Val Thorens Snow Report: 16th March 2012

Experiencing a large amount of warming traffic, the central Cairn run and the lower parts of Plein Sud are suffering from the slush but for the majority of skiers and boarders this is not a problem. The snow is holding up just fine at the top of the latter whilst the former only really serves as a through-route and a learning area used by the various ski schools in resort. Ever popular – particularly with seasonnaire regulars - are the runs accessed via the Boismint chairlift right at the bottom of resort. The favourite of the three tends to be Blanchot, a bendy, not too challenging and very fun blue run. Whilst the slope is a good area for all levels of skiers, you will often find it littered with those practicing their freestyle skills on the off-piste/on-piste banks at the boarders of the run. If you are indeed keen on honing your freestyle tricks, the run is particularly good for practicing spins (speaking from the perspective of a snowboarder at least).

Also popular at the moment are the Val Thorens-side slopes at the top of the Funitel de Grand Fond, found at the top of the ever-busy Moutiere chairlift next to Boismint. Of course, this is also the route taken by many to access our lovely neighbouring resort of Orelle (included in the Val Thorens local lift-pass: well worth a visit) but there are also plenty of fun slopes on this side of the valley. The wind that is funnelled through our valley is blown over here into Orelle which can make the top of this slope quite cold and sometimes hard but more often than not the conditions up here are far fresher than lower down. From the top you can make a relatively sharp left down a red run named Variente which arrives at the top of the Val Thorens snow park, but we tend to stay higher for longer along Niverolle. Whilst it is initially a relatively bland run, it livens up as it approaches Medaille, a red that peels off to the left, whilst the blue becomes Fond, a brief but nice little blue. This route provides yet more opportunities for practicing those freestyle skills, especially if you stick with Fond all the way. Once you progress past the snow park, stick to the off-piste slopes on the left hand side of the piste itself for some rollers and lips which are good for getting some nice air.

Good news for the newcomers this week; there is snow gracing our forecast once again. The unbroken sunshine is being replaced with snow clouds between Sunday and Wednesday, with as much as 20cm predicted to fall over the space of three days. Temperatures are staying relatively mild with a minimum of -12 on Monday night whilst winds will reach a high speed of 15km/h.