Val Thorens Apres Ski Report: 28th March 2012

Directed by Baud Wankay, the festival has descended upon Chalet du Thorens for the last four years and has garnered something of a reputation as one of the biggest parties of the season. Posters and flyers have been distributed, in large abundance, throughout the town for the last month, promising a three day festival of DJs, live music and an eclectic mix of live entertainment including dancers and freestyle skiers/boarders. As opposed to open farmland in grassy ol’ Blighty, the mountain is a rather hostile place to hold a festival and naturally, there are various limitations in terms of accessibility and timeframes. With the amount that has been promised by the team throwing the party, the worry that it would not quite meet its grand expectations has been flagrant.

Merely one day into the fest, it gives me pleasure to say that we needn’t have worried. In fact, if you are reading this now, turn off the computer, pull on those ski-clothes, and get yourself up to Chalet du Thorens this instant. There is no time to waste. The sun burnt incredibly warm in the blue sky yesterday afternoon and, as the afternoon snow began to succumb to slush, skiers across the valley made their way over to Bar360 where the warm up acts were beginning as early as midday. Arriving at around three o’clock, we arrived just in time for famous French DJ/organiser Benjamin Franklin. The bar had made great efforts to expand the party area, erecting an elaborate stage on the piste complete with a raised dance floor. With the larger surface area, there was quite a bit of room to stand around or have a sun-lounge to start off with. With numerous extra bars as well, some of which also graced the piste, it was nice and easy to enjoy a frosty Corona in the afternoon sun. With his encouraging persona, Franklin tempted plenty of eager partygoers to the dance floor and things got progressively livelier as the afternoon went on.

Like any festival, there was a nice amount of fancy-dress going on and a great past time of the afternoon was costume spotting. Within the space of two minutes I was jostled by two apes in hot pursuit of a man-sized banana across the dance-floor just as Superman flew past my head (on the shoulders of Captain America, Iron Man and Batman no less). Beneath a confetti cannon, the Bar360 dance floor was thumping with many a stomping ski-boot. Small dancing competitions ensued on the decking and people took to the table tops to groove in the sunshine.

Diverging from the schedule, the second prominent French DJ of the festival took to the stage at half past four; the lively DJ Getdown. Whilst Franklin’s set got everyone moving with a standard serving of mountain House tunes, Getdown mixed it up with some superbly mixed Hip-Hop, Pop and dance tracks. By this time, the site had garnered significantly more party people and the dance-floor by the stage was a throng of rhythmic activity. Towards the end of the set, a barrage of students was ushered off the stage which was then graced with a quartet of scantily clad dancers. Surrounded by young-men brandishing cameras, the introduction of the dancers lent the proceedings a rather campy, kitsch atmosphere which was lapped up by the tipsy punters.

Things wrapped up shortly after six and us wobbly skiers and boarders headed back down to continue the party in resort. It was a fantastic first day of the festival and completely surpassed my expectations. But seriously; now it really is time to turn off your computer and head up there!