The new restaurant/party place in the middle of the pistes at the top of the Plein Sud chairlift is good fun. It is called La Folie Douce and La Fruitiere and is a concept imported from Val d'Isere. It includes a quality restaurant, a self-service and an outside club with live music and dancing.
The snow is exceptional at the moment and it is not too late to book a holiday. Skiing at the end of January can be great as you avoid the crowds that come a few days later during school half-term holidays. Due to a late cancellation our studio is available for the week 23rd to 30th January - check out the prices on our availability page
I took this picture from the balcony this morning, the 11th November. We can hardly believe the weather today. It was snowing yesterday so didn't expect the amazing sunshine that we woke up to this morning. There has been so much snow the resort is going to open a week early, on 14 November. So everybody has been rushing around today to get things ready for this coming Saturday. Some people couldn't wait and we watched them climbing up the mountains in order to be the first to ski the slopes.
It hasn't been very good weather so far this last week of the season which is also Dutch Week. But it hasn't dampened their spirits at all as there are parties every night at Le Monde and the Galoubet and ski testing all week at The Knife & Fork.
Fingers crossed the forecast for the rest of the week including Sunday is sunshine so we are looking forward to some fantastic skiing lots of lovely new snow to finish off what has been a fantastic season
Very nearly the end of the season, but there's still good snow high up in VT. The best areas are up via Grand Fond and Col. The resort is open until early may.
Perfect conditions today so we got out nice and early to enjoy the sunshine and great snow. After a buzz around the pistes in Val Thorens before it got too crowded, we made our way over to the Vallee d'Orelle, one of our favourite areas of the 3 Valleys (part of the Val Thorens lift pass by the way).
The red run from the Funitel du Grand Fond called the Mauriennaise is fantastic and was not crowded at all.
The telesiege de Bouchet takes you to the highest point in the 3 Valleys and the runs today were excellent. There are two challenging red runs from the top of that chairlift which are very enjoyable, also the off piste area called Pierre Lory.
After making our way back towards Val Thorens we couldnt resist finishing with the Slalom slope which was in perfect condition as not many people had used it.
Fantastic weather over the mountains for the last few days with great snow conditions. Everybody is getting a good tan at the mountain restaurants and staying out on the pistes all day.
This is set to continue for a few more days then more snow is forecast - great news for those of you planning a skiing holiday in March. The slopes then should be less crowded and we should be able to get in some really good skiing on and off piste. We are also hoping to get in some serious sunbathing at the top of the Funitel de Peclet in the spring sunshine.
New year's Eve in Val Thorens this year was great. The main display wasn't quite as good as Christmas Eve, however New Year is a bigger celebration in France generally so the whole village was out celebrating. The village organised an acrobatic skiing display, set to fireworks, and with the obligatory torchlit decent by the ski instructors. In the videos below you can just make out the jumping skiers.
Later on there was a concert held on a mobile stage in the Place Peclet (just near the apartment in Val Thorens). It was the first time that such an event has been held there and it was quite successful. The music stopped just before Midnight and everyone from all the bars came out to count down the seconds to the New Year. This year the fireworks were excellent - and there were lots of chinese lanterns floating about in the sky which looked excellent.
Val Thorens put on an amazing show tonight (Christmas Eve). The video below is a bit long(!) but hopefully captures the event. Everyone in the resort was in the central part of the village to watch a fantastic fireworks & music show, culminating in the traditional torch lit descent by the ESF instructors. They do similar for new year, and also for various other times throughout the season. A very welcoming resort.
The season has really kicked off now. Christmas week always brings mostly families to the resort, and despite the credit crunch there are still lots of people taking advantage of the good snow early in the season. The snow on the pistes is quite hard packed, but so far it's not got too icy. Most of the pistes are open now, including the links to the Three Valleys, and into Orelle.
We skiied down into Orelle today, and the skiing was fantastic. Beautiful sunshine throughout, and the best snow in the village. Col has also opened up for the first time but it was a bit windy today. Overall the best skiing to be had in VT is Orelle and Boismint, especially Tetris
Attached a few photos from today showing how clear the sky has been, especially at sunset when we went out for a walk.
Looks like the weather is set to be good for most of this week, with some new snow forecast at the end of the week or this weekend. Anyway, we're guaranteed a white christmas!!
About a foot of snow has fallen in the past two days in Val Thorens. This picture was taken today (5th December) in the main shopping street near the sports centre.
The season has really kicked off now. Christmas week always brings mostly families to the resort, and despite the credit crunch there are still lots of people taking advantage of the good snow early in the season. The snow on the pistes is quite hard packed, but so far it's not got too icy. Most of the pistes are open now, including the links to the Three Valleys, and into Orelle.
About a foot of snow has fallen in the past two days in Val Thorens. This picture was taken today (5th December) in the main shopping street near the sports centre.