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Bars
and Clubs
Val probably has the best
social scene for any resort in the Alps, and it's flat!
Try these bars on your pub crawl:
The Pacific Bar - Good
for sharking...
Moris Pub - Big and buzzing
Le Petit Danois - Lively
Scandi bar
Bananas - Regular first
stop on a big night out
The Saloon Bar - Superb apres-ski
Ramskis - Cocktails and Aussies
Cafe Face - Stylish cavern
bar
Club 21 - Cheesy French
club
Cafe Fats - All day fried brekkie, but Fats himself now in Danois
Dicks T-bar
- The original
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Off-piste
The Espace Killy has such a wide choice of off-piste,
all you really need to do is get onto the mountain.
However the following might help:
Tour de Charvet - take the Grand Pre chair .
Drop left into the bowl and pick one of the huge variations
on the descent.
Cols Pers - Take Fornet and then Signal and traverse
across before selecting a pitch. Stunning back-country
skiing with long run-out following the Isère river.
Pays Desert - Take Fornet and T-bar (if open)
Vallée Perdue - Take the Tommeuses chair to a
truly varied terrain.
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Moguls
Bellevarde – the famous Olympic
run down La Face is usually mogulled from top to bottom
Solaise - the infamous Solaise bumps are a steep
route down to the village under the lifts
L'Epaule - south-facing and sunny moguls -
hit at about 11.30!
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Speed
Bellevarde to La Daille (1050m vertical)
Solaise to Val (700m)
Fornet to base camp
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Snowparks
The terrain around Val is so good you rarely
need a man-made environment. However, there is
a fun-park at La Daille and a half-pipe at the bottom
of the Bellevarde piste.
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Events
Premiere Neige - first downhill race of the
season
The Big Day Out - Boarding competition
Red Ski Team – truly outstanding aerials display
team. Do not miss!
The Hop - Annual bumps competition
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Famous
visitors
People come to Val to
be seen on the mountain not off it! Jean-Claude
Killy remains a famous son. Damon Hill has been
sighted, as has Zoe Ball-Cook.
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Away
Days
Although Val is on the large side for a ski
resort, you will still want to escape on occasion.
For a skiing day out, try Ste Foy. Just 30 mins
away this rustic resort has reams of off-piste potential.
Bourg St Maurice is not
the most exciting town, but is large enough to provide
a distraction. Towards the end of the season,
consider a trip to La Rosière and over the Col du Petit
St Bernard into Italy. They filmed 'The Italian
Job' on these hair-pin bends, so don't go getting any
ideas.
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Shopping
There's a shop for everyone in Val. Some of the favourites
include Billabong, Misty Fly, Quiksilver, Poudreuse, Napapijri and
Hors Limites. Fat Face, White Stuff and Escapiste all feature.
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 Internet
Cafés
Powder
Monkey - In Le Galerie des Cimes next to the Melting Pot restaurant,
directly opposite the main bus station . You can also check your
email in Dicks Tea Bar.
New for 2003 is Absolute Zero opposite
Cafe Fats. Open for business 8am through 10pm inclusive. Rates for
seasonnaires are 7 Euros per hr including one free glass of orange
juice or a coffee, with an initial 5 Euro joining fee to be added
to the database. Rates for walk in clients are 10 Euros per hour.
although prepaid cardscan be bought at 5 for 30 minutes, 8 for 1
hr, 65 for 10 hrs and 120 for 20 hrs.
More
details
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Eating
Out
On those occasions when your need to get away
from the kitchen, you can still get good value for money
about the resort:
Le Lodge - good value pizza
Le Canyon - Traditional French dishes
Billabong Cafe - American diner style
The Melting Pot - great
curry night!
@ Table - top take-away options (CdS
Discount)
Perdrix Blanche - Excellent but on the pricey end
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Mountain
Restos
If you're guiding or skiing with a group of
guests, these restaurants are a good bet for a stop.
La Folie Douce (top of La Daille)
Creche'Ouna (La Daille)
Trifollet (Bellevarde)
Marmottes (Bellevarde)
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McDonalds
The nearest 'Royale with
Cheese' is in Bourg St Maurice (30 mins).
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Shopping
Day
The main shop will be
down in Bourg each week, probably at Super U.
Options in town include Casino and Marche U. For
wholesale items, you'll probably take the occasional
visit up to Bob's Cash 2000 on the way to Fornet.
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Transfer
Day
Located as far down the
Tarentaise valley as you can get, Val d'Isère is consequently
at least an extra hour of transfer time on top of the
Three Valley resorts. One advantage is that snowtrain
arrivals do not turn up to Bourg at quite such an ungodly
hour as they do in Moutiers.
However throughout the season you will
do well to beat any of the following times - Bourg 30min, Chambèry
2.5hrs, Lyon 3hrs and Geneva 3hrs. This is assuming you can
get into resort. The roads up to Val and Tignes are notorious
for avalanches and landslides and regularly get blocked after heavy
snowfall. It is not unheard of for the good bergers of Bourg
to put up guests in local homes and schools while waiting for the
pass to clear.
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Après-ski
Events
Val d'Isere offers a number of popular après-ski offers
you can put out to your guests and boost your income.
The following suppliers and ideas should help you put
together a programme:
Tarentaise Tour –
Everyone loves this 'haute montagne' ski day.
Takes in Val, Tignes, Les Arcs and La Plagne.
Speciality Evenings – Cheesy as
it may be, traditional Savoyarde nights out can be great fun. Try
Le Canyon. Alternatively you could try the Curry Night at the Melting
Pot.
As well as the usual skidoos,
parapenting, snowboarding lessons etc why not try out
the Quad Bikes - this is great fun for the guests and
you get to try it out yourself.
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Living
Val isn't as bad as some resorts,
in that it's fairly compact and flat. If you're working for
a tour operator you're always going to be fairly close to the action.
It's a fair walk into town from Chatelard, but the only call that's
likely to affect your social life is La Daille and even then you
can walk back within 30 minutes (next to nothing with a few demis
inside you!).
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CdS
Search
If you’re thinking of doing a season in Val d'Isère then why
not search through the Club
des Saisonniers to see who else has worked there and what advice
they may be able to offer.
Discounts
There are numerous benefits
available to members of the CdS.
Join
Anyone who has done a season or has a firm offer from
a tour operator may join
the Club des Saisonniers.
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