7 days in Val Thorens

Snowboarding Holiday, 12th – 19th January

Fellow boarders: Smurphy (Caroline Murphy), Stig (Jenny Clements), Normsky (Emma Norman), Samcam (Sam Smith).

Superb snow, blazing sun and great company made for an awesome weeks snowboarding in Val Thorens. The snow was plentiful, as was the sun and when there wasn’t one there was the other.

It was my first visit to Val Thorens and for a while I thought it may not happen. Transfer from Grenoble took about six and a half hours due to heavy snow. We had chains fitted to the coach but I was still glad when we ended up behind a snow plow. Our driver was brilliant and I swear that if it wasn’t for him we’d have been recreating the end to the Italian Job!

I was pleasantly surprised by the resort upon arrival. I was expecting more concrete, like Flaine, but most of the buildings had some wooden features. Our accommodation, the SilverAlp apartments, was basic but manageable. The upstairs, of you could call it that, had such a low ceiling that I couldn’t stand up fully. No real issue for me as it was just a place to eat and sleep; the fact that it was close to the slopes was its biggest attraction.

Lifts and runs in resort are excellent. We didn’t get a three valleys pass and found we have plenty of runs to keep us occupied for the week. I’d recommend popping over to Orelle where I found some superb black runs and off piste action.

Highlight of the week was a fondue dinner at the top of the mountain to celebrate Stig and I’s birthday’s. The meal was delicious and followed up by a round of Grolle (not sure of spelling), a hot coffee tasting liqueur served in a vessel with eight holes. You have to cover two of the whole whilst drinking from the third without spilling a drop.

Not an easy task!

The meal was followed by a torchlight run down the mountain. Such an awe inspiring experience, it will stay with me forever. Stig did amazing to make it down as she’d only be boarding for four days by this point. Luckily the Ski-Doo driver stayed with her and gave her light as she slid on her heel edge all the way down.

See pics on Facebook, see pics on flickr or watch the videos on YouTube.