New to France....where to go?

Try Les Arcs. Has all levels of skiing and is well linked. You can take a discovery pass to La Plagne for the day if you wish. The two resorts are linked by the vanoise Express, biggest cable car in the world they say!

Best of all, if you buy your lift pass before the end of october you get a 15% discount so hurry.

blues and Reds in France you say? - got to try VDI !

Ignore all the guff thats talked (here and other places) - its no more expensive than anywhere else as long as you dont want to nightclub in Dicks and the skiing is amongst the best in the world

Interesting, Andyoneil, and I agree Val D'Isere is one of the great resorts and must be on the to-do list of any aspiring skier.

But its piste classifications are, without doubt, on the tough side and many of the blues would be classified as red elsewhere.

LOTA wrote:Interesting, Andyoneil, and I agree Val D'Isere is one of the great resorts and must be on the to-do list of any aspiring skier.

But its piste classifications are, without doubt, on the tough side and many of the blues would be classified as red elsewhere.

Generally speaking that is true BUT my wife went there as a first week beginner and was quite happy on many of the blues as I'd checked them out first.

Some VDI runs are woefully under classified (Vert is never green, Santons is carnage through the gulley and then flat so its green at the bottom and red halfway down) but I think its a great resort for alround skiing.

The OP said they were at 4 weeks skiing so as long as they are cautious or better still have a lesson / guide with a local expert who will show them the dos and donts of the map then I honestly think its a reasonable choice.

I must think that as we're going this year with a real mixed ability group..... :-)

andyoneil wrote:

LOTA wrote:Interesting, Andyoneil, and I agree Val D'Isere is one of the great resorts and must be on the to-do list of any aspiring skier.

But its piste classifications are, without doubt, on the tough side and many of the blues would be classified as red elsewhere.

Generally speaking that is true BUT my wife went there as a first week beginner and was quite happy on many of the blues as I'd checked them out first.

Some VDI runs are woefully under classified (Vert is never green, Santons is carnage through the gulley and then flat so its green at the bottom and red halfway down) but I think its a great resort for alround skiing.

The OP said they were at 4 weeks skiing so as long as they are cautious or better still have a lesson / guide with a local expert who will show them the dos and donts of the map then I honestly think its a reasonable choice.

I must think that as we're going this year with a real mixed ability group..... :-)

We skied VDI as 3 week newbies in Jan this year. It is, without doubt, 'random' in terms of classification. My wife found it very tough but was a better skier at the end of the week. It does depend on the time of the day in a lot of cases. Early in the morning = lovely clean groomed slopes albeit a bit steep in places. Late in the day = mogulled madness on certain pistes The green Vert run was a shambles at the end of the day. Some of the red runs are as easy as the blues (and sometimes easier as they've received less traffic). I thought Santons (blue) was hilarious to be honest. Some of it is is the head though. You look at the Santons half pipe section with skiers/boarders crabbing down sideways/collapsing in heaps and think "I can't do this', when actually you can.

I coped all week other than a cold sweat moment at the top of the Face at 4.45pm on Thurs/Fri. I was tired, the light was fading and the piste was all carved up. I therefore immediately fell over :D. I seriously enjoyed my pint of beer in the Blue Note Bar about 20 minutes later I can tell you!

It's a fantastic resort. The best that I've skied in so far by some margin.

bedrock barney wrote:

We skied VDI as 3 week newbies in Jan this year. It is, without doubt, 'random' in terms of classification. My wife found it very tough but was a better skier at the end of the week. It does depend on the time of the day in a lot of cases. Early in the morning = lovely clean groomed slopes albeit a bit steep in places. Late in the day = mogulled madness on certain pistes

It's a fantastic resort. The best that I've skied in so far by some margin.

Very random indeed - the OK run is never a red, apart from one tight chute about 3/4 of the way down but if you told a timid skiier you were taking them down the World Cup run... - its all in the mind as you say

Definitely ski early and accept that, if you're tired or not quite at it then there is no disgrace in the cable car as none of the home runs from any part are without adventure.....

Still say you can use it for a great holiday though OP..... !

I would throw Tignes and Val Thoren into the ring.From personal experience, I only have good things to say about these places. Great slopes, great surroundings and a really nice atmosphere around the place. I met some top people while on the slopes here and picked up a tip or two!

Agree with La Tania great little resort lovely friendly feel better value for money than Courchevel with superb access to 3V area. La Plagne - stay in Mont Albert (spelling?) again nice village with great access to huge area. Tignes - stay in Les Brev same story. Main resorts in France such as La Plagne centre, Tignes, Courch, tend to be over priced and a bit Blackpool, IMO look for smaller, lower ski in/out villages for base and have a cheaper more relaxed time, cosy apres but still enough to party if you want to, whilst still having huge ski area on hand.