Val d Isere/Tignes January 28-31, Bluebird Report

Arrived in the center of Val d Isere, at the end of a few weeks of historical storms. At the end of the last storm it rained, and/or was very windy/sunny, thus turning what could have been a powder trip, into a groomer excursion with some bumps and off piste thrown in.

We arrived on an Alpski Bus from Les Arcs and the village of Bourge St Marice. It took a bit more than an hour on a very tiny narrow road through a steep, tight valley. The road was very similar to the Chekamus Canyon portion of the Sea to Sky Hiway going to Whistler (In 1976). There are no passing lanes (except for the French) but there are lots of avalanche covers, and steel mesh nets everywhere. The road had been closed the week before. It was a beautiful road in a claustrophobic, intimidating way. You get to Tignes first, and the dam below a lovely high mountain reservoir. This is the first time the Valley really opens up. Miles later, you come to Val Dames, and some high rise hotels in the shade, and the Funival railcar that can whisk you up 3,000 feet in a tunnel in just a few minutes. After that, you get to the town center of Val D Isere, which for us, is the best place to be. Its main street is, again, similar to Whistler Village except that it does have cars. High end stores, all types of restaurant's, bars, and nightclubs. Very nice...

Our Air B and B unit was in a 4 story building (La Croix de Sud) about a 200 yard walk to the ski area. We had a small studio with a beautiful view and morning sun for about $100 per night. We rented skis downstairs at Hors Limited, and it was an exceptional experience. Every morning you would gear up and walk down in your shoes and just sit down on a sofa, and receive your warm and dry boots. You'd go back up a flight of stairs and pick up your skis on a rack. Reverse the drill every afternoon. I traded my skis 3 times without a hint of complaint. Great place!

With a 10 passenger Gondola on the left, and a Peak to Peak 28 passenger Gondola on the right, it was always fast to get up the hill. First day we went up the Gondola and all the way over to a village called Fornet and some Glacier on top at about 10,000'. I carefully skied the glacier by myself buoy'd by the fact that all of the cracks should be filled up from the storms. I was still careful, and did see some places I didn't want to go. I was able, with some high traversing and pushing and poling, to ski some old powder and leave some 6" deep tracks. That was about all I managed for the 4 days. We worked ourselves back, and I skied a "red" run back to the Village. These reds can be quite steep groomers, and were hard as a rock with soft bumps thrown in here and there. I skied faster than 90 percent of the people to avoid getting run into. The few that were faster than me were with very good skiers, or people you tried to not get hit by. Many of these reds are very narrow, and made me feel like I was in the middle of a demolition derby. There are some black like this also...but that's later...Most of the lifts were new and high speed. The old ones will hit you hard in the calves if you don't reach back and catch it yourself. The operators just stand there (Same in Les Arc) There are only 2 ropes enclosing each lift line. Inside is a freeforall, that I eventually found entertaining. (You have to just go with the flow)

The next day we went up the Bellevard Face on a Gondola exactly like Whistlers' Peak to Peak - very cool. There is also a set of chairs you can use. This is a Downhill on the World Cup Circuit, and was featured in the 92 Olympics. For some reason, they groom it and call it a Black. Because its groomed, they attract every rider that wants to ski their first black. Because of the freeze/thaw conditions "La Face" was iced up hard, with big bumps sometimes 40 feet apart, and in patches. There were safety fences to keep the truly out of control away from big drops. It's probably the only time in my life that a groomed run made me nearly nervous. Luckily for me at the steepest part, there was a bump run off to the side that I had all to myself. Though empty every time I skied it, there had been enough traffic to make it actually enjoyable, firm (no fall) bump skiing. Much, much better than having to worry about dodging all of the "over their head" groomer skiers. That day I skied this run several times as well as cruising over to Tignes on miles of groomed blues and the occasional red or green. Tignes has some 6 and a passenger lifts, and was in a beautiful position as well. Sometimes, I was able to cut off the groomers and hit the "off" - but most of the time the "off" was too "off" and hard as a rock ice. It took the next day to find some better stuff...

Third day we went over to Tignes and up another Funicular to a great view deck overlooking a Glacial Remnant, and below a tram that took you up to way over 10,000.' It was closed, but there was a nice black run that was ungroomed. It had been sitting in the warm afternoon sun for a few hours, and was uncrowded and perfect corn bumps. As always, I skied it one too many times, and caught it past it's prime after it had started to ice...Oh well - it was still worth it. Knowing our way, we snaked back quickly to the top of the Bellevard Face where Kathy takes the big Gondola, and I navigate the black Face back home. You would think the lateness would keep the beginners off but it never did...

Next day at Tignes I found the Col de Ves Chair, and that was a real highlight. With northfacing steeps everywhere, I got to do a few things on my own, without risking too much by myself, in ify conditions. I'm sure that long, slow, old chair is the favorite of many. I was happy to get to do what I did on it. By myself I downhilled down to Val Claret and up and over towards Tignes 2100. I stayed high, and got to another highpoint chair of about 2,800 meters. It was a side country Meca, if only the side country held good snow. It also was the top of a long black called Selma that made it all the way down to 1800 or 1550 meters, I don't recall. But it's notable as it's not groomed and was hard as a rock, large, mandatory bumps. It has certainly been many peoples "worst" run over the years! It led to an old Gondola that eventually got me back up to Tignes 2100, where I caught another new Gondola back into the Alpine and the way back to Val d Isere. You can ski there till 5:00pm or later, and I never had a problem getting back. If you did ski too late, there is a free shuttle to get you back home.

We ate well every night, and made a simple breakfast in our small kitchen. We found live music 3 nights, a strange, nearly all men nightclub once, and good restaurants, with mostly the same sturdy fare of the region. Kathy enjoyed the shopping, and we lucked out finding a street market on Monday with all kinds of booths. Apres is early - then a lull - then dinner around 8:30 - 9. Nightclubs get cranking after we went to bed. 12 - 4 or 5am to be exact. We could hear the mostly drunk Brits and Russians stumbling home very, very late.

In our conditions, this was a great cruiser resort. With softer snow it could be a powder haven of all degrees. Again, with the right snow, there were lots of steeps, especially at Tignes. for me Val d Isere was the place to stay, but I'd probably do 65 percent of my skiing at Tignes. I highly recommend a visit.

...Now that I've been to 2 of the largest resort complex's in the world, I realize what a gem we have right in our backyard to the north... Whistler. It has more long, consistently pitched runs than either Paradiski or Val d Isere/Tignes. Whistlers steeps, and bumps are also hard to beat!