seemed to be a lot to explore. In general we averaged about 22 miles (~36 km) per day cruising around the majority of the piste map but trying to stay reasonably high. We found the slopes to be more challenging than other areas we've visited. Specifically at the lower end the slopes were more challenging (Green and Blue), Reds the same or maybe slightly tougher, Blacks easier than other places we have been to previously.
The Val Glacier was a bit disappointing in terms of runs (although the weather wasn’t that great when we were up there) and preferred the Skiing towards Tignes to that of Val as a general rule. The skiing towards Tignes seems to just have those more interesting & slightly more challenging runs. It has to be said that this was the best skiing we’ve experienced in our relatively short careers, the length, depth and variety of runs was superb and the ability to explore was great (I do love a good piste map). Some further details on the skiing, runs and lessons.
Lessons
Being a , how could I not reach out to Mr Val himself Steve Angus for some tips and as a result last minute lessons were booked with TDC. The main aim was to build on a series of Lessons we had in Soelden where we were fortunate enough to be taught by the son of an Olympian for a couple of days!
The aim this time around was to get better in bumps, which is where we left off and build some more stability and technique into piste skiing. Meeting on the second day with the wonderful Clare Angus we headed out to the bumps on the side of piste M in the Solaise sector doing some on piste drills and working in the bumps. We then moved into Bellevarde and up to Toviere where we found some bigger more icey moguls, rut lines (horrendous) and a nice blue to ‘edge hop’ (jump from piste to off-piste and vice versa). Overall a great varied lesson with lots of different drills to work on the methods of dealing with moguls. We also looked a bit at piste technique, how to build stronger positions moving into more stacked skiing and identifying tweaks and area of improvements which we worked on for the rest of the week.
Favourite Runs
Val, Bellevarde Sector
Orange – Red, a rolling run from top to bottom, starting at the Bellevarde peak and dropping all the way down to La Daille one to put your foot down on and just go. I generally found it quite quiet as it’s a top to bottom kind of run with very few junctions or options to go anywhere else. We found the Funival furnicular the best way back up from La Daille as it opens up the most options. The Daille bubble drops you off quite low at Le Folle Duce which is fine for runs back to La Daille but made it a challenge to get out to other places, although thinking about it you may be able to get to Tommeuses from there...
Le Face de Bellevarde / Stade Olymipique – Black, the Mrs run of choice, cruisey and curvy heading into a couple of steep pitches, icey and moguled in parts but fun none the less. When we were there temperatures in town during the day got to between 7 and 11 degrees which for me ruined it and turn the entire bottom pitch from the Bellevarde Express into slush which for me put me off.
Rocs – Red, short but seemed to not be pisted that often and had plenty of lumps and bumps to challenge the skills. It probably helped that it was at the top of our most used Tignes connection down from Toviere so if it looked inviting we’d just hammer down and take the Tommeuses lift back up and then continue on our way!
Tignes, La Grande Motte
Descente – Black, my personal favourite, relatively steep with powdery moguls great snow and a real variety in terrain and roll-out. If you wait until the last of your load have come up the Grande Motte cable car you can almost have the piste entirely to yourself (as long as you set off before the next load arrive). Lower down the piste flattens somewhat and becomes a smooth gentle run great for gathering some speed.
Double M – Red, the main run from the Grande Motte, again wide with a variety of pitches and plenty of space for everyone to manoeuvre in. Typically with powder / lumps in the middle of the two fast lanes down the sides ample opportunity to practise whatever you want.
Tignes Val Claret
Henri – Blue our most used connection into Val Claret from the top of the eight man Tommeuses lift (Val Bellevarde) this is a wide rolling run down into Val Claret, good for carving and getting up some pace, lots of fun.
Runs to Avoid
Val, Bellevarde Sector
Santons – Blue, the ‘easy’ route back to Val from the Bellevarde sector. Looping around the back of the Bellevarde peak and down into the valley at the back of Val this little blue gets moguled, scraped and narrow towards the end. When we headed down that way an ESF group was taking a third of the piste side slipping down the edge, the other two thirds were moguled with people stranded almost across the entire thing. Couple this with people not controlling speed down the narrowish pipe and you end up with a bit of a mess. If you’re competent on blacks and bumps you can avoid it by taking epaule du charvet which cuts out the narrow chute and the worst of it, or down Le Face (much more direct).
Tignes, Val Claret
Isolee – Blue, best described as at the top of the Fresse Lift, accessible from either Tigne (Fresse) or Val (Borsat). The run is marked as green and does a couple of turns to get more gently into the long Prariond run down to Val Claret. Poling required here to get up a bank at the end to link back into Prariond when you can just take Prariond directly from the top junction. Probably slightly steeper but worth it….
Thats it, any questions just ask 
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Wed 1-04-15 20:56; edited 3 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Interesting report, @Levi215. You did well to go high - if Val d'Isere was getting slushy, imagine how lower resorts were!
It is, of course, one of the most expensive resorts in France. And probably has the best and most varied skiing, across the Espace Killy. Hotels are bound to be expensive - expensive compared to most French resorts, as well as Austrian ones.
I sympathise with your experience of yobbish and loud-mouthed Brits - that "vibe" is one of the reasons I'm not fond of Val d'Isere. It's the only resort where I've sat on a chairlift with a Hooray Henry type shouting into his talkie-walkie about all the "blacks" he'd been hammering. I suspect I have also heard him on the VHF, mis-using Channel 16, in the Solent, to inform the entire world that he's about to "drop the kite" and head into the Beaulieu River for a champagne lunch. Such knobs. 
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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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| pam w wrote: |
Interesting report, @Levi215. You did well to go high - if Val d'Isere was getting slushy, imagine how lower resorts were!
It is, of course, one of the most expensive resorts in France. And probably has the best and most varied skiing, across the Espace Killy. Hotels are bound to be expensive - expensive compared to most French resorts, as well as Austrian ones.
I sympathise with your experience of yobbish and loud-mouthed Brits - that "vibe" is one of the reasons I'm not fond of Val d'Isere. It's the only resort where I've sat on a chairlift with a Hooray Henry type shouting into his talkie-walkie about all the "blacks" he'd been hammering. I suspect I have also heard him on the VHF, mis-using Channel 16, in the Solent, to inform the entire world that he's about to "drop the kite" and head into the Beaulieu River for a champagne lunch. Such knobs. |
Certainly we found it to be pricey but at the same time we've done it now so ticked off and on to explore other areas! To your point on another thread, not going half-board this time self catering is attractive, perhaps the next time we go to France we'll try some apartments. The pool / gym aspect is important for the Mrs though!
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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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There are plenty of apartments with pools and some with (fairly limited) gyms. Or some resorts have sports complexes with more facilities than you can shake a ski-pole at. Even little Les Saisies has a "hypoxic" training room to simulate high altitude training.
The ubiquitous "traiteurs" can make for some nice evening meals if you don't want to "self cater" every night, but want to save on restaurant prices.
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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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@Levi215, Best place to stay in EK is mountain sun's gaff in Tignes 1800 - that way you can ski the area with ease but avoid the horrors VD at night
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Tignes is just better all round than Val D for runs back to resort
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True, but to be fair, most resorts are better than Val D for runs back to resort!
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@mountainaddict, it's probably not even back to resort, i would say Val's strongest runs are back to resort, Face, Orange, OK (if you're good on the slopes) Tignes just has better skiing (in our view). I would certainly agree that for the less confident end of the spectrum Tinges is miles better than Val for back to resort runs.
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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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| Quote: |
Being a Tignes (Val Claret) apartment owner I may be biased wink - but IMO, Tignes is just better all round than Val D for runs back to resort.
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I do not own an apartment in Tignes, but also much prefer Tignes in general. The bars are nicer, the local skiing better, never mind the runs home. And less drunken English. In fact, @Levi215, I am surprised that only 50% of the guests were English.
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@johnE, i think perhaps that was down to our choice of accommodation more than anything, we were in a hotel eating at places where typically locals, residence owners or hotel people would be eating. From what i've gleamed in my very limited skiing experience is that the UK is dominated by the Chalet + Chalet Board market so i guess there were plenty of English there, but they staying in their Chalets to eat hence why we felt it was a 50/50. On the slopes there were a lot of English voices for sure!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Great review. Having not long returned from EK I agree with your comments regarding runs. I would definitely return to either Val to Tignes as the skiing is great. A couple of years ago I would have found it very challenging so would not recommend it to newbies.
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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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Skiing in amazing but there are some lunatics on the slopes and I don't ski that slowly
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Great trip report - glad you enjoyed it and glad my wife gave you a pleasant lesson! Take care
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
| but there are some lunatics on the slopes and I don't ski that slowly |
To my growing consternation, this is seemingly increasingly the case everywhere - Bregenzerwald in Austria in January, Val Cenis/Haute Maurienne in March - and Cairngorm last weekend.
I just cannot believe the speed that some people who can't ski (but obviously think they can) ski...
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FAQ
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- but IMO, Tignes is just better all round than Val D for runs back to resort.
