Opening weekend of Val Thorens 2016

The resort is now open until (snow permitting) 1st May 2017 and there's plenty of snow in the main resort although down in Les Menuires there's still grass on the slopes - you can see the snow line in some of the pictures above. 

We were on first lifts on Saturday morning which were thankfully pretty quiet, although it didn't take long for the pistes to start filling up. Conditions in the shady parts of the beginner slopes were quite hard-packed and icy, but the further up the mountain we went, conditions got a lot better. We even had a few nice little side-piste off piste sections to ride through which, although a little crusted over and slabby in places, was great fun.

The avalanche risk was high at 4/5, so we didn't venture onto anything further than a few metres from the sides of the pistes. (If you are going off piste, always check the flags at the lift stations or the local avalanche bulletin and go with a ski guide if you're not familiar with the area, or you don't want to invest in all of the avalanche safety equipment - ski guides can not only lend you all the gear but also show you how to use it.) 

The pistes from the top of the Cime Caron all the way across to the Folie Douce were in great condition, with courduroy grooming first thing giving all of our legs a bit of vibrate as we whizzed around the slopes. Although there were a lot of people in resort over the weekend, getting up and out early was definitely the way to go to avoid the crowds. There weren't too many long queues for the lifts though, which was great. We probably queued for around 5 minutes in the longest line at the Moutiere chair lift. 

As well as us regular skiers and snowboarders there were a few people trying out snow scooters, with full face helmets and leashes to stop their steeds flying off down the mountain (crashes on these things seemed to be frequent and they looked pretty hard to control, although probably a lot of fun!) A few people were also trying out a new wing jump cape, which apparently helps you to get more air over little jumps, even if they did make the people wearing them look a bit like ski superheroes... Ski Cool offer sessions for you to get to grips with your wing, if you want to give it a try. 

Since around 15,000 people had descended on Val Thorens for the weekend, the pistes did get exceptionally busy around lunchtime as everyone headed back to resort centre for food and a rest. Crossing the top of the beginner area required a good sense of who else was around you, as people skied, walked and snowboarded in every direction. We stopped for lunch at La Maison and although there was a good 15 minute wait for our party of 6 to get seated, the pizzas were worth the wait. 

At the time of writing, 75% of the lifts and pistes in Val Thorens are open, with good snow cover. There's around 150cm at the very top of resort and 85cm in the centre. The links to Orelle aren't open yet, neither are links to the rest of the 3 Valleys ski area and Les Menuires, so we're all eagerly watching the weather forecasts for the next substantial snow fall. 

The 3 Valleys connections are due to open on 5th December, so we might start doing a few snow dances to make sure more snow comes between now and then!

We stayed with Pierre & Vacances at the Temples du Soleil self catered apartments this weekend, which were directly on the beginner pistes near the Peclet gondola, so we could literally walk out of the apartments onto the pistes. Residence Temples du Soleil is priced from £662 per apartment down from £981 saving 32% for a seven-night stay in an apartment that sleeps up to five people beginning 14th January. Check on line for availability. 

Our ski hire was from Intersport Cheval Blanc, which was also on Rue du Soleil, only 50 metres up the road from the apartment. Read more about our ski tests with Intersport and the services they offer on our Activitiy Reviews page, where you'll also find some inspiration for other activities to try in the Belleville valley whilst you're here.