Is the skiing in Val d'isere really as hard as I read it is?

[VivaLeBeaver]

I really should look at resort reviews before booking a holiday not afterwards. I'm an intermediatte skier, can do reds, have done one black. But can sometimes get scared even on a red if its nasty enough.

I've been reading about how all the runs are much harder than their colour is in other resorts. Apparantly the green back into Val has moguls on it! The blue run is an icy slalam run round all the fallen over bodies! General advice is to take the cable car back down.

Is it really that bad? Are the runs higher up any better or should I just stick to blues all week?

Any recommendations for lunch stops would be appreciated as well. Is it very expensive to eat in Val d'isere? Thanks.

Hi Viva have been to val 3 times now and yes the runs are trickier than in other resorts. The biggest issue is the runs down into resort there is a black (olympic downhill) a steep red and a shocking blue that is essentially an icy gully! We did the red down but if ds1 and I were tired we went down in the cable car lots of people do!
There is a nice run down to La Daille which is part red/green/blue and then you can get the bus back to the centre.
Once you go up though there are lots of lovely runs at the top. The difference with val and other resorts is that a green may have some blue bits in it and blues some red bits in so you have to be prepared to take the piste map with a pinch of salt!
I am an intermediate skier and like it there we just ski at the top a lot and dh goes down the black on the way home to challenge him!

Thanks for that. Think I'll start off on the blues and if they go ok move onto reds. Will either go down to La Daille or take the cable car down. Is the red down to Val D'isere a betetr choice than the icy blue?

The red is definitely a better choice back than the icy blue gully! I don't know how they managed to classify it as a blue it is a shocker . DH and I went down it over xmas on the fisrt day of skiing as we had forgotten how bad it was and never went down it again.

Thanks, will stick to the red rather than the blue if I feel brave enough to ski down!

Viva, we went to Tignes last year and skiied into Val d'isere. I can't remember if it was red or blue but the one we came down was called santons and it will be forever seared into my memory. Not nice.

If you are a fairly competent skier, you will be ok, it's just not very pleasant and difficult to turn (due to all the bodies everywhere). One of our friends who hadn't skiied for a while found it very hard going and it took her ages to get down. It should really be classed as a hard red or a black.

Sorry-hope I haven't made it sound too horrendous AND the runs elsewhere are fine (and some lovely greens higher up) from what I remember(although we only went over to Val on one day).

Yes, I think Santons rings a bell as the run I was told to avoid. Will definetly give it a wide berth, especially if DD is with us.

I love Val d'Isere! We've been every year for the past 10 years, except last year as I was expecting DD.

AVOID SANTONS! It is blue, but narrow, steep and icy at the end of the day as it gets no sun in the pm. It is usually really busy at the end of the day, and littered with beginners on their bums, or cowering at the side in tears!! Add to that, good skiers whizzing straight down it in a straight line, and it is a nightmare. It's fine early in the day when the sun is still on it and it has been groomed.

All the runs into the resort are harder than the colour suggests, best use the runs into La Daille or Le Fornet, and get the bus back. And there is no shame getting the lift back down - even experienced skiers do, and it is better to get the lift down than to get injured on Santons!

Yes, it is quite pricy to eat in Val, but there are a couple of more reasonable places, but most of these are at the bottom.

Has anyone hired Club Med's ski pack in Val d'sere?
Did they manage to supply right boots for you just going on your shoe size? Did you think the quality justified the high hire price?

Apparently santons has been reclassified as a red.
There are some really nice blues up on Solaise and pissilas glacier. The Grrens between tignes and Val are great confidence builders though one of them has a nasty top.

Yes Santons is a red now. I don’t think Val is that bad. Anywhere is crap if the snow has been down a while. I love Val and didn’t think the classification was out. France is always tougher than Italy or Austria, but Chamonix I think is the one that pushes it the most.

You’ll have a great time. There’s loads of easy intermediate runs - plenty of wide blues higher up and some lovely gentle runs through the trees down to the villages. Espace Killy is huge so something for everyone.

I think the gradings in Val D'Isere are harder than other resorts, but if you stick to blue runs to begin with, then I'm sure you'll be fine

Staying high may be a wise choice

Piste L is tricky

2 years ago we visited Val D'Isere and there are blue runs, so this should be not a problem. However this year I would like try something different. Did anyone had a vacation in Vars and how was it? I found it on a comprehensive list with all French ski resorts - www.sport2000rent.com/en/skirental/destinations/france/ Any other recommendations are welcome.

Santons is hideous, mainly because of how busy it is!

The rest of Val is fine. You’ll have a great time!!

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