Here's a short diary, or rather recollection, of the week I spent in Val Thorens skiing. I hope it will come in useful for others planning to spend their vacation in this area or are just curious about it. Comments are welcome as always.
Click here to see the gallery of photos
If you have Google Earth you can check out Val Thorens and the surrounding area in 3D, coords: lat: 45�18'3.77"N, long: 6�34'3.03"E
Friday 14th of April
Early start
Bus leaving at 4.00 in the morning, I didn't sleep, spent the night packing my bags and making sure I had everything I'd need. When you go skiing you don't want to forget bringing enough sports underwear, it's basically the magic garment that keeps you warm and dry no matter what. Good socks and gloves are another necessity because cold feet and fingers can ruin a whole day.
European Onion
Caught a cab to the place the bus departed from and met 73 other tired but seemingly excited students on their way to France for a week of partying and skiing. Though seemingly daunting, a bus trip can be quite comfy. Despite it being hard to sleep while seated, I've never been good at it an always ended up with a stiff and hurting neck, the bus becomes your home. After about three hours we were in south of Sweden to pick up some more people, then on to the ferry for Denmark, for Sjaelland. Denmark consist of several islands, as some of you may know, but in order to save time and cut corners the bus headed south, drove through Falster and Lolland and we took the ferry from R�dby to Puttgarden in Germany, a mere 40 min crossing.
The rest of the day we spent driving through Germany, which was insanely boring. The only thing that might suprise you were the occasional overtakings by Mercedeses, beamers and sportcars in the leftmost lane, the one that has no speedlimit. You would sometimes see a regular car pass by at some 200 KPH and then seconds later see a BMW pass at seemingly 270 KPH seeing its tail lights flash red as it braked. The Germans drive like nuts, sorry guys, but the autobahn free speed combined with an eager pedal foot is a recipe for death and disaster!
Saturday 15th of April
Early in the morning on the 15th at 3.00, I think, we crossed the border to Switzerland. Apparently the Swiss charge a fee for using their roads, something no other European country I know of does but I guess it makes sense, they must see a lot of thoroughfare being located as they are. Driving past Lausanne, along the Geneva Lake, past Geneva and into France took only a few hours. We finally got a glimpse of snowy peaks as we neared the Alps. After a short breakfast consisting of bread, cheese, tomatoes, cucumber, marmalade and lots of tea, coffee and hot chocolate we continued.
The last two hours of driving were on some of the worst mountain roads I've seen, the only mountain roads that could possible be considered less safe would be the ones I've seen on Crete, Greece. The road was merely 8 meters (9 yds) wide and often without concrete or steel barriers to stop cars from sliding off into what appeared to be hundreds of meters deep creeks and sheer abysses. Worst of all, the French seemed oblivious to it and we witnessed another busing overtaking us while on the outer sider of the road, driving between us and the edge. The roads were consistently of this low standard despite the heavy traffic. I have no idea why they don't make some serious improvements. Personally I believe there are better ways to get an adrenaline rush! :)
At last, the end of our journey...
We eventually arrived in Val Thorens. As it happened we couldn't check in at the hotel until 17.00 and since I didn't have a ski pass for that day I was faced with two options, waiting a whole day or get one. As I looked out at the pistes with longing I decided to get one. The weather wasn't the best but that wasn't too much of an obstacle for me. I managed to get my stuff from the bus and the trailer and headed straight to the piste.
After taking the cableway-like lift to the top of Peclet, I soon realized that visibility was close to zero. I saw less 10 meters ahead of me, light conditions were extremely bad so one had to go slowly as it was impossible to read the slope. It was easy to lose one's way. I skied until I felt like falling asleep in the lift's cabin, so I decided to call it a day. I hadn't slept much the previous night so continuing skiing would be stupid. I spent the final hour before we could check in outside the hotel, sitting in the sun drinking beer talking to the others.
Apparently a group of students from Sheffield had arrived at the same time as us so there was lots of beer drinking going on. Val Thorens is interesting that way as people from all over Europe go there to ski, so you'll hear all kinds of languages spoken in the lift. While French is what the majority of the "skieurs" speak, English Danish, German, Polish and Italian are languages that aren't totally uncommon. Speaking English with shop owners, restaurant and hotel staff wasn't a problem either. While few French can be considered good at English, most people knew enough for some essential conversation and combined with my limited French, communication was never a problem. Even the police officer at the police station I talked with later that week about a lost pair of ski goggles understood me when I addressed him in English though he replied in French.
We were relieved to be finally able to check in. We were sharing rooms, five each however one of the guys who was supposed to live in our room never showed up. I shared the room with Erik, Emil and Thomas. Emil and Thomas were friends since earlier. We got along great during the course of the week and had many interesting discussions on various topics, from politics to quantum mechanics and physics, something Erik knew a great deal about.
The rooms were actually small apartments, they had a small kitchen, toilet and bathroom and four beds. Our room was at the back of the hotel, and relatively, spacious we later learned. It looked out over some other buildings, it wasn't much to look at as the picture here beside can attest to.
The hotel had some rules regarding ski equipment, you were required to keep your skis and ski poles in a ski locker in the basement. These were simple raw things, built out of wood, could easily be broken into. Even though they forced you to use them they also swore themselves free of being responsible of any burglary or theft. This struck me as highly irresponsible, if you force people to store their gear elsewhere make sure it's safe. Apart from this rule, we had to pay 250 euros in deposition, guess they wanted a hold on you. Not keeping quiet after 22.00 was one way they could withhold it. However it turned out we all got our money back and the nights there was some noise it was in French! :)
On a more positive note, the hotel was close to the piste. Get your gear in the basement, walk 10 meters and you're in the piste, right in a system of 600 km of slopes! This outweighed a lot, you are there to ski after all!
Later that evening we had the chance to explore Val Thorens, as I mentioned in earlier blog posts it's a rather dull and anonymous place of a rather recent date. Val Thorens consists of several hotels and residential buildings with stores, clubs and restaurants at street level. Prices are very high, the so called "super markets" are tiny and almost everything costs a fortune even there. But if you are smart you bring food with you and you know what to buy. We didn't bring food but we soon learnt that French staple food such as baguettes, cheese and wine isn't so insanely priced and do some smart shopping and compare prices and you can get away without being robbed.
After having done some sight-seeing, shopping and stretched our legs, we went to bed ready for a full day of skiing.
Sunday 15th of April
We were out in the piste at 9. Having had a solid breakfast of oatmeal and more we were determined to see what Val Thorens had to offer, despite the weather not being the best possible. Thomas who had never skied before and rented his equipment earlier that day, had some problems when we tried crossing over to Orelle (the valley east of Val Thorens) and had a lot of guts for someone who had been doing alpine skiing before.
We chose what we later learned was the harder way, the Combe Rosa�l piste. It's a step black piste, and hard to ski even for those who are experienced but we eventually made it down. Orelle is an amazing area and offers the best skiing in Val Thorens, three seat lifts offering something in the range of 30 km of pistes with a vertical difference of 900 meters makes for awesome skiing with sheer steep pistes to long sweeping runs, from blue, to red and black.
We skied until 17.00 when the lifts closed, went back to the apartment, showered and changed to nicer clothers. Tonight was the dinner night, at the local restaurant La Grange ("The Barn"). We came there at 18.30, seated around several long tables, seats were randomized and distributed by using playing cards torn in halves and you were supposed to find your match. One half to you, and one half to person sitting next to you. It was a funny dinner, a lot of enthusiasm and singing, as it should be on a student dinner done Link�ping style, but the menu left room for improvements and more food. The main course was some sort of casserole of stewed potatoes with ham, something I and many others mistook for a side course. It wasn't bad, it was just simple and not enough for everyone. The dessert, a delicious apple pie, raised one's mood but wasn't very filling. In the end I was just too tired to really care, the first day of skiing had left me exhausted and all I wanted and needed was a bed. I left at 9, like many others and went back to the apartment, to sleep, and prepare for the Monday.
Monday 17th of April
Due to the dinner, and the partying that ensued for many members of our entourage, the scheduled piste viewing had been postponed to 11. A piste viewing is an event when you as a group ski through the whole system and network of pists and lifts, or just some of them, the point being finding the best runs and having a good time. We did however have plenty of time to do skiing on our own, taking the cableway up to the crest where we had been the previous day, when visibility was near zero and Thomas was close to skiing off an edge, we were greeted by an amazing view. We left our skis and walked up to the viewpoint, at 3 200 you're higher than most other surrounding peaks and the immensity of the mountains revealed itself in a faintly blue misty clarity.
Click for a panorama view:
The piste viewing took place outside Val Thorens which is a part of a larger system of pistes. Val Thorens has 140 km of pistes, but combined with the two nearby M�ribel and Courchevel, the total length is 600 km. That's quite an amazing number! We took the lifts to Col/Mont de la Chambre, at 2 800 meters where we all met up and divided into two groups, the slower and the faster to accomodate the different skill levels. Emil and I joined the fast group, both of us having skied since the age of 5 or 6, speed has never been a problem. :)
Skiing down the slopes toward M�ribel offered some breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains. When we later caught the cabin lift for Mont du Vallon we had a chance to revel in the sheer size of the valley and the surroundings, it was an overpowering sensation of awe. It's what I love about skiing, and nature, it has always that effect on me, its beauty strikes me, even in its tiniest details and its grandest immensity.
We later skied to M�ribel where once we got down to the valley where the temperature climbed to 15 C in the sun, snow turned into mushy slush making skiing and dodging the bumps of snow that had gathered in the lower slopes a serious effort, and had lunch. After a much needed break we continued on, taking the cabin up to Saulire at 2 738 m where the view, once again, was breathtaking, and where we got a glimpse of Mont Blanc in the distance. Despite the high altitude it wasn't cold nor windy, and weird enough there was even a restaurant perched on the edge of cliff overlooking the valley and the surrounding mountains.
Skiing down into the valley the temperatures rose, the wind bringing along a whiff of spring and a faint tang of Mediterranean saltwater. You're so close to the Mediterranean, it may seem like a distant concept when you're surrounded by mountains, snow and sky but most of the snow you ski on was once, and will soon be Mediterranean saltwater. Not to mention that the sun beats down as mercilessly here as there and even more mercilessly on the peaks, less atmosphere to filter it and all the snow reflecting the UV rays, making it extremely important to wear high factor sunscreen and sunglasses.
Some of the ones travelling with us did not use sun glasses or ski goggles, some of them suffered swollen faces and burnt skin. But the effects can be much worse and you can actually go temporarily blind, something known as "snow blindness". I wore my sunglasses at all times, trying to see without them was very difficult on a sunny day as you had to peer not to get dazzled by the very bright light.
How bright it is is evident if you look at photos. When you take a picture elsewhere, the object you are shooting is usually unevenly lit leaving highlights and dark parts. Here, high up in the Alps, in contrast, lighting is even and complete, the snow reflecting so much of the light, absorbing so little meaning temperatures in the sun can rise as high as 20 C (70 F) if not more while still not causing the snow temperature to rise more than a few degrees above the freezing point, something we were grateful for during our picnic later that week.
While skiing in Courchevel I happened to spot an airfield, it surprised me as the runway seemed very short for landing and speaking to Adrian, who was travelling with us, who has a pilot's license, he agreed it seemed strangely short for taking down a plane. Well, you can see for yourself in the picture here to the right. Maybe someone here knows something we don't, feel free to comment.
The day ended in Courchevel, one member of our group got lost so we split, one half looking for her the other half returning to Val Thorens. On our way from M�ribel to Val Thorens we shared a cabin with a French couple, the man didn't speak English but the woman did. I realized my French wasn't entirely dead and I could say some things at least, well now they know we were from Sweden, that Swedish mountains aren't as high as the French Alps and that I snowboarded for 9 years prior to going to back to skiing. :)
Tuesday 18th of April
We set out early, skied in Val Thorens and Orelle but the intensive previous days had taken their toll on us and we felt extremely tired once we had had lunch so we slept the whole afternoon. It wasn't such a bad idea after all as the sunny weather from before noon was replaced by more cloudy, humid and colder weather as the day progressed.
Wednesday 19th of April
Again, we were skiing in Val Thorens and Orelle. Erik, Emil and Thomas didn't have full week ski passes valid for all three valleys they were restricted to Val Thorens. It's not too bad either, 140 km of pistes isn't bad and I was quite happy to tag along. While the skiing in M�ribel and Courchevel wasn't bad, much of it was on lower altitudes where the snow is wet and heavy and on some places the ground even shows. Val Thorens is located higher up, allowing an even longer season.
During the afternoon I went to M�ribel for two hours to ski on the higher slopes, but quickly realize skiing isn't much fun when there's no one to talk to. My limited French and the general French person's limited English were highly potent obstacles in any form of communication. Such a pity the French don't speak better English. Please, my dear French website visitors, learn more English! You'll do everyone a favor! Regardless of how beautiful French is, and I believe it is very beautiful, English is the lingua franca and you need to get better at it!
Thursday 20th of April
Morning broke with beautiful weather, blue skies and sunshine. We were happy, and excited as this was to be the picnic day. I joined another group of people this day, the Eilertson brothers and their roommate Marie, went skiing with them first to Orelle and later on to M�ribel. We later rendez-voused with Erik, Emil and Thomas on the slopes of Monte de la Chambre, beside the Pluviom�tre piste. A clear blue sky with fluffy clouds and warm sunlight made the circumstances excellent.
It was a great afternoon except for the rather immature act of two people arriving braking and intentionally spraying snow over us. It's rather a unpleasant experience if you're bareskinned, and even quite annoying when you risk getting water on your phone. I had already had my own camera broken by water dripping from the lift while taking a picture sitting in it, and I didn't want to have my phone short circuited too. Maybe it was funny, maybe I'm taking things too seriously or maybe consideration is a sign of age :). But apart from that, it was great. Emil and Thomas showed up with our lunch and we had some cheese, sausages, bread and wine and a healthy dose of sunshine.
During the picnic the trip organizers had several competitions that ranged from funny to short of dangerous. The first one being a beer drinking one. Beer drinking being a traditional student sport, what better place to do it than there? Well, for one, skiing after drinking alcohol is a bad idea. While we had wine, we didn't drink more than two glasses and skied very slowly down. Some of the games that came later offered prizes like five J�germeister shots and similar. Sled racing and regular running were two other events we didn't take part in but took pictures of, we had extreme fun. Fortunately, and as far as I know, no one got hurt trying to get down from the mountain in an intoxicated state.
Friday 21st of April
The last day of skiing and we decided to try all the pistes we had previously not skied. We skied lower down, northwest toward Les Menuires which is located in the same valley as Val Thorens and had to dodge some spots of bare ground on a few places. The lowest lift in Val Thorens (Plan de l'Eau) however might have been the best one, beautiful view, perfect location in the sun, not windy at all. Riding slowly up the slope one could see Aigulle de Peclet, the dominating peak, shine and sparkle in the sun as the just melted snowcrust reflect the light, making the mountain seem as if it was draped in soft white vinyl.
After a lunch some resting we skied for another 45 minutes until the lifts closed and had a beer at restaurant situation in the slopes, looking out over Val Thorens, enjoying the low warm afternoon sunlight. This is the best time of the day to ski, in my opinion, and it's such a shame they close the lifts as early as at 17.00. Perhaps it is to support the local bars and their "Apr�s Ski" (or After Ski as we say), if so it's sad because I believe skiing is far more fun and important than drinking beer and listening to a bad French cover band.
Saturday 22nd of April
The final day, the fun is over and it's time to clean up the room and head home. We had already done some cleaning the previous day and we didn't party or drink, went to bed early and got up at six. By the time our final vacuum cleaning was done we heard the others start theirs. There was plenty of time to pack our bags and prepare for the long 30 hrs bus trip home. Good planning makes for less stress!
We had a light breakfast and I made some tea and brought it in my thermos. There's nothing like a cup of steaming tea in the morning! When eventually all the formalities were completed, the room was checked and approved, we could board the bus and head home. The bus drive home wasn't entirely was uneventful as the drive there. Only 1.5 hrs from Val Thorens we ran into problem as our driver, reading the GPS navigator, took a left instead of a right turn, crossed a tiny bridge and ended up in a small village with an old church with broken windows. The old man sitting just outside gave us a sour disdainful look as our bus appeared.
The road did continue but there was no way to fit a bus in there. So much for modern technology! This caused some laughter and while the guys found the situation amusing, it seems most of the women sympathized with our driver who was after all a very good driver, getting the bus across the bridge alone was a masterly achievement.
He eventually managed to turn the bus after disconnecting the trailer where we kept all our skis and snowboards, and with our help moving the trailer out of the way. We could later resume our trip which felt much shorter this time travelling through a France in spring with temperatures reminding us of the Scandinavian summers. The mountains were beautiful this time of the year and Lac d'Annecy, was striking.
A short break later that night, stopping for a meal in Germany, we decided to take a picture of the whole group. A German trucker joined us. Funny guy. He and his buddies had been standing outside their trucks sharing a few beers. We felt so much more secure as we traveled north on autobahn. The dangers of traffic were once again evident the following morning when we got a bit delayed after having been standing waiting on German autobahn in complete fog, a twisted burnt out car wreck told a far too common story.