 Poster: A snowHead
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Val D'Isere, France
Plenty of info on Val D'Isere on this forum but thought i would nevertheless write a trip report, perhaps if only to jolt my own memory in the future!
31st December 2022 - 7th January 2023, family of four travelling with another family. I’d say I am an advanced intermediate and kids now catching me up rapidly. Wife closer to beginner than intermediate. We travelled with Esprit and stayed at the Ducs De Savoie.
Travel
Worth saying that we flew from Bristol (we normally fly from closer airports to home but wanted to ensure early-ish arrival at resort given NYE - of course the flight time got changed anyway 3 months ago) and I have to say that this was our best airport experience in years for both departing and on return. Easy car parking, plenty of Jet2 check in staff, no queues, seating ample, everyone friendly, passport control easy, luggage pretty quick on the belt. Maybe we got lucky with flight times etc. but will definitely include in options going forward.
Resort
It was our first visit to Val D'Isere and we found it suitably charming and interesting. We were there for New Years Eve and popped out from our hotel for fireworks at midnight which were decent enough. overwhelmed by the number of upmarket ski shops etc. and of course the restaurants were sometimes eye-wateringly expensive for lunch etc. However, I was surprised by how food on the mountain was quite reasonable. Enjoyed pizza at Le Refuge (though skipped the fine-dining Italian), La Cascade and L'Oullette. We were catered in the chalet hotel other than one night when we went to La Casserole for fondue, which was great.
Accommodation - Chalet Hotel Ducs de Savoie
The reviews from previous years were a bit mixed but we understood that the public areas of the hotel were recently refurbished so hoped that this would be a sign of a focused effort to improve... and we were not disappointed! While i have a few minor gripes we found the hotel to be well-run, with friendly staff who were well trained by Esprit, and importantly the food (and wine) were really good. Dinner choices are made at breakfast and everything was well cooked, interesting and tasty. Afternoon tea was also really excellent. The bar area is small, with only one sizeable table with sofas so only one group could really get a prime spot, but there were 3 further seating areas downstairs which were okay. Boot room was large, with plenty of boot heaters so all good on that front too. Main downside of the hotel is probably that it is a bit of a walk to the lifts... just long enough to be annoying but not long enough that you feel that justified in complaining about sore bodies! Esprit take the kids stuff up by van when they have lessons so no need to worry about that though and I wouldn't let it put you off.
Ski Area
The ski area is of course fairly vast so has something for everyone. I'm not going to go into detail as there is plenty of info on skiing at Val/Tignes but just a few things that surprised me:
- we spent much of our time high up and especially around the glacier on Le Fornet side
- we had very few lift queues, the main ones being when we took the funicular and cable cabin to the top. Not worth the faff and better to get the chairlift was the conclusion.
- we found plenty for the beginners and nice that there are beginner slopes in the village and at the top of the gondola making lunch rendez-vous easier
- I was surprised by how difficult it actually was to traverse between the various valleys/sections, lots of lifts take you 3/4 of the way up the mountain, so you have to ski down to the next lift to get you the rest of the way. Probably needed better planning 30 years ago i guess!
- The free buses are brilliant, we were obliged to use one early on when we missed the last Leissieres lift (what a view!) and ended up stuck in Le Fornet.. we probably made it back to the hotel quicker than had we managed to ski back, and without the walk to the hotel.
Conditions
The lack of snow has been well publicised but of course one the reasons for choosing this resort for this week was to be snow sure. There was plenty up high and conditions were often good, and a few times great. Lower down, skiing into the village was definitely different... the snow was odd sometimes, i guess from freeze-thaw and man-made so you'd not be too sure if you were skiing through a dust or a sticky bump. It was definitely icy, La Face was blue ice sheet for the last third but that at least is a black anyhow so the real problem was the blues and reds that with ice became a very challenging ski, taking the kids down Arcelle and Germain Mattis at the end of successive days (on the basis that it can't be worse than what we did yesterday) was perhaps a mistake. I place the skiing in those conditions in the category of good for technical practice and sense of achievement (the kids in reality were great troopers and survived fine) but it wasn't exactly enjoyable as a long red run should be. I think we probably experienced the worst conditions at a resort like this.. but still had plenty of excellent snow and plenty of kms of pistes so really no complaints, just a reminder that paying a bit more for a snow-sure resort this time of year is worth it.
Operator and ski school etc.
Esprit was good, and it think especially this hotel and so i would recommend them if you need their excellent child care etc or expect the kids to be in the lessons mostly. Ours are now old enough that we may go elsewhere in the future, or perhaps one more year.
Overall
Thoroughly enjoyed the holiday and fairly delighted with the accommodation etc. Not overwhelmed with the ski area if I'm honest but i can definitely see that it has something for everyone so everyone will be happy on a visit here!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Nice report! We did Esprit from 2008-2013 (though never Val D'Isere) so good to read they are still going strong.
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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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Good to read about your experience.
Hope you saw enough to go back when the conditions are better.
It's my favourite European resort (that I've been to), in my favourite area - and has given me many fond memories, as it's where my kids learned to ski with some wonderful Instructors.
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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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Glad you enjoyed your first trip here and will be back. Its now dumping (sorry - just after you leave).
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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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| Steve Angus wrote: |
| Glad you enjoyed your first trip here and will be back. Its now dumping (sorry - just after you leave). |
Yes I saw that it had been snowing in your blog thread - which I have very much enjoyed reading over the past few weeks so thanks for that!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Langski wrote: |
| Steve Angus wrote: |
| Glad you enjoyed your first trip here and will be back. Its now dumping (sorry - just after you leave). |
Yes I saw that it had been snowing in your blog thread - which I have very much enjoyed reading over the past few weeks so thanks for that! |
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Great review.
I agree with your sentiments on the agility to traverse the resort. To me it really dampens the experience as you have to go on a lot of lifts and mediocre runs to get to the good stuff. I think Tignes really suffers from this, though I know there are a lot of people here who top rate the resort.
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