 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm planning a ski trip for Easter 2016. We will be maybe 15+ friends and family ranging from children just starting to learn, parents just starting to learn. Teenagers and twenty somethings, who are experienced skiers and boarders and their older more cautious parents. We'll be going 1st week of April so we're looking for somewhere snow-sure. Val D'Isere ticks that box. But I have seen several snowhead posts warning against it for beginners. Why is that? I went to to Tignes some years ago and was in ski school myself so didn't get chance to roam far but I did get to the set of nice green runs beyond Bellevarde peak and remember that they were still in good condition despite it being mid April. They are accessible straight off the main lifts so you don't have do anything scary to get to them. And you can get all the way back to La Daille on the appropriately named "Verte" green run or back to Rond Point on the blue "Santons". There also seem to be plenty of other blues for us cautious ones. Am I missing something?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Yes you are. The Verte is inappropriately named as it's probably one of the steepest green runs you will find anywhere and the snow on it is invariably hard and possibly icy. And Santons involves a relatively narrow and long gully that is frequently closed in case the slopes above it slide, not forgetting the possibility of a collision.
I love the skiing at Val and you are right the greens accessible from Bellevarde are nice slopes for beginners and for practice. It's just the getting back to resort on skis that could be challenging. Still there's always the option of using a lift to download.
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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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yeah - it's the runs to resort.
If you want to go to EK, I'd say Tignes is better for beginners.
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as above re resort runs (and the short bit at the top of bellevarde), but I would add that the nursery area in Vd'I is very good (wide and long runs) IMO with several free lifts inc 2 free chairlifts (last time I was there!)
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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: |
But I have seen several snowhead posts warning against it for beginners. Why is that?
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I think part of it is that they wouldn't appreciate what it has to offer and will get better value for money elsewhere. Also because they don't need to they didn't bump up the gradings hence some people might find runs harder than there used to or expect. Any large ski area like is ultimately going to have some beginner terrain so if you have the full range of standards in your party it's going to be better than going to a small tame ski area that you could get away with for a full party of beginners. And of course just because they are beginners or cautious on the slopes doesn't necessarily mean they won't enjoy the town.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I learnt there. It may not be the perfect learning resort, though it's a great resort, and the excitement of the place helps an adventurous learner get a sense of some of the positives of skiing to come.
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Thanks for your help. I had a look on YouTube for footage of Santons and, yes it does look bumpy, busy and a bit of a bstd. Am I right in thinking that you can get back to the Olympique cabin lift (and home). via the Marmottes and/or Fontaine Froid chair lifts?
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| Quote: |
| Am I right in thinking that you can get back to the Olympique cabin lift (and home). via the Marmottes and/or Fontaine Froid chair lifts? |
Definitely via Marmottes. When I was EK last Christmas because of the general lack of snow that is how we got from Tignes to the other side of Val D.
I have to agree the Verte piste approaching the Mont Blanc chair is anything but a green run. But that is EK for you. That said it's a very wide and the vast majority of it just a shallow "road". The other thing to bear in mind is that in earlier April apart from perhaps first thing in the morning icy slopes aren't going to be an issue.
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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 would agree that it is not th best place for a beginner but over the summer Val are investing a small fortune in a new Gondola from the Solaise and are remodelling the gentle area at the top of the Solaise for absolute beginners with a series of 'magic carpets'. So if you don't mind riding up and down this should be far easier to access for absolute beginners than Verte or any other bits of the green triangle in the Belvarde sector. Santons is a no-no for beginners - it will scare them to death.
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Would it be correct to say that all the beginners will be taking lessons and therefore taken to appropriate slopes by their instructors? In which case the concern about them biting off more than they can chew is not an issue. At least during lesson time. But that can be the blueprint for where to go and how to get back to resort.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Just to add, I wouldn't suggest that beginners can't enjoy Val. Certainly they can. It is just that I think they could go to many cheaper places and enjoy it more. Obviously you are in a mixed ability group so there are other considerations. Still I think Tignes would be a good compromise
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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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It's definitely not the best place for beginners, or even timid intermediates.
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I am a bit of a Cautious Carol when it comes to skiing and doing Verte on the first morning scared the pants off me. Only "green" run I have ever seen people walking down in absolute terror!!
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You know it makes sense.
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@chomski,
Val D'Isere like many resorts will work perfectly well for beginners if you choose the right runs. However the right runs are by and large at altitude apart from the nursery slopes and you have to return by lift as the resort runs are not easy whatever their official grading.
It also suffers from high prices and is not a particularly attractive place if a bit of alpine charm is an important part of the beginners ski experience. Very large numbers of Brits not always well behaved put others off.
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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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I've done it with beginners in a mixed party. Definitely not recommended, too many under graded runs, have to download home, lots of high speed skiers. Tignes is fine, led arcs\la plagne\val thorens\ courchevel all far better. Aj xx
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Poster: A snowHead
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No problem provided they are happy to download in a lift. But yes, there are lots of better resorts for beginners.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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My other half and i visited in March, thoughts here http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=2707955 a couple of Green entries are tough, particularly from the top of Belvarde and off the Borsat lift. Val beginners seemed to stay in resort and not even go up (couple of short resort lifts to get started).
I started on something which was almost flat, Val Greens certainly aren't and back to resort is a challenge.
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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: |
| No problem provided they are happy to download in a lift. But yes, there are lots of better resorts for beginners. |
It isn't for those on a strict budget but that aside, for a mixed party that includes beginners, I don't see a problem. The village nursery slopes are good (and free) and there is easy cruising from the Olympique and Solaise provided you are prepared to take downlift afterwards. There are no easy ways down whatever the piste map might claim and whatever you do, if you are beginners, don't try Santons.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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@henzerani, Verte is all very well unless is is a) busy, b) wind-scoured, c) routed across a water-injected, race-treated piste or d) all of the above. It was d) last time I was there a couple of Januarys ago.
The buses are excellent, I agree. No issue at all in downloading and hopping on a bus.
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@henzerani, I've included La Daille in my thoughts, i don't think Verte is an 'easy' way down for beginners, when we skiied down it was a slushed up mess, granted it's easier than the runs back into Val Centre but it's still not an easy Green (imo)
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I use the home runs into La Daille a lot but I don't think they could be called beginner-friendly. I can't see much difference in difficulty between Diebold and Orange or OK.
"nowhere near as time consuming as getting a lift back down the mountain" - what's time consuming about it? No queueing - guaranteed.
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You can download well in Val to be fair, bubble from Folle Duce, fernicular to la daille, and bellvarde to val centre
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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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@chomski, hello- a good question.
Val D'Isere has lots of plus points and a fair few against as well. For a week with a mixed ability group who aren't skint and who are happy to get lifts down it is fine / good. THe green runs at Bellvard are extensive and easy to get to- they are green, are long, have sensible lifts and a nice / good value restaurant at the bottom of them. It is snow sure and there are a range of accommodation options. You just need to get the lift down again until you are either- fine to do it- or with a very helpful calm person who will wait and ski at your pace.
For anxious beginners or 'intermediates' skiing down 'blue' runs like Santons can result in problems, marital disputes and worse. Every time I've skied Santons there has been 1) a couple having a row and 2) a pile of bodies writhing in various types of agony- all within about 50m of one another- it is almost comical- you see the same sort of carnage from the lift at les Arcs over Comborcier. That said my youngest skied from Tignes to le Fornet and back just after his 5th birthday no problem- apart from falling over on Santons- I don't think he cried (much). Vert isn't that tricky really and the nipper had a ball. But mixed ability groups can be very hard as there is a lot of pressure for people to ski stuff they just can't do- especially if the piste map say's 'it's only a blue'. Worse used to be the 'red' down to Val from Solaise- which is now a black.
For better skiers- it's a ball. Massive area, fast lifts, great terrain, very often great snow even at the very end of the season- the possibility of massive ski days. The fun of quite challenging piste like Paquarettes / Grizzly / epaulet du Charvet / Foret.
For everyone- lots of really good places for lunch. Not all of them pricey. Arguably it's worth going to Val D'Isere for a week just to have lunch at L'Edeweise just once (it really is that good). Plenty of choice for good quality instruction on and off piste.
Not to everyone's taste - quite a lot of Hooray's but not exclusively and they are mostly harmless and much less common than in Meribel.
The water can be funny / make you puke- do not drink it it is filth.
The transfer is long- but that's because it is all the way up the hill- so the snow's good.
Value for money is a really tricky thing- it all depends on what you value and how much money you have. Generally speaking it is a bit /noticably more expensive than most French resorts (but nowhere near Courchevel 1850)- but it's good. We ski a lot - family of 5- stuck to school holidays- try to get 3 weeks skiing year. Skiing is actually one of our biggest household expenses. Since we have had 3 school aged kids we haven't been back to Val D'Isere (when we had one or two pre-schoolers we went loads- about 6 weeks in all)- if we just a had a weeks skiing then I'd guess we would gladly go back, if we found a really good deal on Chalets Direct we'd go. But for a full price, book in advance holiday we couldn't justify it cost wise.
Go, have a ball.
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I think V d'I is fine for beginners if they are in lessons (there is a good choice of excellent ski schools) and not too insecure to be seen riding down in a lift.
If the town's other attributes suit your group (they don't suit mine), why not? Certainly a good late season choice.
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