2012/13 ski season has started

Yesterday was the official opening day of the 2012/13 for Val Thorens. As usual this is the first of the Three Valleys resorts to open. Anne, Aiden and I made the trip over to see how it is shaping up.

We had a relaxed start to the day with the intention of arriving at Val Thorens around mid morning. I had taken our ski equipment out the night before to make sure there were no surprises on the day. It is not normal for me to be this organised, prefering to rely on my lovely wife to make sure we get anywhere on time. What I hadn't done was put the inners into our ski boots, when Anne went to put her liner in she discovered a mouse had been nesting in one of them. So much for no surprises, all part of living in a semi rural village in the French Alps I guess. Thankfully there was no damage and we were able to sort it quickly.

The drive around to Val Thorens takes about an hour. It is part of the same linked area but the drive between the resorts involves dropping down to Moutiers in the valley floor before climbing back up the Belleville valley, past St Martin de Belleville, Les Menuires and finally Val Thorens at 2300m and 40 kms  of climbing later. After getting ourselves kitted up and passes organised we were on the snow just after 11am, an ideal time with a 3 year old in tow.

Test skis were available from the slopes near the resort.

The skiing itself was limited, but only as we would expect for late November. The sky was overcast but the temperatures were mild and visibility was fine. The snow was in good condition however the pistes were busy with the limited runs open. We managed to get Aidens skis on without any fighting and hanging on to my pole he was able to ski straight down to the learners area with magic carpet lifts. This was all much easier than we had anticipated and he had a good day with Anne and I taking it in turn to ski a few runs then ski with him. By the end of the day the parents looked more worn out than the child!

We left the resort around 4.30pm and made our way back to chez nous, then finished the day off with dinner in Bozel. It was an excellent day in the end and nice to get it in before our season truly begins. The staff begin to arrive next week and it may be a while before we get the chance to do similar.

Picture taken from the top of the Portette lift looking up at the Thorens lift and closed piste.