It’s been almost two years of closed ski resorts, so as Val Thorens opened the slopes again in late November, I was far from the only person ready and waiting to get back on the snow — more than 15,000 people grabbed skis and boards, and headed to the French mountains for the first weekend of the season.
With 152,000 entries to the ski lifts over the two days and plenty of sunshine, the pistes were packed. Despite warm weather and a lack of real snow, around 30 per cent of the Val Thorens slopes (approximately 95 miles in the resort, 375 miles in the entire Trois Vallées) was open and the atmosphere festive, with everyone — including me — excited to be back.
In spite of the browner-than-usual landscape in Europe’s highest ski resort, Val Thorens had done a good job with the largely artificially-produced snow and there was plenty to keep skiers and boarders happy too.
Having squeezed in only a tiny bit of glacier skiing since the pandemic began, the question was, how different would things be after two years without a full winter season? But as it turns out, skiing in a pandemic isn’t all that different to ‘before times’.
In theory you are supposed to wear medical-grade masks in lift queues and on enclosed lifts, but in reality, pulling your buff up over your nose usually seemed to be enough, and many people lowered them again once in the lift and away from the watchful eye of the lift staff.
Val Thorens (Photo: T.Loubere/OT Val Thorens)
If you’re feeling nervous about Covid, choosing a ski resort with too many enclosed lifts probably isn’t for you just yet.
While you didn’t need a pass sanitaire for the lifts when I visited, (proof that you are fully vaccinated or have had a very recent negative test), this has since become a requirement. As has been the case for a while in France, you’ll also need the pass to get into bars and restaurants, including for eating on outdoor terraces.
The changes certainly aren’t putting visitors off. The vast majority of the accommodation open during the first weekend — around 5,000 beds — was fully booked. Val Thorens is very much an ‘anyone is welcome’ resort where almost all of the accommodation is ski-in, ski-out, and you’ll find everything from simple budget apartments to several fabulous five-star hotels.
Bruno Gabet, chairman of the resort’s tourist office, was optimistic about the coming season, telling me that bookings were 30% up on a typical year with many hotels and residences already full for the key weeks, though admittedly with more flexible cancellation policies than pre-pandemic. “There’s no going back,” he added. “We’re open until May now.”
Opening weekend in Val Thorens (Photo: T.Loubere/OT Val Thorens)
There’s no change if you’re out and about in resort either; apres-ski is as enthusiastic as ever, with packed bars and plenty of people eating out.
As well as countless fast food joints there are also some very good places for dinner in Val Thorens — La Maison at the base of the pistes has a lovely sunny terrace (booking is advisable) with a varied menu of pizza, pasta and traditional mountain dishes, while for altitude dining, Le Caribou, reached from the Moraine lift, has a very cosy dining room with a fireplace (if slow service), or the new Finnish Kota cabins on its terrace where you can enjoy enormous cheese-based Savoyard specialities such as fondue and raclette.
The biggest news in Val Thorens this year is the opening of the new Orelle cable car and the TC Orelle-Caron, which links the Orelle resort at 888 metres and Cime de Caron at 3,200 metres — the resort’s highest peak.
But that’s not the only change. Also new this year, and ideal for any bad weather days, there’s a new underground laser game in what was formerly an underground car park, plus a designated ski touring zone with a groomed slope and safety patrols) and a Cosmojet toboggan run stretching for almost four miles.
From old favourites to new attractions, for those missing the slopes, the call of the mountains is harder to resist than ever.
For more information visit valthorens.com
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