Val d'Isere, the resort you will come back to again and again (Val D'Isère in general)

Member Name: cabletow

Product:	Val D'Isère in general
Date:	20/01/02 (575 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: the terrrain of the Gods

Disadvantages: The architecture of the devil

A bleak blast of alpine air winds its way through the gap left in the sky by two pink sentinel peaks. It cracks the sweaty, but now frozen, faces of our ski party as we wend our way back to val d'Isere. The sun starts to set on another day in paradise. Below us rise the stepped shapes of buildings cast in Legoland that abut rudely with the craggy walls of the valley. Dark foreboding masses of steps that house hundreds of like-minded individuals, who, at this time of day all have one thing on their minds. The night.

This is the view and sentiments of most who ski down into Val disere along the long green run that leads into La Daille the northern most village that makes up the val d'Isere resort. Val is Frances premiere resort, yet the architecture at this end of town is like something out of Space 1999. A veritable moonbase alpha.

For those of you used to the picturesque charm of Austria, or the grandiose pettiteness of Switzerland this scene is grotesque. Why then is Val the cream of the cream in the French Alps?

One answer. The skiing. Every other ski resort has the nightlife that matches Val's Dick's tea bar or Tignes' Wobbly Rabbit. Every other ski resort easily matches Val's choice of activities for the non-skier, namely ice skating, saunas, sleigh rides, parapenting and cross country skiing. Every other ski resort is more picturesque than Val, and most are cheaper. But, quietly Val still sits smugly in the haute taranteise, resting on its laurels. Every year thousands of skiers, and ski bums make the pilgrimage back To the "espace Killy". The reason is simple, it has the most skiing that any resort can offer. It will keep the most ardent bum happy for season after season, It keeps the hungriest powder and off piste hound replete. It will teach any novice the art and grandeur of skiing and boarding. It offers jobs and opportunity to any gap year student and any one who wants to break free from the co
nstraints of 9 ? 5 humdrum. It will teach anyone the pleasures of tequila at 4 am even though you have an 8 am start. It will make you all want to come back.

The resort is teamed up with that monolithic monstrosity that is called Tignes and offers 400 kilometers of pisted skiing. This is served by well over 100 lifts ranging from the humble cabletow to the futuristic funiculaire (through mountain train). The cost to access this varied terrain, is a reasonable £120 a week. But it is the off piste potential of this resort that sells it to most. With long well skied trails off the back of Charvet to the powder that stays well kept till late in the season off the side of the Grande Motte.

Services on the mountain are few and far between. With the favourite style being French mass catering cafes. But these are always packed. Nice smaller restaurants can be found over the back of the Aguille percee (a dramatic rock hewn into the shape of the eye of a needle) towards Tignes le Brevieres and the trek is worth it as the crowds do start to thin out. Pricey is an adjective that comes to mind when describing any mountain restaurant in France. But after a hard morning working up a sweat over the solaise bumps or the sheer drop that is the Motte wall, even a Coke and a sandwich is the most welcome feeling.

Getting to and from Val is not easy either. Air train and road is the choice but all end with the long and winding road from Bourg St Maurice that can get extremely clogged on Saturdays as thousands upon thousands arrive and leave a small alpine hunting village in their pursuit of the ultimate day on skis. Most people keep coming back because Val seems to be able to provide more of those dream days than any other European resort.

The people who do ski at Val come from every walk of life. For those who prefer Gucci suits and expensive hair, Val provides. For those whose faces are wizened and their mountain man beards are long, Val has a welco
me. For those on a budget, ski suits fresh from C&A, Val caters. Walking through the streets of Val at night there is more variety in punter than any other resort, as each resort tends to attract only one of the classic skier stereotypes.

I lived for four seasons in Val. I worked as a guide to those who wanted to explore this vast and varied resort and never grew tired of it. I know people out there who are looking for workers, people who will offer you accommodation, a lift pass, food and a little money. I had a ball and I can recommend this as a way to get away from it all. A way to get away from the seemingly endless grey that makes up an English winter. For those of you who cannot make a whole winter of it, then even a week out of this dreariness will lift your heart and soul. Go to the architectural equivalent of a dump. Go to a place where queues dominate for half a season. Find out why nearly everyone who goes there wants to come back again and again. Free your soul, Ski Val disere.

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