Easy-ish runs in Val D'Isere

Okay guys, go easy on me, despite skiing a few years now I am a very nervous skier. Have booked 3 ha;f day lessons for our trip out to VDI on 5th Jan, but wondered if anyone could suggest some easier blues that I can have a bash at.

My problem is I got caught out on quite a difficult blue last year in L2A, don't know what did it but lost my bottle and froze...motionless...on my own - ooer!!

Hence the reason for some lessons, to get my back my confidence but any suggestions for some of the gentler runs would be much appreciated. I fear getting caught out on a run I feel out of my depth on, especially having never been to VDI before and not knowing the area.

Ooo my favourite resort in the whole wide world.

The Solaise Express will take you up to a fantastic area which, to start the day, has a lovely green called Madelaine (there's also a great restaurant with a barbecue around there too), it's wide, and probably more of an easy blue than a green.

After that you can head up the glacier express where there are some lovely long blues that will keep you amused for some time.

There are other areas, but this is my favourite for having a blast about the mountain and getting my blue legs back before I move on.

The inststructors will be able to point you in other directions as well.

When do you go?

Edit

You might not want to ski down from Solaise, get the chair down!

5th January, very excited now.

I feel such a wuss, the year before I started tackling reds, and now, that seems like a distant memory, just lost my bottle a bit. I'm sure I'll get my mojo back soon though - thanks for the tips.

Nelly's advice is spot on - my wife learned in VDI and the Madeleine is where I had her practicing what she'd learned in ski school earlier.

After the Glacier Express runs (nice long blues that you can really get comfortable on) then you may be tempted to ski down "piste L" to Le Lasinant which is a trickier blue (perfectly manageable) that will help your confidence back to reds but do be aware that its often closed due to ice as it's in a shady gulley much of the way down

Glacier Express will also let you take the "scare chair / up and over" Leissieres lift over towards the glacier. From the top of the glacier you can ski the blues and also the reds (confidence boosting as they are no different to the blues up there)

You can then work your way down Vallon and either take the cable car to le Fornet and get the free bus for 5 mins back to town, try the Mangard run down to le Fornet (again manageable though a little tougher) or take the scare chair back over the ridge.

As Nelly says - if you do this and get back to top of Solaise then skiing down will not be an option if you're wobbly as there's no blue back to town and the red is challenging. That said - once your confidence is back then its do-able as the top is steep but very wide and the bottom is narrower but not as steep. In bright sunshine and good snow it's within your reach that week. In flat light or lots of ice then most will get the lift down.

Once your confidence is up then go up Bellevarde and you can come down the long blue all the way to La Daille. This cris- crosses with both a green and a red - the red being the famous OK.

The OK is definitely on your list for the week as it's very do-able for any intermediate in good snow as long as they take their time and read the line through the one tricky bit low down. I personally think the red is easier than the green....

Anyway, enough rambling. Hope that's of use and I'm sure you'll have a great time. Just leave some snow and beer for me as I'm there on the 19th Jan!

And on the other side of the valley .......

Go up AND COME BACK DOWN the Bellevarde cable car and infront of you is a great big area called Ski Tranquille.

Have a look ....
http://www.tignes.net/fr/ski-a-tignes/plan-des-pistes-28.html

Several runs and because it is not on the way to or from anywhere will not be covered in bombers whizzing past.

Also down in Val are a few nursery slope lifts - don't dismiss these either, especially if the weather is poor, or poor visibility.

Cheers guys, brilliant advice and I will ticking these on my piste map as "must do's".

Andyoneil, I will try to leave some beer and snow for you...!

Joanne

And the snow conditions are brilliant right now - I just got back yesterday.

Dave

Woohoo!!!