Ski Blog

Powder to spare in Vallandry - Lee Glanville visits

Tailor make a skiing holiday and you can pack a whole load of action into a week. Our 16-strong group fell into a fantastic holiday in Vallandry last year thanks to an old friend, Jon Neal of Bar Mont Blanc and repeated the experience this year, albeit with a slightly different line-up.

With youngsters ranging from six years old to 15, a 20-year old first time snowboarder and a 40-something beginner included in the group it looked like a testing time could be ahead. But, as we found last year, by adding private transfers, a spacious ski in ski out four star chalet and 'Chloe's Cuisine'a great holiday could be had. In fact we didn't stop laughing until one of the group thought he had lost his flight ticket on the way home.

Of course 2008 is being helped along by brilliant snow conditions. Plenty was falling on the Saturday as we arrived and it snowed every night bar the last with sunshine every day - perfect for the beginners and a treat for the more expert skiers who revelled in the off piste..

A text from Jon Neal ('Tracker') as we neared resort telling us to make tracks to Ski Republic for our ski hire saved us our spending money for the week. This new company has sprung up in the Alps and is offering two for one ski hire, free kit insurance and free helmets - a massive saving for a family of four. The equipment is all brand new at the start of the season - my Dynastar Freeride skis were the best I have ever skied in - Toby and Tom in Vallandry were ultra helpful and in fact I even hired some new boots midweek.

Vallandry, nestling at the heart of the Paradiski area of Les Arcs and La Plagne has lost some trade this year due to the late notification of the closure of the Vanoise Express cable car link with La Plagne - the link being the reason we rebooked the resort. But we skied hard and long and still had fresh runs to spare on the last day and I doubt we would have had time to visit La Plagne anyway, so good was the snow on our side of the mountain.

With the children and some of the adults booked into ski school each morning, the rest of us were off like Enid Blyton's Famous Five exploring, meeting up with the rest at the chalet for lunch at noon. By 1.30pm we were suited and booted and off on a mass group ski, the best of which was led by the older children via the Combe red, and off piste to Nancroix.

It was a truly great afternoon with lovely scenery, some spectacular wipe outs and we were only slightly hindered by losing our way at the clapped out 2CV. The resultant detour had some interesting terrain (think water troughs, drainage ditches and fences) but as we all skied the deep powder across the field to the village everyone was in high spirits.

The group of extreme skiers at the bus stop looked a bit disgruntled to see Sam, 6, rock up with a motley group of followers!

The highlight for the 'famous five' last year had been an off piste lesson with Philippe Simon (or Simon Philippe we weren't sure which) from ESF which left us lung-burstingly cream crackered and we were delighted to him available again this time, especially as he told us we had all improved enormously. We didn't feel that great attacking the moguls marked for very good skiers only, but we were delighted with our jump turns down the side of the Grand Col. Skiing is a great appetite builder and self catering is no holiday if you go the wrong way about it.

Again recommended by Tracker we experienced and totally enjoyed Chloe's Cuisine last year. Chloe Wreford-Brown, originally from Dartmouth, has the perfect solution - we sort breakfast and lunch and she does afternoon cakes and either a two or three course evening meal. This year Chloe has set up a restaurant, Le Vache, in Peisey with her sister, and her long time friend Ronky is the chalet 'star' of the business. Be warned though. However hard you ski you won't lose any weight!

If it's a hectic night life you are after then Vallandry may not be for you unless you make the most of one of the best aprËs ski bars in the alps - the Bar Mont Blanc. At the bottom of the Grizzly lift, Bar Mont Blanc Serves all day food, has free Wi Fi, great drinks promos, bands, music, pool the list goes on. If you don't visit you haven't lived. It's right up there with the Frog and Rosbif in Val Thorens, Smithys in Les Deux Alps and The Mooserwirt in St Anton, Austria. 

 Contact Rob at www.thecoolbus.co.uk for airport transfers, www.barmontblanc.co.uk for legendary nights out, chloewrefordbrown@hotmail.com for great food and www.ski-republic.com for two for one ski hire.

Tignes Airwaves 2008 - ski and snowboarding event

Every skier and boarder likes to think they are the next world champion in the making, but in reality we spend a couple of weeks at the most on the snow each season – and most of that time is spent trying to get back to the level you enjoyed (?) the last time you strapped on your planks or board.

It’s not until you see the world’s best close up that you realise there is a huge gulf (or should it be crevasse?) between your twice-a-year piste bashing and the pros who spend their time living the life in The Alps and around the top peaks of the World, trying to carve out a living.

There can be no finer example of that gulf than standing at the side of a hip, half-pipe or boarder/skier cross circuit and watching the pros battle it out for honour – and a fistful of Euros.

The Tignes Airwaves – with 150,000 Euros in prize money – was held for the fourth time between January 7 to 11 and attracted some of the best riders from the alternative snowsports scene from around the World.

The competition took place over five days. On an invitation only basis, riders descended on one of the highest resorts in The Alps to test out and preview their new moves for the 2008 season.

The week slid into action on the Monday with the hip competition. An explosive formula, skiers and boarders straightline it down a steep piste before taking off from a high ramp and performing spins as big as 1,200 degrees – one, two, three and a half turns in the air. These fearless freestylers aim to stand out from the crowd by executing tricks with perfect style – and outrageous daring.

The riders are then marked on the height, technical difficulty, style, creativity and skill on landing.

The next day we were treated to the half-pipe competition. Now, this really is crazy! The pipe is 120 metres long, six metres high and 25 metres wide.

The skier cross took place on Wednesday. Six riders leap out of a start gate and hurtle themselves down a course filled with jumps, rollers and banks. It’s best to be out in front, giving you chance to pick the best line. It reminded me a bit of the film Rollerball…

One competitor told me: "Skier cross is the major extreme sports race due to its technical nature and the direct confrontation between racers." You can take it from me, these guys and girls are tough and not afraid of making their presence felt…

The Oxbow Back to Powder event was something I’d not witnessed before. Tignes’ own favourite Lolo Favre – the resort’s renowned freestyler – invited along 11 of his friends from Planet Freestyle and Planet Freeride to tackle the untracked slopes of Tignes for a backcountry freestyle session.

Each rider had to choose their own line, pick their own jumps and head down the slope using the natural terrain as a playground.

At the end, the riders then judged each other on style, spirit and fluidity of movement – and chose the winner. The prize was a week riding the waves in Hawaii.

Thursday night was totally mind-blowing. Freestyle motocross riders – at full throttle – rode up a slope and jumped up to 12 metres high, before pulling off stunts such as Fender Kiss, Tsunami and NacNac…

But the mountain bikers were not to be outdone the next day when they raced down a snowy, icy course down the mountainside. Studded tyres were banned, helmets compulsory (hardly surprising) and skidding controlled. With four riders leaping out of a start gate, it was pure adrenaline buzz.

And so Tignes Airwaves drew to an exciting close. What an eye-opener. If you want to see dare-devils close-up – and pick up some tips (?) – book a date in your diary for next year’s event.

To see more information and results, go to www.tignesairwaves.com

PICTURE GALLERY

Conrad Sutcliffe visits Val Thorens

SKIING is an expensive business – think lift passes, getting kitted out and the high-altitude cost of a drink or a meal – and most of us try and cut corners here and there when we visit the slopes. But what if money was no object? Conrad Sutcliffe discovered a whole new world of skiing when he visited Val Thorens recently as a guest of the town’s tourist board.

FACT FILE

A room for two in the Hotel Fitz Roy on half-board starts from £120 per night. Children under five stay free.

To reserve an entire floor of the hotel, set aside between £1000-£1500 per night, depending on the time of year.

A six-day lift pass covering the 29 lifts in the Val Thorens area will cost around £120. Two adults with two children under 18 can buy in bulk for about £380. Three Vallees lift tickets are between £150-£160 per adult depending on the exchange rate.

On-street parking is discouraged in Val Thorens. Park in the wrong place and you will be towed away sooner or later. Park indoors for £35 a week – it’s cheaper and less hassle.

If you have something tiresome like a budget to stick to, there are plenty of places in the Alps more expensive than Val Thorens. A decent pizza supper, with a crepe for desert and a large beer to wash it all down will cost less than £20.

I have never stayed in a hotel that can be booked by the floor. The Fitz Roy can, which is good news for rock stars and others who value their privacy above all else.

A stay in the Fitz Roy, more of which later, was all part of a package put together for myself and photographer pal David Morgan by the Val Thorens tourist board to allow me to give you an unusual insight into the highest ski resort in Europe.

Skiing is an expensive business at the best of times and I am not the only person to wince when presented with a drinks or meal bill with a light dusting of snow. If you can afford it though, all sorts of possibilities open up, some of which David and I were lucky enough to try on your behalf, for which we both thank you!

Firstly there was the Fitz Roy Hotel, the only four-start hotel in a town dominated by chalet accommodation favoured by those not so well-heeled.

My room, in a smart new annex with a premium view over the slopes, appeared never to have been slept in before. That’s how new it was. The bed was something else, big enough to land a light aircraft on if the wind was blowing in the right direction.

You know you are staying in accommodation intended for the well off when the wardrobe doesn’t just include a dressing gown, but a pair of slippers as well!

Meals were taken in a dining room with views out over the mountain. For skiing gastronomes, this was the place to be. Personally, I prefer my food plain and simple. David is a little more adventurous and tucked into the snails, octopus soup and pink rack of lamb with relish.

At the top end of the dining experience were silver salver loads of lobster and crab that made their way past us to an adjoining table. The diners, an English family with cut-glass accents, clearly approved of their seafood repast. While we were enjoying our after-dinner coffee and mints, the chef was summoned from the kitchen to accept the plaudits of his contented clients.

Fine dining comes at a price – the supplement for eating off the superior menu as opposed to the one included in your half-board rate was around £25 per person - but when money is no object why worry?

The last time I stayed in a ski hotel with a swimming pool - Les Gets in 2001 – it was nothing more than an outdoor pool with a Perspex roof over it. The Fitz Roy’s pool, you will be unsurprised to learn, was tucked away in the basement and came complete with loungers.

To say we were impressed with the Fitz Roy would be an understatement. Wherever we stay next is inevitably going to be a comedown. Don’t take my word for it though: have a look at the hotel’s website (www.hotelfitzroy.com) and take the virtual guided tour.

My famous namesake Conrad Hilton, a man who knew something about hotels, observed the only thing that mattered was location, location and location. He would have approved of the Fitz Roy. For all practical purposes you could ski out in the morning and ski back again in the afternoon, the dream of skiers the world over.

Our hotel was also within a short walk – we are talking a couple of minutes if that – of the Val Thorens Sports Centre in the very nearby Galerie de Caron, a mega-sized mall at the end of the ski run back into town.

If you have the strength left to play squash, go trampolining or join a game of roller hockey after a day on the Val Thorens slopes, you are a better man than me. Personally, I would plump for the spa bath every time ahead of anything too strenuous. The sports centre opened four years ago and can be checked out at www.sogevab.com Worth a look if Val Thorens is on your destination short list this (or any other) ski season.

Our hosts at the tourist board had booked us a session of ice-driving lessons, which looked like fun, but that was cancelled because there had been too much snow on the course.

The compensation was more than adequate though: a day out with a ski guide who really knew his way around the mountains in the immediate vicinity of Val Thorens. This isn’t cheap if you have to pay for it – prices on application to the Ecole du Ski Francais – but it would have been worth over Euro.

Allain, our guide, was an expert on the history of the area, where the best runs were and where to get a good cup of coffee when needed. I doubt I have ever skied so many miles in one day in my life. I’ve certainly never had such a long day on the slopes. It was dusk by the time we skied round to the back door of the Fitz Roy.

Our day tour around the Val Thorens area included a couple of interesting stops organised for us by the tourist office to find out more about the town and the ski area.

First stop after coffee and before lunch was a new gondola due to open officially the following day. We took a ride with Eric Bonnel, the sales
and marketing manager for the local lift company, who filled us in on some of the resort’s immediate plans.

Our meeting with Eric was broken by a stop off at new lift station on the outskirts of Val Thorens that showed just how much thought is going into future developments of the town and the ski area.

Val Thorens is popular with day trippers and weekend visitors – we will come back to some statistics later – who are encouraged to park out of town. A bridge over the piste links a new car park to the equally new lift station, from which the entire ski area is no more than a couple of lift rides away.

Day trippers bring their picnics with them, something the town planners have catered four in the new lift station by building picnic rooms into it. No more soggy bottoms from sitting on the snow, or being chased out of mountain-side restaurants by angry waiters hollering “picnic interdit”.

Another surprise was to learn that the bulldozers had been at work during the summer making the run back to the out-of-town car park a little less steep. The  reason being to encourage visitors to use the car park.

Before moving on to the final highlight of our visit, here are a few random facts on Val Thorens. Firstly, it isn’t England by the snow, unlike too many resorts in the French Alps.

Around 60 per cent of visitors come from overseas, the rest are French. Roughly a third of the non-French visitors are British; next best are the Dutch.

Be prepared for thin air. The resort height is 2300 metres and lifts will take you up to 3200 metres if your lungs are up to it.

Val Thorens is part of the massive Trois Vallées ski area, which runs to 600km of prepared pistes when all the lifts are open. The season runs until late April or early May depending on snow conditions. From early May onwards, most hotels are mothballed until November.

Our last treat wasn’t something you will find on a price list: lunch with one of the founding fathers of Val Thorens in his family-owned restaurant high in the mountains, Les Aiguilles de Peclet.

Camille Rey, the son and grandson of farmers, is 80 now and can remember when Val Thorens didn’t exist! His family used to graze their animals on pasture where the town is now, getting there along donkey tracks.

When nearby Les Menuires sprung up in the early 1960s, Camille was one of the people who  spotted the potential for an alternative resort offering something a little less upmarket. In 1971 Val Thorens opened its first lift and Camille was the first manager of the first ski school in town. It was a fascinating lunch.

Today there are 29 lifts and half a dozen ski schools. Val Thorens remains a young resort though and is continually evolving to meet the moods of the skiing fraternity. We were only there on a flying visit for a couple of days. Next time, we are going for longer.

Conrad Sutcliffe visits Val D'Isere

Christmas 2007 was one of the whitest in the French Alps for a generation thanks to more than a week of continuous snow.

More than 160 centimetres of snow fell on the Espace Killy area, encompassing Tignes and Val d’Isere in the two week before Christmas.

Below-freezing temperatures firmed pistes up nicely, just in time for Christmas week.

After last year’s dismal Christmas across the Alps – mega resorts such as Alpe d’Huez could only open a quarter of their slopes – this one could not have been a better.

“I have been here more than 20 years and we have never had snow like this before Christmas before,” said Jane Jacquemod, the English-born public-relations director in Val d’Isere who went to France in the early 1970s to study at university in Grenoble and never went home.

“Last year the media got hold of the idea there was no snow in the Alps, which was true at first but not later in the season, and we suffered because of it as people stayed away.

“This year word has been getting around there has been early snow in the Alps and our reservations department has been saturated with calls from people looking to book up for Christmas week.”

Jordan Hollows, resort manager for Skiworld, who run 11 chalets and one chalet hotel in Val d’Isere, confirmed the opinion of the press office when he said: “We started filling our chalets early because of the early snow.”

Mr Hollows expects flagship chalets such as the 22-bed Chalet Du Fornet at La Fornet hamlet at the top end of the Isere valley to be full over Christmas and New Year. However, it is worth checking www.skiworld.ltd.uk for last-minute Christmas bargains.

“We like to think we have something for every pocket among our 12 properties,” he said.

“At one end there is the flagship accommodation like Du Fornet and the Chalet Tolima, where Eddie Jordan stayed with us last year, down to budget chalets like the Sylvia and the Bazille.”

Having had a look round the Chalet Du Fornet just after breakfast on Tuesday morning, I can confirm it certainly as a flagship location looking down the valley towards Val d’Isere town.

As far as the eye can see it was a winter wonderland of snow-dusted pine trees and traditional stone and wood-build chalets with chimney’s puffing out smoke. Christmas in your mind’s eye or what?

Val d’Isere isn’t the most-Anglophile resort in the Alps, Morzine and nearby Tignes would probably argue over that title, but 36 per cent of its winter visitors are United Kingdom passport holders. The Brit skier will feel at home, try rugby theme bar Le XV or the Underground pub, but it isn’t Blackpool by the snow.

French ski resorts tend to fall into two categories – purpose built, like Avoriaz and Tignes – or developed around an existing village, such as Chatel or Les Gets in the Portes Du Soleil.

Val d’Isere falls into the latter category, and is all the more interesting visually because of it.

“Our architecture is a bit of a hotch-potch because the town has developed over the years,” said Jane Jacquemod.

“There is the old village around the church, some buildings from the 1960s when the chalets started going up.

“Around 20 years ago a conscious decision was made to build in a traditional style. Buildings have columns at the front and there are a network of interesting alleyways to explore.”

Certainly, Val d’Isere is less of a hard-core ski centre than near neighbour Tignes, which is no bad thing. The two resorts compliment each other rather well.

The ski-from-first-lift-to-last light brigade are more at home in Tignes than Val d’Isere, where the relaxed approach is highlighted by the number of attractive-looking lunch spots dotted around the town centre and foot of the slopes.

Val d’Isere town is 250 metres lower than Tignes, which means it is below the tree line and a little less bleak when the bad weather sets in. It is also a touch warmer, although these things are relative when one is minus nine at dusk and the other a ‘balmy’ minus four!

What the neighbouring resorts do share is one of the largest 100 per cent linked ski areas in Europe, if not the world. Lift-ticket salesmen and women in the Dolomites and the Portes du Soleil will tell you their passes cover 400 km and more of pistes. They do, but they aren’t linked like the Espace Killy.

In many other resorts all over Europe you will have to take a bus or a train to get round the circuit. Not in the Espace Killy. All 140 marked pistes, serviced by 96 lifts and covering 312 kilometres of snow, are linked. You don’t have to take your skis off unless it is so sit down at one of the piste-side restaurants for a vin chaude or a café noir.

Hotel and chalet accommodation was snapped up like hot croissants in Val Thorens.

Val Thorens first claim to fame is it is the highest ski resort in Europe. At 2350 metres in the town centre, at 3230 metres at the top of the highest piste, there is nowhere higher.

Great height means low temperatures – when we visited the temperature has dropped to minus-10 degrees centigrade at night – which means once it snows it’s a while before the white stuff melts.

Val Thorens didn’t have too much pre-Christmas snow last winter, but more than made up for it after Christmas. While resorts lower down had grass sticking through the piste tops, it was business as usual  until the end of April.

Julien Clatot, the assistant press attaché in Val Thorens, said this season’s early snow falls had meant a double whammy in terms of bookings.

“Last winter, when there wasn’t too much snow about, Val Thorens was snowsure and a lot of people remembered that when they came to make their bookings this winter,” said M Clatot.

“Most visitors only have one week when they can go skiing and they want to be certain there will be snow.

“Because if the early snow falls this winter, we were able to open our resort a week earlier than usual. We intended to open in November 25, but opened on November 18 as it was possible then to ski back to the resort, which is our criteria for opening.

“When people saw we already had snow in November, there was a second surge of bookings.”

Val Thorens is part of the huge Three Valley’s network of resorts that includes Courcheval, Meribel and Les Menuirs, to name just a handful.

Val Thorens alone operates 29 lifts serving 140kms of slopes. Almost 80 per cent of the prepared pistes are either blue or red graded, so mileage hungry intermediates will love the place.

A reasonable skier, such as your correspondent, can make a day out of a modest circuit to Courcheval and back – with time allowed for a decent lunch on the way.

One piece of advice worth noting for any first-time visitor to Val Thorens is wrap-up warm. This time of year it’s a warm day if the temperature gets to minus five!

 Conrad Sutcliffe and photographer David Morgan travelled to Val d’Isere as guests of Skiwold (www.skiworld.ltd.uk) They stayed at the Chalet Hotel Le Fjord for three nights before moving on to Val Thorens, as guests of the local tourists board. While in Val Thorens they stayed at the four-star Fitz Roy Hotel (www.hotelfitzroy.com).

Christmas isn’t the most expensive time to go skiing – the week after is. For the best deals, check prices in early January before the month-long round of French half-term holidays start.

A six-day adult lift pass covering the Espace Killy – Val d’Isere and Tignes – will cost 198 Euros, around £140 in sterling. Children under 13 pay 148 Euros. Adults aged 75 or over get a free lift ticket – not that there are many takers – on production of a passport at the sales desk.

There are three underground car parks in the village and it pays to use them. Street parking is limited to 15 minutes and penalty notices start at 100 euros each. Persistent offenders can expect to have their cars towed away.

A Val Thorens lift pass, which covers all 600km of slopes in the Three Valleys area, will set you back a cool 215 Euros. Passes are free for the over 72s. Val Thorens is aiming to create a car free environment so expect to be directed to parking area on the edge of town and look for a shuttle bus to your accommodation.

Do-it-yourselfers can fly from Exeter to Chambery every Saturday during the ski season with Flybe. Hire a car at the airport and it is a two-hour drive to Val d’Isere or Val Thorens. Mini-bus transfers are easy to find on the Internet. It can be cheaper to fly Easyjet from Bristol to Geneva, but allow at least an hour more to get to either resort.