Val D'Isere v Val Thorens

In view of the coming warm spell over the Alps, I wonder where the
best place to head will be for a three day break next week.

I know that Val D'Isere has superb off-piste but how does its pistes
compare to Val Thorens. I will be skiing with a "lazy advanced" skiier
- ie somebody who is quite capable of going offpiste but prefers to
stick to the marked runs.

Any comments would be welcome.

PS I'm flying into Lyon

"Scott Whitehead" wrote in message
om...
In view of the coming warm spell over the Alps, I wonder where the
best place to head will be for a three day break next week.

I know that Val D'Isere has superb off-piste but how does its pistes
compare to Val Thorens. I will be skiing with a "lazy advanced" skiier
- ie somebody who is quite capable of going offpiste but prefers to
stick to the marked runs.

Any comments would be welcome.

VDI is 450m lower than the village of VT. The snow will definately be of
the spring variety next week so it depends on what you like to ski.

Joe

On 14 Mar 2005 12:26:25 -0800, (Scott
Whitehead) wrote:

In view of the coming warm spell over the Alps, I wonder where the
best place to head will be for a three day break next week.

I know that Val D'Isere has superb off-piste but how does its pistes
compare to Val Thorens. I will be skiing with a "lazy advanced" skiier
- ie somebody who is quite capable of going offpiste but prefers to
stick to the marked runs.

Any comments would be welcome.

I've just been three weeks in VT, having spent a lot of time in
VdI/Tignes in the past. I reckon my first choice of a place to stay,
given your criteria, would still be Tignes le Lac. Several points
spring to mind:

Tignes has the widest range of skiing to cope with the changing
weather, i.e. it's easy to get up onto the high stuff if it's hot, but
there's plenty of lower skiing if conditions are better

Links to the wider area are better. Some people complain about the
lift system, I know, but there are several alternate routes over. VT
can suffer from overcrowding at the Col de la Chambre area, plus if
it's windy and the 3v2 chair closes, you can get significant queues at
the bouquetin lift, making the morning route over to Meri/Mott a bit
of a slog, especially on the Lac de la Chambre run down, where the
whole piste can be a mobile slalom.

In VT's favour, for a real piste-cruiser, is the sheer number of
pistes easiliy accessible, coupled with a multitude of restaurants.
There's quite a lot of just-off-piste as well, which can be great when
the snow's good, but not so much in the way of readily-accessible
itineraire-type stuff, as most of the area is well served by pisted
runs.

PS I'm flying into Lyon

So the transfer to VT would be perhaps 30-45min quicker, if that's a
concern.

--
Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

In message , Ace
writes
Some people complain about the lift system, I know, but there are
several alternate routes over.

One person who seems to have difficulty reading a piste map complains!!
Incidentally I shall be in Val d'Isere on 17th Apr and will endeavour to
set the bench mark for the 4 corners of espace Killy whilst I am there.
I will also, in the process, dispel this "slower lifts in Tignes"
nonsense once and for all.
With regards to the original poster - Val d'Isere every time! Both
resorts and ski areas are awesome but lifts, links and nightlife shade
it VdI's way for me. If snow cover was an issue it may go the other way
because of the extra altitude (450m) but I have never known that be a
contributing factor at this time of year.
--
Pete Devlin
[{//////news03//////at\\\\\secondrow/////co\\\\\uk}]
"Mind the oranges Marlon!"

Please post your time for the 4 corners. My (late teen) sons have done it a
couple of times and comparison with somebody else would be useful. They
have never considered which is the best (quickest) way but staring from the
chalets in La Daille they've gone to La Lac - Breviere - Val Claret - Grande
Motte - VDI -Solaise - Fornet - La Daille. Do you do it differently? Last
Christmas they set off at about 10.00, found me and the wife for a lunch
stop and were still finished before 3.00.

Rob


"pete devlin" wrote in message
...
In message , Ace
writes
Some people complain about the lift system, I know, but there are
several alternate routes over.

One person who seems to have difficulty reading a piste map complains!!
Incidentally I shall be in Val d'Isere on 17th Apr and will endeavour to
set the bench mark for the 4 corners of espace Killy whilst I am there.
I will also, in the process, dispel this "slower lifts in Tignes"
nonsense once and for all.
With regards to the original poster - Val d'Isere every time! Both
resorts and ski areas are awesome but lifts, links and nightlife shade
it VdI's way for me. If snow cover was an issue it may go the other way
because of the extra altitude (450m) but I have never known that be a
contributing factor at this time of year.
--
Pete Devlin
[{//////news03//////at\\\\\secondrow/////co\\\\\uk}]
"Mind the oranges Marlon!"

In message , Rob White
writes
They have never considered which is the best (quickest) way but staring
from the chalets in La Daille they've gone to La Lac - Breviere - Val
Claret - Grande Motte - VDI -Solaise - Fornet - La Daille. Do you do it
differently?

I had never considered it before someone (you?) wrote about it here.
I've got a couple of routes in mind but it all depends on snow cover and
weather really.
--
Pete Devlin
[{//////news03//////at\\\\\secondrow/////co\\\\\uk}]
"Mind the oranges Marlon!"

"pete devlin" wrote in message
...
In message , Rob White
writes
They have never considered which is the best (quickest) way but staring
from the chalets in La Daille they've gone to La Lac - Breviere - Val
Claret - Grande Motte - VDI -Solaise - Fornet - La Daille. Do you do it
differently?

I had never considered it before someone (you?) wrote about it here. I've
got a couple of routes in mind but it all depends on snow cover and
weather really.
--
Pete Devlin
[{//////news03//////at\\\\\secondrow/////co\\\\\uk}]
"Mind the oranges Marlon!"

Three weeks ago VT struck me as a vast, white, cold desert ! It was my
first visit and the mountains were awesome but it was great to get back to
cosy Meribel & Courchevel. The wind was blowing and I almost got frostbite.
The other valleys seemed much more sheltered that day.

All the best,

Edi

On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 22:21:45 -0000, "Edi"
wrote:

Three weeks ago VT struck me as a vast, white, cold desert ! It was my
first visit and the mountains were awesome but it was great to get back to
cosy Meribel & Courchevel. The wind was blowing and I almost got frostbite.
The other valleys seemed much more sheltered that day.

They do tend to be more sheltered, yes, and three weeks ago it was
arctic conditions, but at least within VT we didn't have the ice-sheet
pistes always to be found on the way down to Meribel and Mottaret...

--
Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
Ski Club of Great Britain - http://www.skiclub.co.uk
All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club.

"Ace" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 22:21:45 -0000, "Edi"
wrote:

Three weeks ago VT struck me as a vast, white, cold desert ! It was my
first visit and the mountains were awesome but it was great to get back to
cosy Meribel & Courchevel. The wind was blowing and I almost got
frostbite.
The other valleys seemed much more sheltered that day.

They do tend to be more sheltered, yes, and three weeks ago it was
arctic conditions, but at least within VT we didn't have the ice-sheet
pistes always to be found on the way down to Meribel and Mottaret...

--
Ace

Yes to be fair, the arctic conditions kept the snow great throughtout 3V in
the last week in Feb but I expected it to get worse over the last few weeks.
Late season I expect VT is a great haven for decent snow.

BTW the Chalet des 2 Lacs restaurant in VT was a great haven from the -25C
windchill and did a great value assiette du skier !

All the best,

Edi

"Edi" wrote in message
...

"pete devlin" wrote in message
...
In message , Rob White
writes
They have never considered which is the best (quickest) way but staring
from the chalets in La Daille they've gone to La Lac - Breviere - Val
Claret - Grande Motte - VDI -Solaise - Fornet - La Daille. Do you do it
differently?

I had never considered it before someone (you?) wrote about it here. I've
got a couple of routes in mind but it all depends on snow cover and
weather really.
--
Pete Devlin
[{//////news03//////at\\\\\secondrow/////co\\\\\uk}]
"Mind the oranges Marlon!"

Three weeks ago VT struck me as a vast, white, cold desert ! It was my
first visit and the mountains were awesome but it was great to get back to
cosy Meribel & Courchevel. The wind was blowing and I almost got
frostbite. The other valleys seemed much more sheltered that day.

All the best,

Edi

This was my impression of the place too.. two Easters ago I was in the 3
Valleys, and it was insanely warm.. 16 degree's in Meribel.. we headed for
Val Thorens, where it was still above 0.. but like you said, it just seems
like a big white desert out there..