Val d'Isere

Ok, just back from a long weekend in Val and... er, I still don't quite get it. About the fourth time I've skiied there (though not for a few years) and it still seems terribly spread out - interminable blue runs linking great runs at opposite ends of valleys, some decent steeps but almost all ending far too rapidly in some pedestrian motorway piste that is only fun at eye-watering speeds (when quiet)...

The Face, an exception to the above, can be a terrific run but is often an anti-climax; either positively nasty down low (rocks'n'ice as per this last weekend) or the snow is decent in which case every man (and his dog) clutter it up so much you're lucky to link more than 2 turns in the steep sections before having to dodge some terrified "intermediate".

Some fun to be had between the pistes but the best off-piste action is in some serious "take a guide or die" territory... or is that last actually the point?

The town is pleasant enough but just why is it so highly rated? Compared to, say, Les Arcs it seems to me that Val is somewhat overblown and certainly over-priced...

So, any fans of Val want to help me out here? What am I missing?