Val d´Isère

...I guess my review of Val will be a little biased as I have just finished working a winter season there for 5 months (Dec-April) as a chalet girl. But in my defence, I think that 5 months experience of this resort means I can give fair assessment of the good/bad and pro's/cons! And during my time there my parents, sister and friends all came out to visit for a week's holiday and all had an amazing time. Where shall I start? First things first...
...and expert skiiers/boarders. The Val area of the E'space Killy is split into sections; The two main areas which can be reached from the main piste in the centre of town are Solaise, which has a beginner hill with 2 free lifts (this is where ski school takes place), and then several lifts to take you right up the mountain to a numerous array of runs... there tend to be more blues and greens on here than any other area, so my parents who were just ... more

Now I guess my review of Val will be a little biased as I have just finished working a winter season there for 5 months (Dec-April) as a chalet girl. But in my defence, I think that 5 months experience of this resort means I can give fair assessment of the good/bad and pro's/cons! And during my time there my parents, sister and friends all came out to visit for a week's holiday and all had an amazing time. Where shall I start? First things first...

Ski Area:-
The E'space Killy ski area is one of the largest and most renowned ski area's in the whole of Europe. Generally known for its masses of piste and challenging runs, beginners (which my parents were) will still have plently to go at on the Solaise area, and there are also plently of greens and blues on the Olympic/Bellevarde area too. Mostly though, it is geared towards intermediate and expert skiiers/boarders. The Val area of the E'space Killy is split into sections; The two main areas which can be reached from the main piste in the centre of town are Solaise, which has a beginner hill with 2 free lifts (this is where ski school takes place), and then several lifts to take you right up the mountain to a numerous array of runs... there tend to be more blues and greens on here than any other area, so my parents who were just learning, spent most of their time on this area. The other main area leading up from the town centre piste is Olympic/Bellevarde. The Olympic bubble cable car was built for the 1992 Olympics and as you head up in the bubble and over the mountain to the valley you will see 'Le Face' below you, which is a world famous Olympic black run, very moguled up and very impressive! I personally only enjoyed this run on my ski's, on my snowboard it was one of the least enjoyable runs I've ever done! Far too many bumps for a board. Anyway, back to this area... once up in the bubble the area opens out with all different types of runs, for all different levels, don't be put off by Le Face, because once on the other side there's plently of choice, as with Solaise. Once up Olympic this is the route you would need to take to head over into Tigne, using the fairly new 8 man (and very comfortable and pretty speedy) Tommeusse chairlift which links Val with the resorts of Tigne. Once on this chair you can choose to go to Tigne Val Claret, Le Lac, Le Lavachet or right down to Le Breviere (which I definately recommend that you do, and if you're intermediate or above, then take Sache, which is a challenging but really enjoyable long black run into Breviere). With the link to Tigne, I don't think you could ever wish for a better ski area. Often, the weather can be very different over in Tigne too, which gives you the option to move around and follow the sun / get away from bad weather etc.. Personally, I also think that the snow over in the Tigne area is better, my favourite runs for the season were 'Lanches' and Palafor', just really good fun with lots of little kickers (jumps) at the side to play on. Also 'Grand Prix' too. But by far the best run has to be up on the 'Grande Motte' which is the highest point in the E'space Killy. Take the train and cable car right up to the top, take a few minutes to enjoy the spectacular runs, and then gun it down this amazing run! Which strangely enough, was often fairly quiet! Ok, so that's Solaise and Olympic, next part of the Val ski area is Fornet, which is just out of town at Le Fornet end (a 5 minute bus ride, on one of the excellent free buses which run every 5 mintes too), there are some tree runs at Le Fornet which are very pretty, however its also the most avalanche prone area when snow can get heavy December to February. The last area is at the opposite end of the town to Le Fornet and is La Daille ( you'll pass La Daille on your way into Val as it's the only way into the resort, which is basically on one long straight road). Again, this is just a 5 minute bus ride from the town centre. La Daille has its own bubble and also a train (this actually takes you right up to the same point as the Olympic bubble), it's as if they had a competition to have as many different lifts as they could in Val d'Isere and Tigne! I've never been to a resort with such a fantastic and varied lift system. La Daille heads you up to varied runs again and you can also get to Tigne from here too. Now, what interested me and perhaps some of you, are the snow parks; 1 in Tigne, and the larger Val snow park. Now obviouly these change as they have to be rebuilt every year, but on speaking to people who work in Val every year, the standard of the parks seem to be pretty consistent. This year I spent a lot of time in the parks on my snowboard. I preferred the larger Val park overall, but the halfpipe in the Tigne park was much better, in fact they had definately messed up with the pipe in the Val park as it was way too big and the sides just sculpted really badly. The Val park is pretty massive as parks go, with a chair lift (Mont Blanc) and a button lift running along the side. There are jumps of varying difficulty from green beginner jumps to terrifying, huge black jumps. There are sveral rails, including a baby rail for beginners and a quarter pipe just for good measure. The pisteurs do a fantastic job of keeping the park safely maintained and you see them hard at it every day. You get a great crowd of people in the Val park (in fact it gets pretty busy as soon as the sun starts to come out), and there are always some spectacular skiiers and boarders just to watch, even if you don't want to try any of the rides in the park. The Tigne park is a lot smaller in comparison, but also less busy and I though the jumps were pretty nice, and as I said, worth going in just for the half pipe. But I guess the point here is, if you lie to get in the park, well then on holiday here, you have access to two great parks - fantastic.

Eating Out;
Well, have to say that as I was working out there, I didn't get to eat out as much as I'd have liked. When I did (mostly when my parents visited!) I thought the food was great. There is certainly a lot of choice in Val. There's american style burgers, english breakfasts, pizzas, and traditional french savoyarde style raclette and fondue (basically melted cheese, cold meats, salad and potatoe - delicious!). There's even a takeaway that does kebabs which is called Tocarde - a favourite of myself and my fellow workers as it was always open at about 4am in the morning after a beery night out! I didn't think the prices for food were too bad at all. I wouldn;t say eating out in Val costs anymore than at home. However, on the mountain is a different story. On the rare occasion I did have lunch while on the mountain, I did find it scandalously expensive, but then I have found this to be the same in any ski resort I've ever been to. Over in Tigne, I did find food and drink to be a little cheaper though. Packed lunched are the way forward I feel!

Apres Ski / Nightlife;
Wow. Val apres is out of this world. Unbelievably lively! But then, from a resort this big, with such a choice of bars, what would you expect? There certainly are plenty of bars to choose from....my favourite by far (and still, even after 5 months) is the Saloon, which is located just off the central piste in Val, so easy to find after a hard days skiing or boarding! They tend to have live music on every day from 4pm, which creates an amazing atmosphere in this very friendly bar. Now the only downside to this amazing apres is the expense of the drinks. All the bars in Val are pretty much about the same cost-wise, with Dicks Tea Bar being the most expensive. I would say though, don't be put off by the drinks prices because everything else is surprisingly pretty reasonable, considering that this is such an upmarket and chic resort. My friends were warned not to come out because it would be too expensive, and they were pleasantly susprised. So, there are plently of bars and pubs to choose from... something to suit everyone I would say...from sports bars, to intimate cafe type pubs, to chic bars, to lively pubs with live music. Everyone's happy. And it is always ALWAYS busy. At night it's pretty much the same thing, but with a couple of nightclubs on offer too, just for good measure. I've had some fantastic nights out over the season, and to say I didn't get bored after 5 months in one resort (out every night), just goes to show what a great choice of pubs, bars and clubs there must be!

Other;
Just generally, Val really works as a resort. Its pretty, although there are new developments shuch as shops and hotels etc.. it hasn't been spoiled. They kept all new construction in the traditional Savoyarde style, so the resort has managed to stay picture perfect, whilst changing with the times and expanding into the large resort it is now. A lot of the new development came in the lead up to the 1992 Winter Olymipcs, and you can tell that they're very proud of this resort, which is great. Its so clean too. The other great thing about Val d'Isere is that it's flat. Sounds silly, but it makes getting around a damn sight easier, especially when the weather is bad. Getting a round is easy too as the bus service is every 5mins during the day and pretty frequent in the evenings too. Its also free. I used it all the time whilst living out there, and couldn't sing it's praises enough. I've known some nightmare bus services in some resorts I've been too!
The town centre has everything you could ever need... there's a pharmacy, several photo shops, medical centre, tourist info centre, cinema (with English showings), several supermarkets, bars, tobac's, restaurants, nail bars, hairdressers and a whole host of clothes shops! Including Prada for all you designer lovers. My favourite shop, Misty Fly, is a must if you go to Val. Mostly geared towards snowboarders, I defy you to go in and not buy anything!  

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