Val D’Isere over Christmas and NY 2012/13

A snowHead

Okay so we have finally booked Val D’Isere over Christmas and NY.

Has anyone skied over Xmas there? How busy is it in terms of time/lining up for ski lifts? I have read some previous trip reports but the closest I can find is early Dec and they said the slopes were empty.

(This is our 5th ski trip and we have private lessons every trip for 3 mornings) and I am slightly concerned about the steepness of the runs. I have red a few posts saying reds are black and some of the blues go into black. Is this true as looking at the piste map it doesn't show this?

I am happiest on blue runs but do ski red and did my first black be it a short one in Megeve this year. My legs are already locking of the thought of how high Val is. Are there some nice easy blues anyone can recommend to get my confidence up?

Also any general tips for the resort generally appreciated.

Thanks Smile

A snowHead

It can look intimidating when you first arrive, especially compared to somewhere like Megeve but there is plenty of non-scary skiing in Val D'Isere (mostly higher up, ironically). You'd be well advised not to try to ski down to resort - download in a gondola and watch the carnage below.
Christmas will be less busy than New Year, which is about the busiest of the year but the area is so big and the lifts so good that it's possible to get away from the crowds, especially with some local knowledge but there are inevitably queues at the main bottlenecks. There are some very good ski instructors in Val D'Isere - keep taking the lessons. I am used to skiing in less well known French areas and I found prices on the mountain (especially the fact that you often have to pay to pee, even when you are buying a meal) pretty shocking.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Best run first thing to get your ski-legs is Face de Belvarde.

then back up bellevarde and head to the top of tommeusses and ski down into Tignes on Mur de Trolles

across the crappy bit and go up the oppo side then forget the Sache run................ too busy with beginners................ and go down Sylene

Ski back into Val late pm on epaule du charvet after a long lunch at trifollet!

As for confidence, ......................... just ski Le Fornet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Chris204, don't listen to skimastaaah, just trying to show off that he can ski the blacks in val d'isere. From what you say it is not resort I would have recommended, but as long as you don't ski back to resort as pam w, says, you'll be fine

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Oh - and another thing..... don't look at the piste map and decide to ski the "nice easy green run" back down into La Daille. One of the days I skied in Val D'Isere it was the hardest thing I did all day, including a black run. It was very lumpy, icy in places and full of beginners failing to cope - needed good control to get down it without endangering myself or anyone else. Waste of time - and then had to get the bus back up into the main resort.

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For an idea of what the resort is like, read this thread.

http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=82612

Steve is an instructor in Val d'Isere and provides near-daily updates on the conditions etc. so you'll get a good picture of what was going on those two weeks.

As to the runs in Val d'Isere: pam is right, avoid the routes back to the resorts and stay high for the best blues and greens. I would recommend the sector at the top of Solaise and on to the glacier in top left of map, and the sector at the top of Bellevarde for a good mix of greens, blues, and the odd not-too-bad red. Val d'Isere does have some really excellent (and hard) reds and blacks so if you get the chance to stretch yourself I'm sure your instructor will advise where to go.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

As pam w, says avoid the "green" down to La Daille at all costs. IMHO it is the hardest run in the resort. Even if you can ski well the objective dangers (masses of other skiers totally out of control ) cannot be avoided. Take the lift down or if it open the red Triffolet piste is usually easier!
There are lots of good cruising blues at the top of the Solaise and on the col d'Iseran. I suggest you head up the Solaise to start and then perhaps get the lift over to the Col d'Iseran area. The blue down to La Fornet is long and gentle.
The new year week will be probably one of the busiest of the year, but once you escape the valley there should not be too much in the way of lift queues. In most French resort the week before, ie Christmas week is pretty quiet, but IIRC Val has a much larger perecntage of British visitors than the other resorts and as such is busier.
Though not my favorite resort, Val d'Isere is a very good resort for a 6th ski trip. Good choice.

After all it is free

Had the pleasure of being there xmas just gone, having always skiied less busy weeks i was worried about it being packed. We found that there was a bit of a late morning rush to get up onto the tops but if you aimed to miss ski ski school there was a window before the rest of the masses appeared. Once you got up on to the tops there are plenty of options for all skill levels and interests and i dont hink i had to que for much more than a few minutes on any lift other that the gondala up la face. The home runs can all be challenging due to conditions and traffic so consider down loading if the legs have had enough. We found that there were alot of big family groups this ment that not every one in resort was skiing, the kids did ski school and the back to the grandparents and the parents had a blast out and back for long family lunches. Once you have done it once for xmas you will wonder why you didn't do it earlier, it takes all the faffing about and you pretty much guranteed some snow on the ground (although we were worried they had no snow a week and a half before we got there, on arrival it put down 50cm and the chalet roof had nearly 3m on it)

Chris204, Val and the Espace Killy in general has some pretty challenging slopes, the piste grading is often throws up a few surprises for unfamiliar folk. A few people have mentioned the green into La Daille, it really shouldn't be a green. Its a long, narrow sheet of ice. I took some of my beginner friends down this once, unfamiliar with it at the time...... they were less than impressed. Shocked

Like pam w says, I'd avoid skiing back to resort in Val if your an beginner or lower intermediate. The black into Val (Face), whilst reasonable at the top is pretty knarley coming into resort and gets very busy..... a good one to get the legs burning just after breakfast if your feeling brave. Toofy Grin

The red under the Solaise express (piste M I think), is steepish all the way down. And the other option is the blue (Santons I think), and whilst not steep, its narrow and forms a half-pipe type run. Its always busy with lots of people face-planting and often quite icy (we fondly dubbed it the 'tube of death').

However, the runs further up, especially on the Val glacier are excellent for beginners and not too busy at all. Also head over to Tignes and where there are loads of beginner friendly runs! The Tignes glacier is also worth a look, nice pistes and good photo opp. Enjoy. Laughing

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Val d'Isere had its first snowfall today! Getting it's base layer down ready for your trip at xmas Smile

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Much of the advice is good. Start in the bowl accesed by the Olympic cable car. Then try Le Fornet - lots of easy runs and also on the glacier accessed from Le Fornet. Then move to Solaise - mostly reds and blues. Move to Tignes and ski the bowl around Val Claret and Le Lac. Avoid the steep run down into Le Lac unless you are feeling confident. Not one for the nervous

Le Daille can be OK if empty - nice bar at bottom - but at the end of the day the above warnings about loads of people and difficult conditions are correct. Piste M coming off solaise is a stinker and always has been. Despite being a very experienced skier I avoid it.

L'Arolay just down the road from the le fornet lift is a great trad french restaurant - book your table. Best view from a restaurant in the EK is the restaurant at the top of the Chaudannes run out of Tignes Le Lac. On a sunny day you can see Le Fornet - all the way to the Grand Motte. Its stunning!

May well be in the EK myself over Christmas!

The view from L'Alpage at the top of Chaudannes is definitely badass....

You know it makes sense.

Hi all,

We've got friends who've booked into the Club Med for Christmas and New Year and we're considering joining them.

I'm not a good skier and will probably spend a day on the green slopes at the start, but should progress to what was red in previous resports that I've been to like Andorra, Meribel, Verbier and Selva, Val Gardena.

As I'm not a confident skier, I hate the ice. With a passion. My better half is techinically better and faster than me, but she also doesn't particularly like the ice either.

Would you recommend this area as a good place for us or are there any other ideas/suggestions so we can still join our friends but not have too many problems with the ice.

Thanks in advance to all.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Club Med have good instructors that will take you all day, make sure you are in the right group and that you enjoy yourself. I have skied in Val d' for 30 years and the only ice is on the rink with the zamboni, polished snow yes and get Pierre to show you how to ski through it and love that moment. Club Med Val d' is very good, very cosmopolitan and has just been refurbished. I have just one phrase stolen from MP for you staying over Xmas/NY in Club Med "you lucky lucky bast...s"

A snowHead

Thanks Cynic.

I wouldn't want to have an instructor all the time so would we struggle without one? As I said, I'm not a very good skier (I wasn't very comfortable on red slopes in Selva) and the worst part of my last ski holiday (which was in Selva) was the ice after the sun had gone down. It ruined my trip, if I'm honest.

A snowHead

JackAbroad, Club Med you have the choice of being in a group with an instructor all day, most do, some don't, but it is very well organised and you come back for two hour lunch break so in a group morning, not afternoon. Make new friends from countries whose only commonality is that they speak some English.
Killy Espace is enormous compared with Selva has very good skiing just above the Club for what you need in confidence building, but like all high resorts you need to know the best way down to avoid the more testing routes. There is usually a lift, or even a train down so don't miss the holiday of a life time in my favourite resort

Your preoccupation with ice needs treating, do you like near a Snowdome? Slick snow is easily handled if you see the snow grouped by previous skiers and just aim for it and only steer and turn at that point, learn to skid the greatest skill for everyday and advanced off-piste. If you are going to pay for CMed over christmas in Val d' a few well planned private lessons at a Snowdome aimed specifically at your problem will be a gnat bite of the price.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

BTW, a blue cannot run into a black otherwise it has to be graded black from the start.

A black may peel off the side but there will always be a blue down.

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JackAbroad, I'd agree with the suggestion that you have lessons - maybe just for the morning? Then do a bit in the afternoon, but don't stay out till too late, if you don't like the slopes then. Also, make up your mind to start with that whatever anyone else tells you, or how they try to persuade you, DON'T ski down in Val D'Isere. Always download in a lift.

Val D'Isere is no more likely to have what you call ice (which is mostly just hardpack snow) than any other resort - less likely, probably, as many of the slopes are at high altitude. That's where a lot of the nice cruisy skiing is, too, so you'll probably be happier staying high, if it's not too cold.

You do need to learn how to cope with hardpack, or all your ski trips are going to be worrying. Good sharp edges on your skis will help. And being relaxed - I know this is easier said than done, but once you have the technique right, and get your weight firmly on your downhill ski, it's not a big deal.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

pam w, Club Med is not lessons really, you ski with an instructor in a group of like ability as a guide like any other British tour operator would give, the advantage of CM is the guide is a top instructor from ESF that is picked because he is sociable and can help the weaker skiers by giving them tips if they want them. Group 4 is off-piste only, packs, helmets and 3kit with little input and as gnarly as you want.

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Thanks all for the help and advice. This forum really is amazing.

Re. the ice. I was under the impression that the temperatures at Christmas and New Year aren't really perfect for some areas and that was certainly the case in Selva. The sun melted the snow around lunchtime and when it went down behind the mountains, around 2pm or 3pm depending on the mountain, it iced over quickly as temperatures dropped.

I wasn't the only one struggling big style as we came around corners that suddenly were just a sheet of ice. We moved to different areas at different times of the day to avoid this but it was a nightmare. Talking to others in our hotel, they felt the same and that's why I was wondering if Val d'Isere would be the same. I don't see the point in having a ski in, ski out if it's hard to ski back for under-average skiers. I'm based in Moscow and there are not really many places close for me to practice or improve my technique in order to get over the ice problem, but maybe a good instructor will be able to help. So far, the instructurs I had in Meribel and Verbier seemed more interested in holding me back rather than help me improve. The weird thing is that I'm happy to be a slow skier who will learn how to ski the right way and have taken lesson everywhere I've been except Andorra.....and I improved by far the most when in Andorra.

I would really like to book a highly-recommended good instructor for a week or two - I'm not a good morning person so wouldn't mind starting a bit later than the classes tend to. Does anyone have a rough estimate of the cost of this and/or whether it would be a lot better than joining a class please?

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

JackAbroad, All ski pistes can get hard packed by the endof the day and it is very common on the lower slopes if the temperature is not warm enough to soften them, so most ski in ski out accommodation will suffer from this at times.
As far as Club Med in v d'I goes I have stayed close by a few times it is generally weell pisted and easy to ski out of inthe morning. It often gets hardpacked by the afternoon. If you are feeling a bit tired for these conditions it is easy to get a lift to the bottom and there is a regular shuttle bus back up to Club Med (About every 15 mins). As stated above there are lots of gentle high slopes in V d'I which hold there snow well. The runs back to the bottom tend to be trickier though. If you want to ski back to club med you can still take a chairtlift to just above the hotel though evn this return can get pretty packed out and it crosses a piste that is very busy at the days end.

After all it is free

Thanks T Bar for your honesty.

When you say "if the temperature is not warm enough to soften them", I thought the opposite was the problem. It is too warm which is why it melts too deep and then freezes. Obviously the lower you go, the warmer it is, which doesn't help.

I am having some pretty bad back problems and really don't want to have to lug my skis etc at the end of the day......or beginning of it for that matter Wink

Our friends have booked this trip and we would like to join them but they're better skiers than us and the more difficult slopes won't be an issue for them.

I would probably for an instructor for the two weeks who would be able to help me/us get back safely too (and maybe with my skis too) but have no idea of the cost in Val d'Isere.

JackAbroad, Melting and refreezing can happen but is more more of a problem in the morning and generally later in the season. More commonly early season it is just skiers on the snow compressing the snow so it is no longer soft and becomes very hard pack.

The bus service is pretty much door to piste /lift and lugging skis any distance really is not a problem.

Providing you are sensible with the runs you choose you should be fine and the odds of finding good snow are probably better in Val d'Isere than most places, though the extent of hard pack everywhere will vary from hour to hour, day to day, week to week & year to year.

Pricing an instructor should be straight forward via the websites I am sure there are lots of people here who can recommend the different ski schools. Val d'Isere certainly is not a cheap place though, one of the Alps pricier resorts.

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If I had a car, would it help much? For example, could I drive to a higher level, ski onto the piste and then ski back to the car straight after?

We did this in Androrra and it made a huge difference as we found a resort that had hardly any tourists. We would ski for ages without seeing anyone which is another reason that I improved a lot in Andorra.

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I don't think a car would help - the resort buses should be fine for what you describe. You could either go up slightly to Le Fornet or down slightly to La Daille and get an alternative choice of runs back. Le Fornet is a good choice if you're planning a day on the Pissailles glacier, and La Daille if you're heading for Tignes, especially with the excellent Funival lift.

However neither really make the resort run back at the end of the day easy, although perhaps slightly easier than into Val d'Isere itself. The blue run to Le Fornet was described by some friends (not done it myself) as the blackest blue run they'd ever seen. And although some of the red runs back to La Daille are excellent (Orange is one of the best in the resort) they're definitely red.

I've wondered if it would be possible to ski from the bottom of the Manchet Express lift and join up with Santons. There's no piste marked there but I've seen people doing cross-country skiing in the area. It would be pretty flat, but a good way back to Val avoiding the trickier bits.

There's also the often forgotten Piste L into Le Laisinant. It was closed last time I was there I think, so can't remember what it's like in practice.

You know it makes sense.

L is a nice run down. its in a gorge and is often closed if there is any avalanche danger. Not too wide but fine. Well worth a go when conditions are good.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

JackAbroad, just stop worrying about getting down. There are really nice lifts for that. I have spent several days skiing in Val D'Isere and never skied down yet. The first time was in early December, when I was on a ski course at Tignes. A group of us went over to Val D'Isere one afternoon and found a lovely quiet area. The group split (all were reasonably competent skiers) and half (the half I was in) took a lift down, the other half skied down, being the kind of chaps who felt their manhood threatened by downloading in a lift. The snow cover lower down was very sketchy, and we all felt very pleased to have chosen the lift. The skiers arrived a with gouged skis but manhood intact.

Have some lessons for your first days, and specifically ask the instructor to take you to a nice confidence-building area you can explore a bit on your own afterwards.

No, I don't think a car would help.

A snowHead

Thanks everyone for your input on this thread. I will be print this off and stick to the areas suggested and definitely will not be skiing back to resort!!!

A snowHead

Ditto that Chris204. Will book 17 days there tomorrow for Christmas, New Year and a little bit extra after being deliciously tempted by everyone on here.

There's so much to learn about skiing and trips to these reports but this truly is an amazing forum.

Thanks to everyone above.

Help!!

Val D’Isere over Christmas and NY 2012/13

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