SNOGS - Snow Blogs
John Yates-Smith, Val d'Isere
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Colder than a deep-freeze - 3/2/2012 18:36John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, February 2, 2012.
What you can't see from this morning's photo is that the temperature was -21º, colder than a deep-freeze. What you can see is how there's no point coming to Val d'Isère unless you're one of the beautiful people, with the latest rear-entry Nordicas, someone else's trousers and curved race poles dragged several feet behind you. It cheered our photographer up no end that someone so resolutely unphotogenic insisted on skiing past his camera. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. The benefits of porridge and steak-and-kidney pie - 2/2/2012 09:53John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on life in Val d'Isère and Sainte-Foy, February 2, 2012.
It's cold again today. Perfect weather for snow cannons. We've never seen so much artificial snow being made as this year. And we've never seen so much of the natural stuff. The summer skiing is going to be epic... Below is an equally dull photo from the neighbouring ski resort of Sainte-Foy last Saturday. It shows all the twelve year-olds who'd just won trophies in two Super Gs. The only thing that you might find vaguely interesting is that English lads won both boys' races, and an English girl (Ines Pearson, front row) won the first girls' race and only didn't win the second because she was determined to beat all the boys as well and wiped out! The French are incredibly nice to these British kids who are whipping their own children's scrawny bottoms, especially as one of the boys is diplomatically christened Nelson! They probably reckon that it's just that Brits of this age tend to be a little heavier than French, who don't know the benefits of porridge or steak-and-kidney pie. No doubt the grenouilles will overtake the rosbifs once they've put on a little more weight and our kids have all turned to flab, like their dads...
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère and Sainte-Foy resort reports. Heigh-ho! - 31/1/2012 11:41John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, January 31, 2012.
The ski instructor, Dave Cowell, says he enjoys hard work, and could watch it all day. The lad with the shovel might not be so convinced. He is James, who appeared in November, looking for a job. We said he could stay for a few days to shovel snow. He's still shovelling snow! He averages six hours' shovelling per day. He now has shoulders like a rugby player and biceps like a boxer. This morning it is snowing again, and he's digging out Chalet Thomily. He is probably very relieved that we're only forecast one more day of snow this week. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Filthy old crow - 26/1/2012 16:15John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, January 26, 2012.
Typical. It's a gorgeous morning, and you line up the perfect photo, with the sun artistically hidden behind a lamp-post, then when you get your prints back from Boots there's a filthy old crow with his packed lunch centre-screen! If you are a grumpy git who doesn't like other people to have good weather, or are coming out later in the season, and would rather your predecessors had snow than sunshine, worry not: the weather is forecast to change for the worse/better tonight... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Ski instead of school - 25/1/2012 12:48John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, January 25, 2012.
What would you have given when you were nine to live in a place where there was no school on Wednesdays, and you had to do this instead? Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. "Why are there so many petrol pumps on the piste, John?" - 24/1/2012 12:25John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, January 24, 2012.
This was the Plan on Solaise earlier this morning. Yesterday's sunshine was but a fleeting aberration, and we're back to cloud and a few snowflakes, with more snow forecast tonight, tomorrow, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday! One of our guests did actually remark on how much fuel those piste bashers must use to need quite so many petrol pumps... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Fresh snow, bright sunshine, empty pistes - 23/1/2012 12:23John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, January 21, 2012.
The sun is back, the conditions are unbelievable, the pistes are empty, and life in the bubble could be worse... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. How to enjoy skiing in a blizzard - 21/1/2012 12:18John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, January 21, 2012.
Yesterday's blizzard is blowing itself out, having dumped half a metre of fresh snow us, but we're expecting more snow this afternoon and a mix of snow, cloud and sunshine over the coming week. Most people did the Tour du Duvet yesterday, like our fairweather photographer, but his brother had a brilliant day. Only a few lifts opened, but there was powder on the pistes and no-one around. His tips to have a blast when everyone else stays indoors: bad weather goggles (he uses the latest photochromic ones, which cost a bomb, but probably less than the several pairs they replace) and a lesson. If you have a professional to follow, you don't have to keep stopping to work out where you are and whether it's safe - you just relax and enjoy it. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Make snow, whether we need it or not - 17/1/2012 11:30John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, January 17, 2012.
The gales of ten days ago took a lot of snow off the peaks and dumped it on the pistes and in the village. And we're forecast fresh snow from Thursday. So what better time to run the snow cannons! There was some criticism last year that they weren't used enough (in fact, they made as much snow as legally allowed - Val can't completely empty the Isère), so this year they're going to make snow whether we need it or not! We can always send some to the Rockies... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Yet more snow coming - 16/1/2012 12:37John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, January 16, 2012.
We're forecast more snow on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Well, that's good news. It will be nice to see some more of the white stuff. Bet the owners of this chalet will be relieved... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Come back grunge, all is forgiven - 13/1/2012 10:56John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, January 13, 2012.
We set off this morning to get a typically fascinating photo of a pile of snow or something, but spotted this snowboarder at the bus stop. We told him we were from a fashion magazine. He didn't seem surprised... Anyone else spotted interesting ski or snowboard clothing on the mountain this season? Send us your photos to editor@welove2ski.com Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. We've got enough, thank you - 9/1/2012 13:53John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, January 9, 2012.
It has finally stopped snowing. We've got enough, thank you. We don't need any more this month, next month, or even the month after that. In fact, if it doesn't snow again until the lifts close on May 1, we've probably got enough. What we want now is some sunshine. And lo and behold, we've got it. January is often the sunniest month of the winter, up here above the clouds, so if you can't face week after week of boring photos and smug comments, you'd better stop looking now... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. A violent regime of unchained elements - 5/1/2012 14:40John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, January 5, 2012.
A VIOLENT REGIME OF UNCHAINED ELEMENTS - that's how Radio Val described it. No, not North Korea or Syria - this afternoon's weather. Up to 80cm of fresh snow, up to 180kph winds. As you can see from this picture of Le Joseray this morning, with three of our chalets on the left, we aren't actually desperate for more snow. The announcer said it was fun from time to time to see just how wild the weather can be in the mountains. We're not sure this week's guests would totally agree... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Red sky at night - 4/1/2012 10:37John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, January 4, 2012.
This was yesterday evening. Red sky at night...So how delighted were the shepherds to wake up to a blizzard this morning? Could this be why they're still shepherds, not sheep farmers?
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. It's snowing again! - 2/1/2012 17:36John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, January 2, 2012.
Here are the roofs of our chalets Les Gnellets, Chez Savoy and La Moraine as it started snowing again, a couple of hours ago. It's fairly bucketing down now, and a further 15cm have already fallen since the shot was taken. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. All is quiet...on New Year's Day - 1/1/2012 18:06John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, January 1, 2012.
You need to be a good skier to wear trousers like those... This was Solaise at lunchtime. It's allegedly the busiest day of the season, but there were no queues, except for glühwein at the Bar de l'Ouillette. It was warm and sunny, with 75cm of fresh snow to play in places. If that isn't enough for you, take heart: we're forecast more of the white stuff on five of the next seven days!! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. More than enough snow - 28/12/2011 17:50John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, December 28, 2011.
This was Le Fornet yesterday afternoon. If you think there looks like more than enough snow, check out the weather forecast: still more snow on Friday and Saturday, then blinding sunshine on New Year's Day. Just what you want when your head hurts and you need Ray-Bans to brush your teeth... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Oh no...not more snow - 24/12/2011 16:58John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, December 24, 2011.
Today's photo was going to be this view of the Pointe de la Foglietta, seen yesterday through the windscreen of a YSE coach. After two weeks of non-stop snow, it seemed as though at last it was time to play! But below is what we actually woke up to this morning, Saturday. IT'S SNOWING AGAIN!!! Noooooooo... Enough is enough! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Celebrate! It's finally stopped snowing... - 23/12/2011 20:56John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, December 23, 2011.
You might have thought that last night's ESF show, with its amazing skiing demonstration, astounding torchlight descent and awesome firework display, merited something better than one wobbly hand-held shot apparently taken with an old phone out of somebody's bathroom window. But it does show that the snow has finally stopped falling, and that's all we really need to know. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Still snowing - 21/12/2011 12:01John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, December 21, 2011.
Goodie, it's still snowing! The blanket of snow hanging from the roof will soon meet the vast pile of powder building up in the garden. Talking of blankets, the window pictured is in our photographer's boudoir. Please take note, ladies, particularly if you're YSE (young, single and elegant), though all offers will be considered. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Val d'Isere's disappearing act - 18/12/2011 16:57John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, December 18, 2011.
Val d'Isère is literally disappearing under the snow. Three metres have already fallen, about three months' worth in an average winter, and more than over the whole of last season. And it hasn't finished yet... After a few days of hunkering down indoors, everyone is back on the slopes today, where the conditions are PHENOMENAL. Or so we are told - we're busy rushing around hotels, restaurants and coach companies, picking up the tab for the travel chaos on Friday. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. It's still snowing in Val d'Isere! - 15/12/2011 11:18John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, December 15, 2011.
It's STILL snowing! 15cm overnight and 20cm forecast for the day. But tomorrow's the big one: 50-80cm. Then we're forecast light snowfalls throughout the week, interspersed with sunny periods (check welove2ski's latest Weather Maps). It's great news for those of you coming out tomorrow, though the journey could take a few minutes longer than usual. Val d'Isère has been cut off all morning by a truck that got stuck, and our airport reps are being issued with compo rations, toothbrushes and War and Peace...
LATER... Our photographer left Val d'Isère at midnight to be sure of reaching the airport by midday. Before going he took this picture. The lumpy thing in the middle is a 12ft snow sculpture of Father Christmas. The couple were photographing it. It was still perfect. By tonight an Englishman will have carved rude words in it, a Scotsman will have had a fight with it and a Frenchman will have let his dog pee on it, but for the moment it is pristine... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Snow forecast on and off for the next nine days - 14/12/2011 13:23John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, December 14, 2011.
Here's the garden of our Maison du Rocher chalet this morning. 12cm of snow have fallen over night, 30cm on the upper slopes. We're now forecast snow off and on for the next nine days. This is the best start to a season our photographer can remember, and he can remember thirty-seven!
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Slightly better weather in Val - 13/12/2011 15:49John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, December 13, 2011.
Today's picture was taken in the same place as yesterday's, just with slightly better weather (which has since deteriorated) and rather better skiers (and yes, they were real skiers yesterday, not, as one cynical reader suggested, cardboard cut-outs painted by our photographer's children!). Before any armchair experts start saying that their knees aren't far enough apart, we should point out that this instructor won more World Cup races than the whole UK has yet managed, and is considered one of Europe's top race coaches. (Several paragraphs followed about how the current dogma that one must always ski in the John Wayne stance is just as silly as the previous one that one's knees should be locked together like a monoskier's, but we got bored, and anyway our photographer can't ski in either position and should stick to taking pictures...) Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Snow forecast every day for a week - 12/12/2011 14:14John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, December 12, 2011.
After a bluebird weekend we're back to snow, with more forecast every day for at least a week. The powder is ideal for frolicking in, especially as the air isn't too cold (the snow/rain limit is at about 1700m). Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Bottomless powder - 8/12/2011 16:57John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, December 8, 2011. Here is one of Alpine Andreas's customers digging the bottomless powder yesterday...
Here are two saisonnaires doing the same...
Here's the Face this morning...
And here's La Daille.
Half as much snow has fallen in 48 hours as in the whole of last winter. And we'll see a few of you lucky people at Geneva tomorrow (unless we decide to go skiing instead). Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. That's more like it! - 7/12/2011 08:50John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, December 7, 2011.
It's still snowing! We've never before seen Val d'Isère go from autumn to midwinter in two days. Nearly a metre of perfect light, dry snow has fallen already, and we're forecast 30-60cm more today. The whole area is scheduled to open this morning, if they can dig the lifts out. The powder on Solaise yesterday was apparently the best for years... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Two snowflakes on the forecast - 6/12/2011 14:01John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, December 6, 2011.
It's still snowing. The piste service are grooming the runs on Bellevarde so they can open them and the link with Tignes, and the top of Le Fornet was closed first thing while they dynamited excess snow. This is what happens when MétéoFrance puts one snowflake on the forecast. This afternoon and tomorrow we have two snowflakes... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. View from Solaise - 3/12/2011 17:10John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, December 2, 2011. This is the view yesterday from the Bar de l'Ouillette, on Solaise.
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Brilliant conditions on the glacier - 27/11/2011 17:13
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, November 27, 2011. This little girl was enjoying brilliant conditions on the glacier thismorning. We tend to forget how much great skiing there is on the Pissaillas, perhaps because it's right on the edge of the Espace Killy, and by the time you reached it you needed to come back down again to find lunch or a loo. That is changing this season, of course, with the new restaurant. The Fornet is open down to the cable-car station, while the Madeleine, Glacier and other runs on Solaise are also in reasonable condition. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Loads of artificial snow in the village... - 16/11/2011 11:18John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, November 16, 2011. OK, so you're not surprised that Val d'Isère has six feet of snow on its glacier, and natural snow down to 2300m.
But what do you think about the conditions in this neighbouring resort?
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Gilding the lily - or not - 15/11/2011 14:26
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, November 15, 2011. This is Val d'Isère today, Tuesday 15 November. People sometimes accuse us of trying to make it look better than it is. Does one need to gild refined gold, to paint the lily, to throw a perfume on the violet, to quote Bob Dylan or whoever it was? Actually, there is less snow in the village than usual. However, the cannons have started putting down a base on the lower slopes and topping up the natural snow above 2300m, the Pissaillas Glacier already has deep powder, and there's excellent skiing right now on the Grande Motte. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. So much snow - 8/11/2011 09:07
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, November 10, 2011. This is the end of the valley, up towards the Italian border, in last night's moonlight. On Monday we stated that more than a foot of snow had fallen on the upper slopes. This was a mistake, for which we apologise. Six feet of snow had fallen - 1m80. So much snow the ratraks had to winch themselves up the glacier to groom it. It was one of the famous retours d'est, where the wind from Italy dumps snow on Val d'Isère and practically nowhere else.
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. More snow at altitude - 7/11/2011 16:24John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, November 7, 2011. More than a foot of snow has just fallen on the upper slopes, which means that even if the Lord sends floods, pestilence and locusts now, Val d'Isère is guaranteed some good skiing when the lifts open in a couple of weeks.
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Looking good! - 26/10/2011 19:22John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on life in Val d'Isère, October 26, 2011. Lifts open one month today. It's starting to look good...
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Red berry yellow berry - 20/10/2011 17:37John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on life in Val d'Isère, October 20, 2011. The jury is still out on whether the rowan berries or great yellow gentians can predict the weather, but Météo France didn't do badly...
...and here's a picture of Solaise today. Snow from top to bottom. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. It's all yellow in Val - 18/10/2011 14:34John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on life in Val d'Isère, October 17, 2011. The icy nights and sunny days are giving Val d'Isère some pretty colours right now, though the locals say we're in for a cold and snowy winter, starting tomorrow! How do they know? Cold, from the extra berries on the mountain ash. Snowy, from the height of the yellow gentians. And starting tomorrow, from France Meteo -watch this space...
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
No horseplay at Val d'Isère - 10/10/2011 08:05John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on life in Val d'Isère, October 9, 2011. If you read this fellow's lips, you can see that he is muttering a very rude word. He was on the bottom of the Raye yesterday, and visibly unimpressed that winter has come so early. But in just 47 days we'll show you the first skiers enjoying the same slope, and probably a little happier not to find grass...
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
News from Val d'Isere - 7/10/2011 16:47John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on life in Val d'Isère, October 7, 2011. The first blizzard of the winter hit last night...
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
How green is our Val d'Isère? - 5/9/2011 18:18John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on life in Val d'Isère, September 5, 2011.
Instead of the normal boring merry-go-round, there was a rotating shed, turned entirely by the energy of the couple on the see-saw. In place of naff painted ponies, it had bits of old junk and plastic pumpkins which would otherwise have gone to the tip. Just look at that kid's little face - have you ever seen such happiness? And the adults, overjoyed to provide parent power. Val d'Isère is so environmentally aware it recently commissioned a study into how it could reduce skiers' use of energy and production of greenhouse gases and pollution. A bunch of researchers with sandals and sociology degrees took a year to find out that the biggest culprit was the customers' transport to the resort. Apparently, Val d'Isère would reduce its carbon footprint by 75% if the punters stayed home. For some reason, the results of that survey were never hugely publicised... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Guaranteed snow for next season - 29/8/2011 12:22John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on life in Val d'Isère, August 28 2011. This is the new snow cannon reservoir on Bellevarde, finally nearing completion after a year's delay while the Ministry for Protecting Alpine Pinks (a rare flower, except in the Alps) thought up eight different ways in which Val d'Isère could atone for uprooting a clump of them.
80,000 tons of water will be pumped up in the autumn, and hence not included in the winter quotas. So that's a further 160,000 m3 of guaranteed snow next season... Mother Nature may have blessed Val d'Isère with just about the best snowfall and longest season in Europe, but the resort is taking no chances. This side of the Espace Killy alone has some 550 snow cannons, including the 57 going in right now, covering 30 miles of pistes. Ratraks guided by GPS, snow depth checked with radar - no stone is left unturned to safeguard Val d'Isère's greatest USP. Well, no stone is left, full stop. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Nothing to do with skiing or snow - 22/8/2011 09:00
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on life in Val d'Isère, August 21 2011. The following pictures have nothing to do with skiing or snow, which makes a nice change. And they are not borrowed from Oxfam, even if they seem to show pitifully thin people in need of a square meal. We actually nicked them off Radio Val d'Isère's report on yesterday's closure to motorised traffic of the road up the Col de l'Iseran, so that 400-odd masochists could bike up it in safety and silence.
The bottom picture shows half-English local skier Ingrid Jacquemod, who although she has retired from racing and doesn't need to stay fit, still can't think of a better way to spend a sunny Sunday morning than cycling 930m up the highest pass in Europe.
The fastest times for the 18km were under an hour, which is about two hours less than our photographer took last week. Still, these people have an unfair advantage going up, with their carbon fibre frames and low-fat bodies. We bet our man beat them coming back down. A well-padded rider with aerodynamic abs on a rusty old bike with knackered brakes must go downhill faster than these scrawny little fitness fanatics with their tap-dance shoes and shaven legs. And going downhill fast is something our photographer knows about...
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Frosty mornings - 12/8/2011 11:21John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions on the Val d'Isère glacier, August 12 2011.
There's frost in the mornings now. It's no surprise for the well-prepared local, such as our photographer, who has just scraped his windscreen with his son's favourite Adele CD. But it means that Val d'Isère's brief summer is practically over. Have you thought about your ski holiday yet? Don't leave it too long: Val d'Isère is selling like hot tartiflette. We have just one chalet left for Christmas, four at half-term, six at Easter... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
T Snowy mass - 24/7/2011 22:03John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions on the Val d'Isère glacier, July 24 2011.
Going to mass this morning probably wasn't quite such a test of faith for you as it was for this member of the congregation of Notre Dame de Toute Prudence on the Col de l'Iseran... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Conditions still perfect on the glacier - 1/7/2011 19:06John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions on the Val d'Isère glacier, July 1 2011.
Down in Val d'Isère village, the French mountain bike championships and world trials bike championships got underway today, but up here on the glacier, conditions are still perfect for skiing. We're glad to see that this lad has got his skis the right way round: last time we saw him the tip deflectors were back to front, so if he'd clipped a gate, it would have been pushed inwards, not outwards. Good if you want to join the Vienna Boys' Choir, perhaps, but not the French ski team... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Which is the better glacier for summer skiing: Val d'Isère or Tignes? - 27/6/2011 15:47John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions on the Val d'Isère glacier, June 27 2011.
Conditions on Val d'Isère's glacier were fantastic today. There were over five hundred skiers up there this morning - former champions and future champions, all with perfect technique. Plus our photographer. If you've noticed the logo on this skier's helmet, and wonder why the Tignes squad pay to train in Val d'Isère when their own glacier is both higher and bigger, it is because the Pissaillas faces north-west, and the snow stays good from 07.00 until around 11.30, even on a hot day like today. The Grande Motte glacier comes into its own in the autumn. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Looking good on the glacier (if you were lucky enough to be there) - 15/6/2011 16:36John Yates-Smith of YSE has posted this picture of conditions on the glacier above Val d'Isère, June 15 2011.
This was Val d'Isère's glacier earlier today. Before you start muttering about what a lucky piece of earth our photographer is, spending his days in the sunshine, following shapely French lasses up lifts and down pistes, he didn't take this photo. He is in drizzly Dorset, arguing with tree-huggers about how much the YSE brochure contributes to climate change. Doesn't planting forests to make paper capture carbon? So long as you don't set fire to it, a big brochure must absorb more Chinese coal smoke than any number of websites and emailed newsletters, mustn't it? Anyway, he's been out-voted, and this year's YSE brochure is going to be printed on recycled paper bags... In any case, he probably wouldn't have been allowed to ski. The lifts have only been opened to racers thus far. There are Italian teams practising on snow the local French aren't allowed to use. You can imagine how that's going down. Watch this space! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Val d'Isère cut off by deep snow - 1/6/2011 15:30John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the freak snow conditions in Val d'Isère, June 1, 2011.
It may be el Niño. It could be climate change in general. Perhaps it's the decline of religion in the Western World. But something is playing hell with the weather. Val d'Isère was cut off this morning by deep snow and literally hundreds of trees, which had collapsed under its weight and fallen across the road. You may think 1 June is a tad late for bottomless powder, but it's very good news for the glacier, which opens for summer skiing next week. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
The final fun(i) - 3/5/2011 12:10John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, May 3, 2011.
The Final Funi was full of surprisingly sober young people, with no more outrageous behaviour than the occasional young lady exposing an unwaxed tummy.
It was all very colourful. A couple of years ago, the revellers wore bright colours asa joke, but now it's what they wear all the time. Fluorescent is cool again!
Various means of transport were tried, including toboggans...
more toboggans...
skis...
the famous para-brella...
and even a shopping trolley, still with a euro in its coin lock.
This genuine blonde seemed surprised she didn't go as fast in her plastic box as...
these two on their upturned inflatable tortoise, though neither was as quick... ...as this girl on her upturned man!
One of the tortoise girls found a more congenial mount...
...while the other struggled on.
There were a couple of life rafts, which kept running over smaller vessels...
...and seemed largely filled with spare body parts.
A friendly pisteur had to tow one of them down...
...then rescue someone in a body bag...
...while his colleague didn't seem surprised that a leprechaun had climbed in his bloodwagon!
And so, ladies and gentlemen, another season ends in snow and celebration. Everybody has seen what we've always said - that if in a snowy season Val d'Isère has the best skiing in Europe, in a less snowy season it often has pretty much the only skiing in Europe. OK, the Rockies have had ten times more snow this year than the Alps, but that means that it hassnowed there nearly all day nearly every day, which isn't everybody's idea of fun... People say that Val d'Isère is expensive. It's true that if you stay at the Barmes de l'Ours, lunch at the Fruitière, drink at the Blizzard and dine at the Becca, you can spend a lot. But there are tons of muchcheaper alternatives, and we challenge you to find better value for money anywhere in the world. To us, what makes Val d'Isère really special is perhaps summed up in the last shot: a senior pisteur, who has just spent five months keeping the runs in perfect condition and rescuing injured people, merrily skis the bumps from the Folie Douce to La Daille with a full-grown leprechaun in his sledge! Val d'Isère is extraordinarily friendly, welcoming and unpretentious. It's like a beautiful woman (or handsome man?) who hasn't realised she's beautiful (or handsome? No, good-looking men always think they're good-looking. In fact, most ugly men do...). Anyway, if our photographer sees anything interesting over the summer, he may send you a shot or two. Otherwise, see you next winter! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Final day - 1/5/2011 10:23John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, May 1, 2011.
May 1, 2011 The 156th and final day of this brilliant season started, like most of the others, with a good re-freeze, velvet pistes and bright sunshine. The spring snow off-piste was incredible. The Stade Français held a slalom on the OK for anyone who had recovered from the final Folie Douce the day before - mostly French, and serious skiers. We'll send you pictures tomorrow of the next wave of people going down the OK this afternoon - mostly British, no doubt, and serious après-skiers. Our photographer only went up to get a photo or two, but stayed to enjoy the flattering conditions (he needs flattering conditions), then skied down to La Daille through the slushy moguls. And somewhere between the Fruitière and Trifollet he reckons he finally sorted out his pole plant. Thanks, Mountain Masters. Stab the dwarf in the foot then punch him on the nose. He can't wait to do it again. Roll on 26 November. Just 209 days to go... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
The spirit is willing - 28/4/2011 19:16John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 28, 2011.
The spirit is willing, but the flèche is weekly, and quite a challenge. It is the ESF's timed giant slalom, and yesterday's was the last of the season. This was one of the people you had to race against... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Sarah's celebrated brownies - 27/4/2011 17:27John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 27, 2011.
These are Sarah's celebrated brownies in Chalet des Neiges. At this time of the season, cakes take on increased importance. Partly because the best skiing is over by 3pm, and everyone heads home for tea. Partly because many of our guests have already stayed with us once or twice this winter, and don't feel the need to ski from the first lift until the last. Partly because all the clubs and bars in Val d'Isère are doing close-down evenings, and for some of our younger guests this is breakfast... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Practising in the Valpark - 26/4/2011 10:28John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 26, 2011.
If you're a proper skier, you probably despise park rats with twin tips and baggy bottoms almost as much as snowboarders. But they don't lack courage. Here's a picture of the eight members of the YSE freestyle team very nearly messing up big time the other day. Lewis, the one at the front, dropped a pole and had to go back for it. Louis panicked and dropped one too. Luigi tried to avoid them both, and wiped, while Ludwig is about to collide with all three. Luiz can see what is about to happen, Ludovic is looking over his shoulder rather worried, Lou is spinning merrily and Louise is trying to stop mid-take-off. It's amazing none of them was injured. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
It's still winter on the Grande Motte and a few other places - 25/4/2011 16:22John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 25, 2011.
This was at the very bottom of the Raye at 10 this morning. Our final ninety guests, who arrived yesterday, were amazed to find good piste skiing this low. You wouldn't want to try heading off through those trees, but above the mid-stations there are excellent spring conditions on-piste and off, and it's still winter on the Pissaillas and Grande Motte. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Corny remarks - 22/4/2011 09:23John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 22, 2011.
We have just received the following email: "Dear YSE. It is a little maddening to see your corny remarks every day, saying how wonderful Val d'Isère is. It gets very boring after a while, and I am sorry to say, is one of the reasons I would NOT go to Val!!!" So here's a shot of a couple of old fellows yesterday afternoon, not looking totally relaxed but having a ball, in those wonderful big slushy moguls in wonderful, er, Milton Keynes. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
The Final Funi - 21/4/2011 10:33John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 21, 2011.
Is it already the Final Funi, with people in fancy dress (the car mechanic and the cosmonaut)? No, this is just what the debonair ski instructor and his pupil wear nowadays. They were at the bottom of La Daille, on Val d'Isère's very lowest slope, at 9.28 this morning. The trouble is, do you believe us any more? Having seen how nifty we are with Photoshop yesterday - taking a shot of a girl skiing all alone and adding some blokes - you'll never trust our pictures again! But we swear we never make the conditions look better than they are. Why not? Because we're an honest, ethical company who'd hate to take your money under false pretences? No, because we'd get found out! Our photos are seen by competitors in other resorts, by journalists and by people on holiday here in Val d'Isère. Everyone can check the webcams. If we cloned in a few extra feet of snow, someone would notice. And anyway, we don't need to. If we want to attract people to Val d'Isère, all we need to do is show it how it is... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Not just for bearded weirdos with skins and rucksacks! - 20/4/2011 11:26John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 20, 2011. We wanted a shot to show how good the skiing is right now, not just for bearded weirdos with skins and rucksacks, but for normal people. Young people. Even female people... There was a time when if our photographer asked a pretty young thing to ski for the camera, she turned up alone. Nowadays they feel safer chaperoned by half a rugby scrum. Hell, one of those guys only started skiing on Monday. One's a snowboarder! (Can you guess which one?) Our photographer had a nightmare getting rid of them (see below).
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Here's another lesson on how to plant your poles... - 19/4/2011 16:24John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 19, 2011.
This is Lolo McCallum with her class this morning. She's a local girl who married an Englishman, and an excellent instructress if you don't mind your kids' sounding slightly Scouse after their lesson. Zoom in on the bibs and you'll read '8 élèves'. These are the ESF classes limited to a maximum of eight children, and an excellent idea, though whoever was counting seems to have included Lolo (she's about the right size). People keep asking if this is our last week. No way! Next week's eight-day spectacular until Monday May 2 is the last week, and it's going to be a classic. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Ker-thwack! - 18/4/2011 16:16John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 18, 2011. Today is yet another perfect day. Wall-to-wall sunshine, -3º first thing on the nursery slopes, more than enough snow...But you've been subjected to more than enough photos of more than enough snow recently, and it's time for something different. Our photographer wondered exactly what makes the 'ker-thwack' sound as skiers go through a slalom course, so here's a series of photos he's been trying to analyse. In the first few shots, the skier is turning right around a red gate. His skis go around it, but the rest of him seems to go over the top. His right shin and left hand hit the pole ('ker') and knock it flat onto the snow ('thwack'). He then turns left around the blue gate, hitting it with his left leg and right hand. Our man was rather depressed by these pictures. Not just because the 11-year old skier looks better than he ever will, but because brother Dick took them with a pocket Panasonic, which produces ten sharp, perfectly exposed shots per second, while with his own sackful of SLRs he seldom gets one!
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
The Paris Ski Championships - 16/4/2011 14:28John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 16, 2011.
The Paris Ski Championships are taking place on the OK this weekend. They are always held in Val d'Isère in April. Don't worry, we're not going to bang on about how good conditions are here. We know it's annoying if you've booked a resort where when they say they have three feet of snow, they're measuring horizontally. Or if you've just bought a chalet in a field...But it does look good, doesn't it? Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
An inch of fresh powder! - 15/4/2011 15:15John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 15, 2011.
It's a cold, sunny morning, with an inch of powder at the mid-stations, so the local primary school cancelled lessons and went cross-country skiing instead! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
A cold, grey, rather unphotogenic day - 14/4/2011 11:54John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 14, 2011. Today is a cold, grey, rather unphotogenic day. So here's a picture from yesterday afternoon. It shows, er, a load of snow. Again. Which is pretty jolly boring, unless you're coming to Val d'Isère over the next two weeks.
So here's something a bit more interesting: the work of our Product Placement Department.If Nescafé paid £100,000 to have one of their coffee machines on breakfast TV, how much do you think it cost YSE to have our name on that fancy Audi on the skating rink, or on the Suzuki Jeremy Clarkson tested for the Sunday Times? You're right. Absolutely nothing. Cheeky blighters didn't even ask! Can we sue? Obviously, Audi and Clarkson are fans of YSE, but does anyone understand why both cars had exactly the same number?
The snow has stopped melting... - 13/4/2011 14:40John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 13, 2011.
OK, it's a terrible photograph, but it will give great pleasure to anyone coming skiing next week: the heat-wave is over and we're back to proper April temperatures. The avalanche danger has fallen to the minimum 1/5 level, the spring snow is incredible, the pistes are still open right down to Les Brevières, and the snow has stopped melting. (Well, it has in Val d'Isère and Tignes. If you're going to ******* or **********, at least the mud will be firmer to walk on...) Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
So that's what clouds look like! - 12/4/2011 12:04John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 12, 2011.
So that's what clouds look like! We'd forgotten. We were promised bad weather today, and our photographer was planning to put his inner boots and ski socks through the washing machine (yes, that's what he does: low temperature and slow spin for the liners, boil wash for the socks). But he's evidently gone skiing instead, and will just have to spray some more Lynx in the boots... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
The least snowy winter for 60 years - 11/4/2011 11:09John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 11, 2011.
The least snowy winter for 60 years, and the hottest 10 days ever in April... Even in Val d'Isère, bare patches are beginning to appear, but the skiing is still amazing, and there are three wide, beautifully prepared pistes open right down to La Daille. Will the snow last until the end? You bet it will! Temperatures are already dropping, with a good re-freeze last night, and we're forecast fresh snow later this week. Our photographer will walk down from the Final Funi at 5pm on Sunday 1 May, photographing all the usual revellers in rubber rings, paddling pools, deckchairs and mankinis as they slide their merry way down the OK. He says there's always snow top-to-bottom, and there's usually a blizzard blowing. And he's putting his money where his mouse is: he has just booked his children's ski lessons for June and July! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Not a rock in sight - 9/4/2011 10:24John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 8, 2011.
This was at 1.05pm yesterday - perfect spring snow above Le Fornet. In spite of the heat-wave, a family going home tomorrow emailed us the following last night: "We have had a fantastic holiday and have skied every day from 9am to 5pm. Obviously, the glaciers have the best snow, and lower down it's slushy in the afternoon, but generally conditions above the mid-stations are very good indeed. Today we skied down to La Daille at 17.10 on great snow - a bit wet, but still masses of it and not a rock in sight - and the Solaise and Fornet areas are even better. Thank heavens we came to Val d'Isère!" Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Flyby - 8/4/2011 08:56John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 8, 2011.
The Patrouille de France flew over Val d'Isère yesterday to mark the start of the Scara, the world skiing world championships for 11-14 year-olds. They were trailing red, white and blue smoke. How nice of the French to choose the colours of Great Britain. Perhaps it was an attempt to cheer us up for the fact that we are not among the 31 nations represented in the races... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
No snow in Val? Just joking - 7/4/2011 12:28John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 7, 2011.
There's no snow in the Alps. It's all melted. Look how bad Solaise looked yesterday afternoon... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Perfect iced corduroy - 6/4/2011 15:10John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 6, 2011.
Henry in the Hello Kitty helmet Temperatures at the moment are 10º above average, and the snow low down is melting fast. We are being inundated with calls from worried people trying to switch their holidays from other resorts to Val d'Isère, yet even here we're not as smug as usual. Radio Val announced this morning that the snow hadn't re-frozen, even on the glacier, so our photographer was a little surprised to ski perfect iced corduroy from the top of the Funival to the bottom at 9.30. There must be some amazing spring snow around, if you know where to look. For the uninitiated, spring snow is snow that has melted and re-frozen several times until it is forms a smooth sheet of ice. You then ski it when the sun has been on it for a short while after a cold night. It's firm underneath and soft on top, like skiing on a white billiard table... Normally, our photographer puts his faith in Henry of Henry's Avalanche Talk and Alpine Experience to find the best off-piste without taking risks. Well, he did. That has just changed, since our man caught Henry trying to attack him, wearing not just his usual ABS bag but also a flowery helmet probably made by Hello Kitty for nine-year old girls... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Choose carefully - 5/4/2011 10:40John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 5, 2011.
This picture gives an idea why you need to choose so carefully where you ski at Easter. Half the average snowfall, record April temperatures and rain yesterday up to at least 2500m explain why the south-facing slopes and valley floor are bare of snow, while the lower off-piste areas have pretty much all avalanched. Yet from the nursery slopes up, Val d'Isère's pistes are in excellent condition if you hit them at the right time, and here, at the top of Bellevarde, there are a couple of inches of powder on a firm base. All the distant runs on the back of Solaise and top of Le Fornet are still superb. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Nothing to do with Mother's Day - 4/4/2011 12:36John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 4, 2011.
This picture has nothing to do with Mother's Day, though our Aquila chalet girl's mother did work with us a lifetime or two ago, and is not an April Fool, even if Holly does seem to be grinding black pepper onto strawberry tarts! (They're actually crostini topped with cream cheese, Parma ham and macerated strawberries marinated in a balsamic reduction. Or something like that.) Before you lads start emailing about what a lucky *** our photographer is, let us make it clear that he is not allowed to touch the subjects of his photos. Those canapés were strictly out of bounds... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Happy Mother's Day! - 4/4/2011 12:34John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 3, 2011.
This is for one iPad-using, marmalade-making 86-year old, and all the other mothers out there.. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Mountain rescue charges double for non-helmet wearers - 1/4/2011 15:09John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, April 1, 2011.
Have you bought your helmet yet? As of today, the Val d'Isère piste rescue service is charging double to rescue people not wearing helmets. Studies have shown that skiers with helmets are 75% less likely to suffer a head injury than skiers in bobble hats. And since they are 97% more likely to be involved in a collision than skiers in bobble hats, this is a substantial advantage. They are also 61% less likely to be injured than the other skiers, lift operators or ratrak drivers they take out - making helmet-wearers the ultimate victors. For totally carefree skiing, nothing beats the iPod, as modelled by Alex, above. Her last thought will probably be 'Wow, I never noticed 'WATCH OUT!' in this track before.' Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Perfect-weather-perfect-snow-and-nobody-else-on-the-piste skiing - 31/3/2011 13:16John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 31, 2011.
This picture of the rocky peak of Bellevarde tells us that the skiing is brilliant today. Not just because it shows that the weather is beautiful, or that there's as much snow at altitude as at any time this winter. Nor because it looks good and cold up there (-7º at 3000m, -2º in the village) so even the lowest pistes are in excellent condition this morning. But because this, once again, is a view from our photographer's boudoir - and that implies that he was in a hurry to go skiing. Since our man isn't so much a fair-weather skier as a perfect-weather-perfect-snow-and-nobody-else-on-the-piste skier, this means that today's conditions must be pretty damn amazing! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Blast from the past - 30/3/2011 13:33John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 30, 2011.
10cm of snow fell this morning in the resort, up to 30cm on the upper slopes. Nice big fluffy flakes like we hadn't seen for a while. So what's this random cross planted in the garden of our Chalet des Neiges, with its inscription Mission de 1925? Apparently some Bible-bashers from Bourg came and tried to convert the heathen hedonists of Val d'Isère in 1925. Six years later the first ski school opened, and two years after that the first ski lift. So we can assume they failed. We have a pretty baroque church, but it's mostly used for hatching, matching and dispatching. And at a recent funeral the hymn, in English, was Papa Was a Rolling Stone (including such devout lines as 'never heard nothing but bad things about him. Papa never worked a day in his life, stealing in the name of the Lord. Papa was never much on thinking. Spent most of his time chasing women and drinking'), which may not have eased his passage through the Pearly Gates... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
What a difference a day makes... - 29/3/2011 20:21John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 29, 2011.
This was at 9.35 this morning. Our photographer waited ten minutes for someone actually to appear on the Plan. It was -3º in the village first thing and -7º on the glacier, with 2cm fresh powder. Perfect weather, excellent snow, empty pistes. If you're among the people with Easter holidays booked in other resorts who keep calling to see what we've got left, here it is: one room next week, two and a half rooms the following week, and a single bed for a male (or brave female) on 17 April. However, if you can come out on Easter Sunday for our amazingly inexpensive end-of-season eight-day spectacular, finishing with the Final Funi and flying home on Bank Holiday Monday, you will go into summer with a smile on your face. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Cannons make light work of the snow drought - 28/3/2011 19:35John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 28, 2011.
There's not much sunshine today, but you can probably just about make out the plumes of snow behind those skiers on Solaise. While the snow cannons are unlikely to run again this season, the snow they made in December gave us a base we're very glad of now. It may be the least snowy season for decades, and the temperatures are more like May than March, but there's still hardly a stone showing or a patch of brown anywhere in the Espace Killy. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Thinking about next year already? - 26/3/2011 18:26John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 26, 2011.
Our photographer was rather hoping the Ratrak would start up, if only to wipe the smile off that boy's face! The Ratraks are working hard at the moment in Val d'Isère, in contrast to most resorts where there isn't much snow left to groom. Let's be honest: in a snowy winter, Val d'Isère has much of the best skiing in Europe; in a less snowy winter, it often has pretty much the only decent skiing in Europe. OK, the Rockies may have had eight times more snow than the Alps this year, but do you really love powder so much you want non-stop blizzards for four months? We're having a brilliant season, and the majority of our guests have gone home saying it was their best ski holiday ever. This may gall people who have been trying to ski elsewhere, but the inhabitants of Val d'Isère have had to put up with living in one of the highest, coldest, snowiest spots in the Alps for a thousand years. They deserve to reap the benefits. Not surprisingly, a lot of people are asking us if we've worked out next season's prices yet. No, we haven't. With sterling going through the floor and aviation fuel through the roof, we won't be able to give 2011-12 prices for some months. But if you want to be sure you've got a chalet in Val d'Isère tied down for next winter and can confirm it with a deposit, we'll guarantee you prices pretty much identical to this year's (if not lower, varying a little with the school holidays etc). But you need to move fast... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
British Aerials Team in Val - 25/3/2011 15:57John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 25, 2011.
We're forecast very mixed weather next week, but today is another stunning day and our photographer is in a hurry to get up the hill. So here's a shot from last week showing the British Aerials Team practising back flips in the park. If any of those guys had fallen, the ones behind would surely have killed him... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
We're back! - 24/3/2011 12:02John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 24, 2011. Today's photo is back! What do you mean, you hadn't noticed it had gone? Of our 1500 subscribers, three have asked what's happened to their daily picture. The other 99.8% haven't. So for those three, deprived by a dodgy Apple logic board, here are the missing days...
The full moon certainly brought a change of weather on Saturday night! We went to sleep from a week of wind, cloud and snow and woke to a week of perfect conditions. On Monday we photographed some of our exhausted, overworked, exploited staff trying to leave town:
So on Tuesday we thought we'd better show that they do actually work as well - and demonstrate a novel use for a bin bag in the process. Don't worry - some of the paint got on the wall:
On Wednesday we would have really annoyed people in other ski resorts by showing how much snow there is in Val d'Isère at the moment...
...while our final shot shows children preparing to compete in a super-G in a neighbouring resort yesterday:
You can see how high the snow line is. The narrow strip of white on the left is a piste! If friends ask why you come to Val d'Isère, show them these two pictures. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Backflips and more snow as the European X Games comes to town - 19/3/2011 13:33John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 19, 2011.
It's snowing again today (Saturday), so our photographer has gone back to bed and sent us this from yesterday's European X Games in Tignes. No, you're not imagining things, and there hasn't been any photoshoppery. This is one of the several competitors in the think-how-good-it-will-look-in-your-obituary category. Who on earth found out first that you can backflip a skidoo? And how do you practise this? Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Next week: wall-to-wall sunshine! - 18/3/2011 16:04John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 18, 2011.
After another dusting of snow, the sun is finally trying to break through. Not very successfully, but enough to bring out the paragliders on their spectacular mating flight. We may get a patch or two of blue sky this afternoon, then more snow tomorrow. Our guests have been very stoical about being here for the worst week of the season, but what has really irritated them is next week's forecast: wall-to-wall sunshine! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Why are you sitting in front of your computer?! - 17/3/2011 17:53John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 17, 2011.
If that poor chough looks exhausted, it's probably because he had to hover there for about ten minutes while our photographer set his camera up. Another 5cm of snow fell in the village overnight, with 10cm on the upper slopes and 20cm on the glacier, where it's currently -7º and the powder is excellent. And you are, er, sitting in front of your computer... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Good news for those heading to Val next week - 16/3/2011 15:05John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 16, 2011.
There is 65cm of snow at village level and over 130cm at the mid-stations. 10-15cm fell on the upper slopes overnight, and more is forecast for the coming days. For this week's guests it's a bit tedious that the only sun they have seen was on Monday, but for anyone coming out in the second half of March or in April, it's all good news. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Warm winds in Val - 15/3/2011 19:24John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 15, 2011.
The warm foehn is blowing hard today, and the flags by the Funi are flapping ferociously. This isn't one of those seasons when you can risk a sweet little resort three feet above sea-level where your hotel costs 99p a night and smiling locals pay you to eat their tartiflette. Even if fresh snow is forecast this week, it isn't going to last long on top of mud. Sorry, folks, if you aren't skiing high this winter, you aren't skiing... If you'd rather sunbathe anyway, but worry that all the deck chairs outside the Brussel's and Grand Paradis will have gone by 7am, fear not - the K-Factor in Val d'Isère is particularly low. Our hunnophile photographer is probably the only person to have noticed that their flag has been upside down all season! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Up and at 'em! - 14/3/2011 11:55John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 14, 2011.
We have excellent snow and hazy sunshine this morning, which hasn't gone down as well as you might have imagined with this week's guests. The trouble is that we promised them bad weather for today, so they all stayed up late consuming admirable quantities of YSE's egregiously potable house wines, and weren't over-chuffed to be dazzled by the sun coming through their curtains first thing... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Heading to Val? Bring your powder skis! - 11/3/2011 14:58John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 11, 2011.
April has arrived in the Alps a month early. The temperature had risen from -10º to +3º by 10am, and at lunchtime it was +10º. But conditions are absolutely wonderful. The snow from top (above) to bottom (below) is just perfect. And it's going to get better: we're forecast quite a lot of fresh snow over the coming week. If you're coming out on Sunday, bring your powder skis!
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Fireworks as the French go back to school - 10/3/2011 11:13John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 10, 2011.
Tuesday's firework display at La Daille was the last of the season, because this is the final week of French half term. They don't break up again until well into April, with the local schools on holiday after the ski resorts have closed - a cunning plan by the French government to help their resorts go bust. So for the next seven weeks we're back to empty slopes and children called Milo and Willow rather than Jean-Marie or Marie-Pierre. Aren't you glad your parents didn't call you John-Mary or Mary-Peter? If you're trying to wipe the tiny, glowing sausage thing on the left off your screen, don't: it was the new moon setting above Tovière. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Dropping in on Face de Bellevarde - 9/3/2011 10:53John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 9, 2011.
This is our chalet girl Amy playing on the Face de Bellevarde yesterday. She's not only an outstanding cook - she can ski a bit too. If you zoom in on her face, you might notice that she looks a tad surprised. Craig, the photographer from White Focus who took the shot, had told her it was a precipice. Apparently, she thought he said it was 'a piece of ****'. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Another boringly-perfect day - 8/3/2011 13:04John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 8, 2011.
The final skiers and paragliders were heading down at 17.33 yesterday, after another boringly-perfect day. Today looks like being similar - cold first thing (-13º), quickly warming up with amazing snow and uncrowded slopes. As welove2ski.com put it: 'if you're looking for the best conditions in the Alps right now, this is where you'll find them'. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report.
Some Mondays are better than others... - 7/3/2011 13:30John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 7, 2011.
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Get your powder skis out! - 4/3/2011 13:47John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 4, 2011.
Get your powder skis out! It's already snowed a foot this morning, and we're forecast more snow all day. This is our main street first thing. Below is the main street of a neighbouring resort, which shall remain nameless, at the same time...
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Seventeenth-century chalets still available March 13-20 - 3/3/2011 09:01John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 3, 2011.
These are our gorgeous seventeenth-century chalets Le Vieux Crêt and La Maison du Rocher. They were featured in the Telegraph recently and boast excellent chefs, beautiful assistants and the new Land Rover shuttle. Both are full until Easter, except for the week of 13-20 March, when they're still available. If you think that's surprising, what about the person driving the Defender? It seems to be someone of a female persuasion. In a two-ton 4x4 with fourteen gears... but don't worry, our photographer hasn't gone all new man. He removed the keys first and just told Alex to look pretty and pretend. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. The daily commute - 2/3/2011 17:03John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 2, 2011.
If you had to go to work this morning on a crowded Tube train, don't worry - we know how you feel. And when we got off at our station, we had a very boring view too...
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. In like a lion... - 1/3/2011 16:21John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, March 1, 2011.
There's deep powder this morning, and more is falling right now. We're enjoying a famous retour d'est, with the snow heaviest near the Italian border. Tignes received 6cm overnight, Val d'Isère village 15cm, Le Fornet 25cm and the Pissaillas Glacier 56cm. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. The Parisians have gone home - 28/2/2011 12:53John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, February 28, 2011.
Everyone is breathing a sigh of relief that the Parisians have gone home. We all hate them. They are taller than other French people, and better dressed. Their women are too slim and too pretty. Their men visibly wash and condition their hair, and don't get it cut by the local butcher. They drive big cars slowly and carefully, for God's sake. And that adolescent boy who picked up and carefully dusted down our photographer's eight-year old when he'd fallen over, he was a Parisian. As was that spotty youth who picked up and dusted down our photographer... Horrible people! Good riddance. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. The week of the century? - 25/2/2011 10:55John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, February 25, 2011.
Le Fornet always looks good. It has the best snow and the emptiest slopes in the whole Espace Killy, two of the best mountain restaurants and two of the best at valley level, plus two excellent YSE chalets. But before you grab the phone and your credit card, beware: Lo Grand Torsaï is full until Easter, while La Couchire just has two rooms left on 13 March, so you're a bit late. Except of course for the amazing week of 27 March - 3 April, when both chalets are available. Adults aren't booking that week because they think there'll be millions of kids, children can't come because they're still at school, and YSE are giving some fantastic deals. It's going to be the week of the century! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. At last, the record is set straight - 24/2/2011 18:51John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, February 24, 2011.
The Times set the record straight yesterday, and a YSE photo went national.... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Good mountain food prices for good skiers - 23/2/2011 14:12John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, February 23, 2011.
The Face looks wonderful today. Zoom in top-right, and you'll find some perfect powder tracks. Blow up the menu of the Tanière restaurant, in the middle, and you'll be surprised to see the three-course lunch at just 19.90 euros. Its new owners have realised that people with money can't ski the Face, while those who can tend to be young, fit and broke. So they are offering really good food at prices we'd be pleased to find in Dorset. Let's hope they make a go of it. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Beware of webcams! - 22/2/2011 13:13John Yates-Smith ofYSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, February 22, 2011.
If you look for a Val d'Isère webcam today, you might well find the above view and be shocked by the lack of snow. But if you look carefully you'll notice that the date is 7 November! This is what caused last week's misleading report in The Times. Below is how the Charvet really looked last week, and below that is the webcam view the journalist would have seen on Friday 11th if he had visited the proper Val d'Isère site.
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Let them eat cake - 18/2/2011 13:20John Yates-Smith ofYSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, February 18, 2011.
Here's the view this morning from our Maison du Rocher. It's another perfect day ofcold air, warm sun, velvet snow and empty... Oh Gawd, this is so boring! We know everyone in Val d'Isère this week is having a ball. Can't our photographer tell us something interesting, like what's for tea in MdR?
So here it is, Scottie's cake, as featured in the Daily Telegraph. He didn't do it for the photo - apparently, his cakes always look like this. Doesn't he know how much redcurrants and cinnamon sticks cost? No wonder YSE doesn't make any profit... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. What a shame: we're back to gorgeous weather - 17/2/2011 13:53John Yates-Smith ofYSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, February 17, 2011.
Here's how our lowest slopes looked at 9.46 a.m. local time this morning. The snow has fizzled out and we're back to gorgeous weather, though more snow is currently forecast for Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. This week's guests' mojo is obviously stronger than next week's. If you work for the NHS and wonder what happened to yesterday's picture, here's what: Non-delivery report: 5.9.7 (blocked message). One of the words in the message is blocked. For security reasons the message was not delivered to the recipient. The blocked string is: " b*m ". So if you're a doctor and your child decides to b*m around America, they'll never be allowed to tell you about it. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Bottoms up in grey Val d'Isère - 16/2/2011 12:25John Yates-Smith ofYSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère, February 16, 2011.
Today is a grotty, grey day with light but persistent snow - so we asked our photographer for a bit of colour. What we wanted was someone who could ski, with their own hair, not wearing grey, brown or black. It took a while! Finally, Marie-Neige from the ESF appeared, looking bright. And she can certainly ski - she is probably the fastest instructress in France. But what she is best known for is a shapely bottom. Her male colleagues don't think it's fair - they say her bum works like the hare in a greyhound race, and the teenage boys she coaches are winning everything... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Cloudy, windy and grey, maybe. But snow is falling! - 15/2/2011 15:32John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isere, February 15, 2011.
It's cloudy, windy and grey today with a couple of centimetres of fresh snow on the glacier, and our photographer has gone back to bed. So here's a shot from yesterday, showing some of our 'sprinkling of white amid green pastures'. You'll be glad to hear that the big guns of British ski journalism have moved to explode the myth that there's no good skiing in the Alps. Peter Hardy wrote yesterday that 'conditions in Val this week, as far as we at Welove2ski are concerned, are among the best in Europe, with well-groomed pistes that we rate at around 8.5 out of 10. Excellent skiing for the time of year - any year.' Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Val d'Isère always has good skiing, with new snow on the way - 14/2/2011 14:30John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isere, February 14, 2011.
The first clouds are moving in, theoretically bringing us snow this evening. Our photographer says conditions are still brilliant without it, but who would you sooner believe, the Times of London ('...others, such as Val d'Isere, have no more than a sprinkling of white amid green pastures and grey escarpments') or some dodgy bloke in Val d'Isère with a camera? The camera can't lie, but it can be economical with the truth. So below is another shot to show how good the snow is today, right down to Val d'Isère's lowest point, and one showing what the local kids are doing on it while their teacher is ill...
Where have the journalists got this idea from that there's no snow? There's less than usual, admittedly, and there's no powder - but the skiing is excellent and Paris holidays or not, the pistes are empty. Can we agree on something, oh gentlemen of the Press? Val d'Isère always has good skiing. Full stop. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. What a season we're having... - 12/2/2011 14:27John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isere, February 12, 2011.
Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be the last days of firm, fast pistes and deep blue skies. But what a season we're having - don't believe anything you hear about poor snow. For powder puffs, scrapeboarders, telemarkers and other minorities it hasn't been great, but for normal skiers the conditions on all but Val d'Isère's lowest slopes have been superb. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Dry days coming to an end in Val d'Isere - 11/2/2011 16:44John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isere, February 11, 2011.
Vapour trails at dawn today. Big deal, you say, what's interesting about that? Well, it mean there's finally some moisture in the air over the Alps. There hasn't been for weeks. The other day we had a relative humidity of 7% (compared with 13% in Death Valley and 20% in the Sahara), which explains why recent photos have had such blue skies. It wasn't Photoshop. But the weather is slowly changing, and we're forecast snow on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our photographer is delighted. Not because he wants fresh snow, but because a month of the best skiing ever has left his knees, back and sundry other body parts seriously knackered... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. You learn something new every day... - 10/2/2011 11:45John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isere, February 10, 2011.
This is your first glimpse of Solaise as you come through the gorges. While most people go 'ooh' or 'aah', those of a curious disposition will ponder what has caused that single line of surprisingly regular bumps. Moles? A mathematically-minded mogul mouse? The machine which some blondes believe builds bumps? (After writing that, our photographer googled 'making moguls', and was gobsmacked to discover that the bumps for competition runs really are created by ratraks! You learn something new every day. Which is fine, except when you're forgetting two old things every day...) Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Flexibility is key in ski racing... - 9/2/2011 13:30John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isere, February 9, 2011.
Crikey, is that lad's leg supposed to bend like that? The man on the left looks a bit concerned. These youngsters from Val d'Isère's Club des Sports were at the top of the Olympique at nine this morning for race training on the OK. The snow is perfect corduroy, and the only rocks showing are mountain tops. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. The full moon is forecast to bring fresh snow next week - 8/2/2011 21:41John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isere, February 8, 2011.
New arrivals are amazed by how good the skiing is at the moment. Perhaps all the doom and gloom about the lack of snow in the Alps comes from mad-keen off-pisters, who'd rather ski powder in a blizzard than these perfect pistes in the sunshine. In any case, the Parisians (and full moon) are forecast to bring fresh snow next week. Lots of people shy away from Paris fortnight, though in fact next week will be OK. Only Paris will have broken up. There'll be no other French and no Brits. But there will be powder and some last-minute discounts (see YSE). Another great week is March 27 to April 3. Everyone imagines Val d'Isère will be crawling with kids, but school holidays are late this year. March snow, April sun, empty slopes and some good prices. Check us out... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Welcome to Paradise - 8/2/2011 21:33John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on a new airport mural, February 7, 2011.
This is the door to Grenoble Airport in yesterday's sunshine. It's YSE's favourite airport, but even we wouldn't describe it as Paradise. And the angel in the photo - presumably someone who has died and gone to Paradise - is possibly not the best way to calm nervous flyers. Still, it's such a quick airport to pass through that our guests reached Val d'Isère less than five hours after leaving Gatwick to find beautiful weather, excellent pistes, the resort one third full and everybody smiling. Something awful must be about to happen... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. The doctors' conference updates - 8/2/2011 21:28John Yates-Smith of YSE reports from behind the scenes in Val d'Isère, February 4, 2011.
The doctors' updates conference in Val d'Isère ended last night with cheese, wine and a lecture on the medical consequences of high-altitude rescue. (Though after four days of Neonatal Resuscitation, Perioperative Management, Perilunate Disclocation and Haemodynamic Optimisation, this probably seemed like light entertainment!) The conference has apparently been a huge success, so it's happening again next year, same time, same place. For details, click on Doctors' Updates. For somewhere to stay - well, you know where to look. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Val d'Isère, Colorado - 8/2/2011 21:15John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on Val d'Isère's snow conditions, February 3, 2011.
There's no snow in the Alps this year, it's all fallen in the Rockies. So welcome to Val d'Isère, Colorado. The wise old mountain men of the region say more snow will come with the full moon, on February 18. People always say the weather will change with the full moon. Where do they find this stuff? Does the whole world's weather change every 29 to 30 days? Isn't it just that the moon looks full on three or four nights, and there's a good chance the weather will change in that time? A more scientific approach is to find out when half-term is in Paris. Because it always snows on the Parisians. Every winter they change their fortnight, but still a metre of powder lands on them. Interestingly, they're nearly always here for the full moon... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Val d'Isère's other "Face" - 2/2/2011 09:59John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on Val d'Isère's other "Face", February 2, 2011.
We were going to send a picture of hundreds of doctors at the conference yesterday, but we're wary of data protection and privacy legislation. A ski instructor's wife is already filing for divorce, both Quiksilver and Liquorice Allsorts are suing for libel... We can't risk another law suit. What if some doctors were there who shouldn't have been, some weren't there who should have been, some were sitting with the wrong person, some had nodded off, or one had forgotten his toupee? Nightmare. So here's a safe shot. It was YSE driver Martin's birthday yesterday. We have his written permission to publish his picture. We don't have anyone else's. We're playing it safe. Happy birthday, Martins. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. A great day for a medical conference - 1/2/2011 09:52John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, February 1, 2011.
It's a beautiful day - ideal for our annual handsome-instructor-with-happy-punter shot. It's a shame our photographer is colourblind. On closer inspection, we see that this isn't just any old instructor: it's Simon from Mountain Masters, the part-time barrister who two months ago sent us a fascinating photo of a shed in Eastbourne. And it's not just any pupil. This is one of the 350 British doctors attending a conference in Val d'Isère this week. Apparently, the workshops and lectures are very high-powered. By pure coincidence, they don't seem to happen during skiing time... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Sometimes you need a day like this - 31/1/2011 09:55John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 31, 2011.
Good news. Not so much the photo of the rare two-tailed, four-winged chough, nor the 20cm of snow which fell overnight on the Pissaillas Glacier, nor the usual number of people on the Laisinant Express. But the weather. After weeks of wall-to-wall sunshine, we've finally got a grey day to catch up on work, fumigate the inner boots and perhaps write a Christmas card or two... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Attack of the liquorice allsorts - 28/1/2011 12:58John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 28, 2011.
No wonder this instructress is looking round nervously. She's about to be taken out by a person made of liquorice allsorts (anyone young, lucky or foreign enough not to know what we mean should look below).
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. 'The best piste skiing of my life...' - 27/1/2011 13:45John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 27, 2011.
Here's the top of Solaise yesterday afternoon. We still keep hearing that there's no snow in the Alps and it's true that the off-piste looks pretty tracked out, but our photographer swears that he's having the best piste skiing of his life! If you want to see what's he's talking about, we still have a chalet or two free on 6 and 13 February with some generous last-minute discounts. We don't really believe in 'deals', but occasionally we have a chalet available and it's probably better filled with Scotsmen, Yorkshiremen or Paul Goldstein than left empty. To see our special offers, click here Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Kids' ski racing a permanent fixture in Val d'Isère - 26/1/2011 15:18John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 26, 2011.
There seem to be kids racing in Val d'Isère all the time at the moment. This was at this morning's regional 'Coq de Bronze' (it doesn't translate well) for nine and ten-year olds, transferred from La Plagne for lack of snow. In spite of her dodgy position, this Val d'Isère nine-year old was the fastest girl. She hammered most of the boys, too. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Monsters, Inc. makes an appearance in Val d'Isère - 25/1/2011 14:57John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 25, 2011.
We told you one-piece suits were coming back. And bright colours. But surely not hats with eyes?! Intellectuals will recognise Sulley from Monsters, Inc. Philistines will just see a pretty girl who has fallen at our photographer's feet. The only way this could happen is if he wiped her out, but would she be smiling? Perhaps she wiped him out. In fact, it is our guest Alison Gardner from Chalet Charlotte celebrating her birthday on Saturday. She actually travelled with Sulley in her luggage. Radio Val was talking yesterday about the British penchant for fancy dress. Perhaps since we are now officially the fattest race in Europe, monster suits and sumo suits are all we can fit into. But that's not the case with Alison. There's room for two in that suit. Any volunteers? Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Beautiful bumps forming under the Tommeuses - 24/1/2011 19:24John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 24, 2011.
Isn't that just the most beautiful thing you've ever seen: acres of white velvet pistes, symmetrical bumps on Tommeuses, a zip-line beside Les Creux, and a mogul field forming on the short cutback to the eight-seater? Only dedicated powderhounds won't feel their pulse race (you know the sort - at drinks parties in Surrey they're gnarly mountain men who snorkel the steep and the deep with reverse camber skis and an ABS pack. Then when it actually snows they put down a series of linked recoveries and retire to the Fruitière for a four-hour lunch...) Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Time for a ski tune? - 22/1/2011 19:18John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 22, 2011.<
Let's hope this lad's shoulder recovered - the flag didn't! It was -18ºC this morning, without a cloud in the sky. We're forecast a cold week with sunshine until Tuesday, then a couple of days' snow. That should please the powder puffs, though our photographer is happy the way it is. The pistes are hard and smooth - velvet first thing, boiler-plate later on. Perfect conditions for carving, as long as your skis are sharp. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. The land of the rising sun - 21/1/2011 12:11John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 21, 2011. We're getting two sunrises at the moment. First, the sun peeps over the Danaïdes...
...then it slides back behind Solaise...
...before reappearing by the cable car station.
In a few days, it will clear the whole of Solaise and we'll gain twenty minutes' sunlight in one go. We know this is the view from our photographer's office. So what's he doing at his desk on a morning like this? Pressure of work? More VAT accounts? Apparently he's charging the batteries for his heated gloves, because it's -21ºC up there, and his circulation isn't what it was... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Le tail grab - 20/1/2011 16:47John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 20, 2011.
We don't normally inflict grubby youths in orthopaedic footwear on you. We wanted a skier, but they were all jumping too high and too fast. Only this smurf hung around long enough to focus on. It was the word 'Ride' on the base of the board which really caught our photographer's eye. The French have adopted English to talk about snowboarding like we use French for cooking. We sautee courgettes. They 'rident leur board', 'font un jump' and 'grabbent le tail'. But we're going to win. Soon French will just be pidgin English with a funny accent. Mind you, English will soon just be pidgin English with a funny accent. Can't someone do something about young people going up at the end of every sentence? It's absolutely... (sorry, we could feel a rant coming on, and unplugged his WiFi). Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. School's out, at least for the day - 19/1/2011 16:44John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 19, 2011.
Since French children stopped having school on Wednesdays, educational standards may not have improved but quality of life certainly has! Primary school boys Tanguy, Ben and Evan spent this morning skiing and jumping in the snow park, before borrowing three skidoos from Tanguy's dad for a quick burn through the powder. They stopped at the famous yurt before roaring off for lunch at the even more famous Folie Douce. They're probably dancing on the tables right now! Was your childhood like this? Our photographer's wasn't. He grew up in a time warp called Frittenden, and ran to the window whenever a motor car passed... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement Snow no problem in Val d'Isère - 18/1/2011 17:05John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 18, 2011.
However surprising you may find this photo - because you thought there was no snow in the Alps and racers were on their grass skis, as in Wengen - you won't be as surprised as we were to recognise one of our staff out training at ten this morning! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement Val d'Isère enjoying more than its fair share of snow - 17/1/2011 14:43John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 17, 2011.
This is turning out to be a classic Val d'Isère winter: there's less snow in the Alps than usual, but Val d'Isère has more than its share. This morning's -9ºC had reached +10ºC by lunchtime, yet most of our pistes are in excellent condition, and the skiing is very good. It's always a good sign when our photographer comes out with something even more boring than usual. It means he was in a hurry to get up the mountain... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement When you go to Heaven, it may look something like this... - 15/1/2011 14:40John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 15, 2011.
When you go to Heaven, it may look something like Val d'Isère today. The snow park is in wonderful condition, as are the Tommeuses bumps. We were a bit surprised by the man in yellow, who seems to be flying a radio-controlled human. On closer examination, we think he may just be filming him. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement In photos: Polo Masters and Beaufort tart - 14/1/2011 13:50John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 14, 2011.
We've mentioned the Polo Masters this week, so here's a picture. Any resemblance to a group of blokes playing donkey broomball with a balloon is purely coincidental. We've also mentioned Beaufort tart. For you ladies who emailed in, here is a photo:
And for the gentlemen, many of whom seem to share our photographer's schoolboy sense of humour, here's another:
It's Miss Beaufort (we presume she's the one in black). Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement Jolly hockey sticks! - 13/1/2011 16:45John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 13, 2011.
We thought we'd give nine-year-old Lucy her fifteen minutes of fame for cleaning up in La Rosière yesterday. An English girl winning ski races in France? It's not as uncommon as you might think. Maria Cundale and Ines Pearson dominated the regional championships last year - dainty little French girls don't stand much chance against these long-legged Anglo-Saxons. And not only do the French race coaches treat them as well as the local lasses, if anything they give them extra help - they like the attitude of the British girls. Try translating 'jolly hockey sticks' into French... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement Polo Masters begins in Val d'Isère - 12/1/2011 16:19John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 12, 2011.
The Polo Masters starts today in Val d'Isère, with some of the world's top polo players competing in a special snow version of the game on the roof of the Oxygen Centre. This isn't them practising. This was a demonstration of skijoring on the main street last night. The object seems to be to find the smallest, stroppiest Thelwell pony possible, and then see how fast you can push it. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement Blizzard expected in Val d'Isère - 11/1/2011 10:48John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 11, 2011.
This was the view when our photographer opened his curtains a few minutes ago. It always puts him in a good mood. Until he turns on Radio Val and hears we're in for a blizzard this afternoon! So back to Plan B - a Tour de Duvet with a bottle of plonk and a Beaufort tart. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement What a relief! 10cm of fresh snow - 10/1/2011 10:40John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 10, 2011.
This week's guests took less than five hours to get from Gatwick to Val d'Isère, 10cm of snow fell overnight and the sun is coming out. Life could be worse... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement Great conditions on the OK in Val d'Isère - 8/1/2011 14:37John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 8, 2011.
The conditions were perfect for this morning's FIS super-G on the OK. Below is a British 11-year old, who was a bit gobsmacké to find himself opening it, but said it was such fun he was going to go back up and do it again. Whether his parents' nerves would have survived is another matter...
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement 'Rain and cloud'? Yes please! - 7/1/2011 13:57John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 7, 2011.
Here's the bottom of the OK twenty minutes ago. If this is what the weatherman meant by rain and cloud, let's have more rain and cloud! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement On the subject of the winter solstice - 6/1/2011 15:37John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 6, 2011.
This is this morning's Météo France forecast for today and the next eight days. The weak jet stream has been letting in icy northern air for a while. Now we're going to get warm, moist air from the south, with rain below 2000m. There won't be much snow left in the lower resorts. Shame... If you are interested in weather and stuff, you may be one of the men who entered our shortest day contest last month. It was only men. Women are too busy looking after their own heavenly bodies to be interested in others. But we received lots of answers, and think they were pretty much all wrong. Our photographer was convinced that one was right, but after agonising about it for a fortnight has decided it probably wasn't. The winner was wrong. Our photographer was wrong. A plethora of builders, bankers and bishops and one high court judge were wrong. If you are a sad person with time on your hands, here's our current understanding. Perhaps a clever mathematician will tell us if we're right (you don't have to read this, ladies). The winter solstice was at 23.38 GMT. At that moment, true midnight - the time when one is exactly opposite the sun - was slightly to the east, near the Rhine, perhaps. Any country to the east of this line experienced its shortest day on 22 December, for those to west it was 21 December. It has nothing to do with clocks or time zones. Just the sun and the earth. Did anyone say that? We deleted every reply except the winner's. And he now owes us our bottle of champagne back! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement Ski racing: a good sport for British children? - 5/1/2011 13:13John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 5, 2011.
With the French back at school, it is the turn of the British children to shine in the ESF slalom tests - like this eight-year old. Ski racing may not figure high in the curriculum at our schools, but it is a good discipline for youngsters. It's physically demanding and rather frightening. It teaches humility (because they're not often going to win), yet is encouraging because they can measure their own progress. But the best thing about getting your children into ski racing is that it will cost you a fortune, much of which you'll want to spend with YSE... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement Beware Les Bosses - 4/1/2011 14:46John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 4, 2011.
Did our photographer straightline the Epaule to get this shot of a fellow bumps skier showing all the powder puffs and green-run carvers what skiing's really about? No, he just wandered a few yards from the terrace of the Clochetons, zoomed to the max, then strolled back to finish his mulled wine. The skier will probably never know he was famous for a day across a million laptops. Unless, of course, he is a subscriber. But it's unlikely. He's a bit technicolor for a Brit. And he's not wearing a helmet. Or falling over. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement Who says the Welsh can't ski? - 3/1/2011 14:43John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 3, 2011.
Who says the Welsh can't ski? This is a soldier from the 1st Royal Welsh skiing the Raye this morning in the British Infantry Championships. He took 4 minutes 15 seconds, the all-time record (for slowness - think how long he'd have taken if he hadn't had the speed suit!). At least he had a nice empty piste to practise on. Because everyone else has gone home. Below are some of the astonishing 40,000 vehicles which left through Moûtiers yesterday, causing jams in which customers of some of the less experienced tour operators sat while their flights took off without them. Did we get caught out? Of course not. We left early and avoided the traffic, so our guests could enjoy an extra hour or two in Grenoble Airport...
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement Happy New Year from Val d'Isère - 1/1/2011 17:32John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, January 1, 2011.
Above is the view of last night's torchlight descent from our Chalet de Pierre. A couple of hundred instructors skied the Face with flaming torches, but by the time our photographer had set up his tripod and camera the last few stragglers were meandering down. Several were apparently off-piste guides. Then there was a spectacular firework display. If you really want to know what you were missing, click here. Have a happy New Year, if that's not an oxymoron.
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement Big boys don't smile (or wear helmets) - 30/12/2010 13:38John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 30, 2010.
This morning was gorgeous, and everyone was smiling. Well, almost everyone. Real dudes don't smile - they just scowl slightly less. Totally unimpressed by the Face de Bellevarde. No need for goggles or gloves. Helmet merely to protect the right kneecap. This lad's so cool he'll get hypothermia. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement Do I look like a slalom pole, you moron?! - 29/12/2010 14:09John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 29, 2010.
Our photographer took his life in his hands this morning and stood at the bottom of the Face, a magnet to every exhibitionist on the mountain - presumably thinking this would look good on their Facebook page. This fellow actually knew how to ski, but he was an exception to the apparent rule that you buy either ski lessons or a helmet, but don't need both. The slopes are covered with good skiers trying to kill themselves and rubbish skiers trying to kill everyone else. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Advertisement YSE staff member to row the Atlantic - 28/12/2010 14:07John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 28, 2010.
Regular guests might think that long-term staff member Andy Brown is getting a little long in the tooth to be a YSE logsbody. In fact he works in London now and is here on holiday, but is still expected to carry his own firewood! For next year though, he has found an occupation which is even tougher and worse paid than doing a season: he is rowing single-handed across the Atlantic for charity. In mid-winter! 100 days without seeing another human (200 if he gets lost...). If you want to sponsor him, or just wonder at his insanity, you could visit www.rowtheatlantic.com. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Val d'Isère: no animal fur, thank you - 27/12/2010 14:02John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 27, 2010.
These little beginners were handling 15cm of powder at -10ºC rather well this morning. If the instructor's fur-trimmed hood made you think this was Courchevel, don't worry: it's synthetic! Val d'Isère still appeals to real skiers with fake fur as opposed to... well, you know what we were going to say. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Christmas Day in Val d'Isère - 25/12/2010 13:12John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 25, 2010.
Christmas Day in Val d'Isère. It's cold and still snowing lightly, so what do you do? Well, if you're staying at our Chalet la Grande Sassière you jump in the hot tub. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. It's snowing in Val d'Isère! - 24/12/2010 15:57John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 24, 2010.
That's more like it! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Good news for skiers in high altitude resorts - 23/12/2010 13:17John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 23, 2010.
It's 3ºC in Val d'Isère today, and the council has sent workmen to check on the snow Santa. The Alps are being hit hard by the föhn - the warm, wet wind from the south - and the 0ºC line is only just above the village (it was raining at the petrol station during the night, but snowing at the church) and we're forecast -13ºC over the weekend! Apparently this is a 'weak jet stream winter', and the weather is going to oscillate between unusually warm and unusually cold. It's the sort of winter that makes you glad you've booked Val d'Isère or one of the handful of other high resorts. Oh, you haven't? Ah well, sorry about that. I'm sure you'll have a lovely time. After all, a ski holiday isn't only about skiing. Shopping's fun too... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Which is the shortest day of the year? - 22/12/2010 17:30John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 22, 2010.
A weak, wintry sun finally appeared at about 10.15 this morning after the longest night of the year. We know that we've passed the solstice and that the sun is getting higher again, but which is the shortest day of the year? The French say it was yesterday, but then they also call ninety-seven 'four-twenties-ten-seven' and think there are eight days in a week, so maths might not be their strong suit. We'll give you a bottle of bubbly on your next YSE holiday if you're the first to give us the correct answer and explain it... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Alcott out for a year, Jacquemod takes 5th in Val - 21/12/2010 15:59John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 21, 2010.
The Critérium de la Première Neige - the British Criterium - ended on Sunday. Chemmy is out for a year, and may never be able to train properly again because UK Sport has stopped all wintersports funding. However she did commentate superbly on Eurosport, so she's not on the streets just yet!
Local girl Ingrid Jacquemod came an excellent fifth in the Downhill. She has a British passport, and was delighted to receive the crystal and silver YSE trophy for best Brit. Not to be outshone by Mary ITN-gal, BBC2 lent us the lovely Katie Derham to present the trophy (which for some reason Ingrid is trying to hide from the camera...). The medals were delivered by an eagle, who flew to the podium with each medal around his neck, and the whole thing was rather fun.
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Thomson Airways gets on with it amid flight chaos - 20/12/2010 16:37John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 20, 2010.
To you this may not seem like a very remarkable picture - a Grande Sassière guest or two boarding a YSE Land Rover on a white-outy sort of day. But to the 50,000 or so people who didn't fly from London yesterday, it's probably quite surprising, if not positively galling! While BA and easyJet were cancelling flights left, right and centre (leaving their guests stranded without information or so much as a cup of tea) Thomson Airways quietly got on with the job, flying our customers to and from Grenoble with just four hours' delay. In fact, they picked up quite a few refugees from the other airlines as well. Britannia may belong to the Krauts now, but then so does Rolls Royce. Well done Thomson Airways! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Women's Super-G World Cup delayed in Val d'Isère - 17/12/2010 10:05John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 17, 2010.
Above is how the bottom of the OK looked yesterday morning, ready for today's ladies' Super-G, transferred from St Moritz. You can see our chalets Pistes and Pentes, where following a cancellation we still have a few beds available over New Year. Are we giving a last-minute discount? Yes. Is it huge? No. Why not, when there are some amazing deals about? Well, you can buy a Rolex for £10. But would you? Below is how Val d'Isère looked early this morning. Now at 10.00am French time, it's still snowing, it's cold, and more than 20cm of fluffy powder has fallen. We're forecast snow on five of the next six days. Not surprisingly, the start of the race has been postponed until this afternoon.
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Misletoe hunting in Albertville - 16/12/2010 15:45John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 16, 2010.
If you're wondering why someone was standing on the roof of a car near Albertville today picking mistletoe, you're not alone - the passing rustic who was asked to take the photo wondered the same. But if you've ever spent Christmas in a YSE chalet, you won't be surprised. Instead of the traditional flaccid sprig of mistletoe, we always have great bushes of the stuff; fresh, green and full of berries. And instead of the traditional embarrassed kiss you can, erm, have a proper snog! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Mountain Masters in Val d'Isère: a good investment - 15/12/2010 13:24John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 15, 2010.
Today is cloudy and grey, so here's a shot from Monday. It shows Joe and Molly Fenwick with Scottish Mountain Masters instructress Tansy McBjørklund. Mountain Masters aren't cheap, but there's no-one in Val d'Isère better with kids than Tansy. The ultimate endorsement is that our photographer - who isn't famous for profligacy - booked Tansy the day each of his own children was conceived. They learned so well that they wouldn't ski with their dad by the age of eight. Good investment. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Rooms still available in Val d'Isere over Christmas with YSE - 14/12/2010 14:27John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 14, 2010.
If you can find an excuse to get away over Christmas, we still have 15 beds left from Sunday - Chalet Charlotte for eight, Chalet Jacaranda for four, a room in Grande Sassière, and a female share in Les Gnellets (female share? It's not what you're thinking. Just a bed for a single lady. Though under current legislation it is probably more acceptable to invite customers to share a female than to discriminate on grounds of gender...) Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. -18º on the nursery slopes in Val d'Isere today - 13/12/2010 14:32John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 13, 2010.
It's -18º on the nursery slopes today. That lovely dry cold you don't often get in Chipping Sodbury (why are our place names so ugly? Why can't we sing about England like the Americans sing about the US? 'By The Time I Get To Barnsley,' '24 Hours From Thrupp,' 'Tyne & Wear Dreamin,' 'Sweet Home Alderwasley'...) Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Noel Baxter wins YSE trophy for best British skier - 12/12/2010 14:29John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 12, 2010.
Well, it's finally happening. The 'British Criterium' is underway. Last night, serenaded by pipers from the Scots Guards, our ex-chalet girl and now newscaster Mary Nightingale presented the YSE trophy for best British skier to ten-times national champion Noel Baxter, who is racing this morning with bib number 67. The crystal and silver vase didn't come out quite as we'd expected, the engraver was dyslexic, and FedEx seem to have drunk all the award-winning wine Wickham Vineyard sent out to show the French that we're catching them almost as fast at viticulture as we are at skiing... Still, Mary looked gorgeous, Noel was charming, the Fruitière did the catering, and a good time was had by all. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Perfect conditions for the World Cup giant slalom - 11/12/2010 14:28John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 11, 2010.
Perfect conditions for the World Cup giant slalom on the Face this morning. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Halfway to heaven - 10/12/2010 15:06John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 10, 2010.
That's more like it! The sun is out, it's -16º on the slopes, and we've got a couple of inches of the lightest powder on a firm base. We are, as the Daily Telegraph once said of Val d'Isère, halfway to heaven... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Prepping Face de Bellevarde for the World Cup - 9/12/2010 15:04John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 9, 2010.
It's snowing and cold this morning. At 8am there were already dozens of pisteurs and instructors side-slipping the floodlit Face to prepare it for Saturday's giant slalom and Sunday's special. The good base has been injected with water, then rained on, and now thoroughly frozen and snowed on! We're forecast -10 degrees and sunshine for the weekend, so these should be spectacular races. Catch them on Eurosport (if the camerawork is a bit shaky, blame YSE - the Eurosport team is staying with us, and we're doing a mass raclette with unlimited wine tomorrow night!) Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Two feet of snow in Val d'Isere! - 8/12/2010 13:48John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 8, 2010.
Gotcha. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Lots of snow on Bellevarde and even more expected! - 7/12/2010 12:06John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 7, 2010.
There's a lot of snow on Bellevarde. We're forecast more powder today above 2300m, transparent snow below. People who were very pleased with the cheap Christmas deal they'd found in some low-lying resort are probably not feeling quite so smug now! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. 60 metres of snow? - 6/12/2010 13:10John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 6, 2010.
30-60 metres of fresh snow above 2600m were forecast this morning on Radio Val... We think they might have meant centimetres, but either way it's good news. This lad was certainly enjoying it. Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Two skiers in 30 minutes - 1/12/2010 13:16John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, December 1, 2010.
Isn't that just typical? You've stood on the nursery slopes for half an hour at -3C with snow collecting on your bobble waiting for a skier to come past - and two arrive at the same time! One of them was a sweet little girl who was singing as she passed, and the other was a style victim with knitted ears and twin-tips skiing backwards. Yes, we do know it's called skiing switch. But call it what you like, it's still pretty silly... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. How to treat your chalet girls - 30/11/2010 13:12John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions from Val d'Isère, November 30.
It cannot be said that we don't look after our chalet girls: there's no better way to stay warm in a blizzard than by unloading a few tons of logs from a truck. (Note the two young men huddled under the porch.) Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. The YSE trophy - 23/11/2010 13:05John Yates-Smith of YSE reports from Val d'Isère, November 23.
This is the YSE Trophy, the hand-blown glass and silver vase which ITN newsreader (and ex-star chalet girl) Mary Nightingale will present to the fastest Brit in the World Cup Giant Slalom on 11 December. Yes, thank you, we know what it looks like. We forgot that our glass-blower also supplies hospitals. But it will look very smart with a few flowers in it. And while most trophies just collect dust, this one can actually be used. It is beautifully engraved, so its winner will be able to show visitors what a great skier he was without dragging them to his trophy cabinet... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Still looking good... - 19/11/2010 12:23John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère, November 19.
Val d'Isère isn't taking any risks with your ski holiday: it snowed all day yesterday again, yet the cannons are running 24/7... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Looking good... - 17/11/2010 15:22John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère in the run-up to the start of the season.
Ten days until the lifts open, and things are looking fantastic... Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Not bad for November 11 - 11/11/2010 10:53It's the quiet before the storm in Val d'Isère. 75mph winds are expected tonight, but you wouldn't know it this morning. Once again, John-Yates of YSE has let his camera do the talking.
Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. A sight for snow-starved eyes - 26/10/2010 14:39The skies have cleared over Val d'Isère today, in the wake of yesterday's heavy snow. John Yates-Smith of YSE has let his camera do the talking.
How's that for October? Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. Snowing hard in Val d'Isère - 25/10/2010 14:27It's snowing hard in Val d'Isère today. John Yates-Smith of YSE reports.
It started snowing hard in Val d'Isère last night, and this morning there's about 20cm of fresh snow on the main street. Skiing on the Grande Motte glacier has had to stop, because there's too much of the white stuff! Click on the link for our Val d'Isère resort report. The Final Funi - 10/5/2010 14:35John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow conditions in Val d'Isère - May 10, 2010. Well there is it. The Final Funi went up at 5pm yesterday, full of revellers. It was snowing. Another season has ended, with one last OK for the young and fit, and the long walk from Bellevarde to La Daille for our photographer.
It was the usual dorkfest.
There were some original forms of locomotion. Our favourite was this bed, complete with duvet and bedside lamp. Unfortunately, it didn't survive its first somersault!
There was the normal selection of paddling pools, more...
...or less... inflated.
We don't know if the bike ever made it down...
...but we saw the Mini slowly disintegrate...
At the top were six orange wigs, and some lucky summer hiker is going to be the proud owner of one of them.
The fastest way down was on a children's toboggan.
By who needs speed when blessed with a truly British sense of style?
Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Last days... - 30/4/2010 08:56John Yates-Smith of YSE files his latest snow report from Val d'Isère - April 30, 2010
This morning is a bit hazy, so here's a shot from yesterday. Susanna, the chef from our Chalet Thomily, hadn't levitated into that position, or held it for ten minutes while our photographer got his equipment out. He was taking a nice arty shot of snow and sky, and she just happened to hurtle through it! If you zoom in on her goggles you can see the reflection of her ski tips, a photographer, and a big empty space. Which is what she was leaping into. It gives you an idea of what our staff have to put up with once the guests have gone... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Sunshine on the Solaise - 28/4/2010 14:10John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - April 28, 2010
This is Solaise half an hour ago. The skiing at altitude is still fantastic... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. A few Parisians are still here... - 27/4/2010 12:26John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - April 26, 2010
This was right down at La Daille at 11.00 this morning. The snow was still excellent for these Parisian children. We know they're from Paris, partly because it's the only part of France still on holiday, partly from all the fur on their jackets. The Val d'Isère kids are back at school, holding hands in the little crocodiles so beloved of the continentals. Yes, girls and boys together! No wonder foreigners are all sex maniacs. At least at most British schools one knows they'll be holding hands with someone of their own sex. It's important to prepare children from a young age to join the Cabinet or the Welsh rugby team. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. What goes up... - 23/4/2010 09:42John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - April 23, 2010
So far, so good... This child in the Val Park yesterday was demonstrating that the tricky part isn't the going up - it's the coming down again. Amazingly, he did get his hands forward and land this one, well out of frame to the right. But his next trick was the first 90º of a back flip, and he was glad he was wearing a helmet (and that his mother wasn't watching...). Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Two skiers in twenty minutes - 21/4/2010 10:09John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - April 21, 2010
This was the bottom of the L at 9.40 this morning. Our photographer waited twenty minutes for the first skiers to appear. During this time just five people used the chairlift, which could have carried seven hundred, and those snowboarders on the right sat on their bottoms. April is such a great month. Most of France is on holiday, but there's nobody around. The skiing is still superb. As are long lunches in the sun. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Omnibus not Airbus - 19/4/2010 18:15John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - April 19, 2010
Our final guests arrived this morning, tired but surprisingly happy after their journey by omnibus, not Airbus. (All except one gentleman who rang last night from Liverpool Airport to inform us that his easyJet had been cancelled, but that he'd be flying this morning. Obviously, news of the ash cloud hasn't yet reached Planet Zog.) Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Beautiful spring weather awaits... - 16/4/2010 10:19John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - April 15, 2010
Oh dear, there's a bit of cloud over Solaise today. It must have come from Krakatoa. Better ground the microlight and tell the paragliders to stay indoors... Once again, Britain is humiliated by Iceland. Their fishing boats, their banks, their dodgy supermarket, and now their volcano. Come on, oh Bulldog Breed, can you see Douglas Bader refusing to fly because of a bit of dust? Some of you would have got through. Anyway, if you're coming out on Sunday, the journey may take a tad longer than our usual five hours, so bring a book. It will be worth it: the skiing is absolutely brilliant and the weather is beautiful. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Never satisfied - 15/4/2010 09:42John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - April 15, 2010
It's another perfect day here in paradise. Children growing up in Britain are probably slightly envious of the Val d'Isère kids. Instead of a potting shed at the bottom of his garden, this one has the Funival. But needless to say the local brats think they're really hard done by. Do I have to go skiing again? If I lived in England I could ride my bike and watch Sponge Bob all day. Are we humans hardwired to be discontented? Does Claudia Schiffer's husband sometimes dream of Ann Widdecombe? Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Cooler temperatures and a dusting of snow - 12/4/2010 09:53John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - April 12, 2010
The air is cool this morning (-7º), the sun is warm. By 09.37 only one person had left tracks down the Orange. It looks as though he (she?) enjoyed the few of inches of fresh powder which had fallen overnight on top of the groomed piste. The first four months of this season may have been a tad grey and snowy, but we're certainly reaping the benefits now! Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Congratulations, Louise! - 9/4/2010 10:01John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - April 9, 2010
This is former YSE guest Louise Thomas. Last year, she was trying to break into the British ski team. This year, she's done a lot better than that. She is now British slalom and super-G champion. Congratulations, Louise! Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Like we need more snow... - 7/4/2010 10:19John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - April 7, 2010
It's clouding over this morning, and we're expecting snow showers tonight. Like we need more snow... (Like? LIKE?? Has our photographer's like filter broken down? We're, like, we don't, like, like like. Why do around 30% of Britain's most expensively educated young people's conversation consist of the word 'like'? We recently heard 'it's on, like, Thursday.' We pointed out that there isn't anything like Thursday. Not Wednesday. Not Friday. Not even Tuesday, although it starts with the same letter. Reply from bored youth: 'Whatever...' At least it wasn't 'like'.) Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Actually, some warmer weather would be nice... - 5/4/2010 13:37John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - April 5, 2010
You can see that it's sunny and that there's a lot of snow on Solaise today. What you can't see is that it's -10C and blowing a gale. The Lord managed two sunny days for Toby and Octavia last week. Let's hope He does better this week for Cosmo and Camilla, lest they decide to go somewhere hot next Easter... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Snow, snow and more snow - 30/3/2010 17:03John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - March 30, 2010
Here's how Bellevarde looked yesterday. This morning it has disappeared in the clouds, and we're expecting 15-20cm snow. Are we going to see a photo? Unlikely: this is the weather for sneaking back under one's duvet with a good book and a bottle of YSE Chablis. (Anybody want a glass?) Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Fabulous snowy conditions again - 29/3/2010 11:19John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - March 29, 2010
Anyone who thinks the winter is petering out should be here now. This is what we woke to yesterday: 40cm of powder in the village and 60cm higher up. Temperatures have fallen, conditions are amazing, and there's nobody around except a few Brits (all called Toby or Octavia). Life could be a lot worse. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Rocking the Big Air contest - 25/3/2010 10:22John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère and gives his unique opinion of the Big Air Contest - March 25, 2010
Anyone over the age of 12 may have difficulty deciphering this photograph, taken last night. Let me help. It is a young man, hidden inside a patchwork quilt knitted for him by his colour-blind grandmother, seeking the perfect position for spraying graffiti on the bottom of an Olympique bubble. Or perhaps it's a competitor in last night's Big Air contest getting seriously high. It was one of those typical modern events, with an excruciating exhibitionist yelling pseudo-American inanities to gee up the crowd, someone tone-deaf shrieking into a mike at 200dB, people dancing in inverse proportion to their suitability for strutting their stuff in public, people on stilts, people twirling burning things, people in fancy dress... But the jumps were pretty impressive, and the fireworks afterwards were fantastic. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Confunded by the weather - 24/3/2010 10:12John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - March 24, 2010
The weather is a bit confused today. Le Fornet is in cloud, Bellevarde has blue sky. The air is cold, the sun is warm. The Föhn is blowing from the east, the Lombarde from the south. We blame Météo France, which is probably hungover from their strike yesterday. Half the world was on strike here, even the teachers. Apparently there aren't enough of them to give children a decent education, so they stayed at home. That will help. The local kids went skiing instead. Those conscientious teachers who went to work really upset their pupils! Why is everyone on strike? Even Kevin Pietersen is on strike. (Good Lord - a cricketing pun. Maybe our photographer should go on strike...) Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Phew - cold night to halt the melt - 23/3/2010 10:00John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - March 23, 2010
That's more like it. A cold night, a beautiful morning and perfect pistes from top to bottom. Everyone is smiling. Well, everyone except our photographer, who got stuck up to his tummy in the snow to get this shot. Admittedly, some people's tummies are closer to the ground than other's, but it's still a lot of snow. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Rain yesterday, but the snow is still deep - 22/3/2010 13:27John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - March 22, 2010
The Alps were hit by a massive thaw over the weekend, with heavy rain yesterday. As you can see, the snow has suffered on the elegant tin roofs outside our photographer's bedroom, but the nursery slopes still look good (there's more than a metre of natural snow on them, plus all the cannon stuff, and they re-froze overnight), while Solaise is perfect (1m70 plus cannon snow). There's powder on the glaciers and spring snow forming off-piste. Which is why you should always take your Easter holidays in Val d'Isère.... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. To infinity and beyond - 19/3/2010 10:38John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - 19 March, 2010
This could have been you. Empty pistes, perfect snow, gorgeous weather and, er, helmet and sunglasses... What's that all about? You're supposed to wear a helmet with GOGGLES! That way the restricted peripheral vision you get from the goggles doesn't matter. Anyway, the fellow may look like Buzz Lightyear on his way to a funeral, but he's edging nicely, and he's having more fun than our photographer, peering through his viewfinder - or you, peering at your computer! Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Orientation counts, not altitude - 18/3/2010 12:15John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - March 18, 2010
This is the view from the Fornet cable car this morning. It shows the point where the road turns into a ski-run in winter. The snow on the south-facing side of the valley is just beginning to look a little ragged now. As we head into spring, it's less the altitude of slopes that counts (these chalets are at around 1950m) than their orientation. Val d'Isère has a lot of north-facing slopes, which is why most of the 1.8m of snow there is at the mid-stations right now should last until the resort closes on 2 May. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. They don't make moguls like they used to - 17/3/2010 11:50John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - March 17, 2010
Here's how Solaise looked at 5pm yesterday, and will again look at 5pm today, after yet another day of paradisiac perfection. Aren't those bumps beautiful? It's a mystery where they come from, though. As you can see, nobody skis them any more. Back in the 70s and 80s, we were all hot-doggers, and every bit of this slope was covered with moguls. The mogul horde we used to call it. Or was it the mongol horde? Anyway, there were thousands of them. We spent happy hours lying among them, knocked unconscious by our own skis, which windmilled at the end of sensible leather straps. Those were the days... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. A beautiful day in Val d'Isere - 15/3/2010 15:55John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - March 15, 2010
This is a nightmare! The day began with the peaks shrouded in cloud, light snow, and -8C; good weather, in other words, for catching up on accounts and letting sunburn settle. But before our man had even opened the final demands from EDF the clouds had gone, the sun was out, and it would have been rude not to get up there. If you're in Val d'Isère today and see a little fat bloke on the chairlift with a credit card in one hand and a phone in the other, he's just trying to keep the power on... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Pics from the Winter X Games - 12/3/2010 10:11John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - March 12, 2010
Good grief! Our photographer has crossed over to the Dark Side. Not only has he been in Tignes (which we didn't think he knew how to get to) but he's been photographing snowboarders! This is the first time the Winter X Games have been held outside America, and the big bowl of Val Claret was the ideal place. The skiers, boarders and even skidoos doing multiple back flips off terrifying mountains of snow have been pretty impressive. The contestants may have difficulty pulling their trousers up, but they're not short of their contents... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Mer de nuages in view but not in Val - 11/3/2010 12:34John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - March 11, 2010
This is the last picture our photographer ever took, heroically recording the cloud of poison gas which enveloped him just seconds later... Sorry, just a joke. Yes, we know it wasn't funny but what can you expect early on a Thursday morning? The cloud is, of course, the edge of the mer de nuages which stretches from Geneva to La Daille, but hasn't reached Val d'Isère. We're having a perfect, above-the-clouds, blue and white day, and rather than waste half the morning trying to think of a better joke, our photographer has gone skiing. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Farewell to the merry-go-round - 10/3/2010 15:25John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère ? March 10, 2010
Today is cold, windy, snowy and grey, but what makes it particularly sad is the premature departure of Val d'Isère's first-ever roundabout, which has not, amazingly, been a huge success. One would imagine that after being bored all day by our 156 monotonous pistes, dull new toboggan run, mundane new skating rink, or tedious new sports-aquatic centre, every child would be desperate to spend five minutes going in slow circles on a wooden horse at -20ºC between the bus stop and the Boobs tee-shirt emporium. But no, today's kids have no romance, and the carousel has left town. On second thoughts, though, while an old van is pulling the actual roundabout, they've got a hefty and expensive 4x4 towing the ticket office, and it looks rather low on its springs. Could the till be so full of euros they don't need to work any more? Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Clear and sunny - but it's blinking fruz - 9/3/2010 15:50John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - March 9, 2010
The photo shows that it's another clear, sunny day, with perfect snow on the pistes in Val d'Isère. What it doesn't show is that it's absolutely brass monkeys here (-10º in town but -23º on the glacier) with an icy wind. Our photographer nearly got frostbite in the 1/1000 second he had his gloves off, and most of the (not many) people here at the moment are staying low. The snow is not only being preserved by this unusual cold, it's about to get better: we're forecast fresh falls over the next 48 hours. Watch this space. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Sunshine! - 8/3/2010 11:40John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the snow conditions in Val d'Isère - March 8, 2010
This was how the OK and Raye looked at 09.05 today, Monday 8 March (check the clock on the timing hut). Perfect corduroy, wall-to-wall sunshine, squeaky snow, -12C. If you skied in Val d'Isère last week, and got sick of all the snow and low cloud, sorry. This is what you're missing now you're back home. No-one ever said life was fair. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. White-out time - again! - 5/3/2010 10:11John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - March 5, 2010
It has snowed every day this week, and it's still snowing. The temperature was -10º this morning and we're forecast -15º tonight. Conditions are phenomenal. When the sun does finally return, we're going to have some pretty fantastic skiing! Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Not a lot of sun at the moment - 4/3/2010 10:53John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - March 4, 2010 We've averaged about one sunny day per week so far this winter, which has been tedious for people out here, but is great news for those of you yet to come, because there's a lot of snow and it is in excellent condition. It's not great for photos, though, so here's a shot we took last week. It does however illustrate the importance of ski helmets - this little boy seems about to nut the gate. Why, we're not sure, but could the helmet be the reason why he has neither seen nor heard the gate, and is about to bash into it?
Boris Johnson's recent comments have really stirred everyone up. An article in the Ottawa Citizen last week had some surprising statistics, but the most telling comment came from our aptly-named former chalet girl, Pascale Pretty, who noticed the adverts Google had placed by Boris's article: 1) Qu'cksilver helmets Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. The return of the conquering hero... - 3/3/2010 12:09John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow conditions in Val d'Isère - March 3, 2010
Val d'Isère celebrated the return of its conquering hero - Mathieu Bozzetto - in style last night. The Olympic rings were projected onto the Face, as a couple of hundred instructors skied down it, carrying torches and led by the great man himself. One cynic was heard to remark that it seemed a lot of fuss for someone who'd come third in a sport only four people do, but hell, a medal's a medal... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. The many distractions of Val d'Isere - 2/3/2010 12:05John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow conditions in Val d'Isère - March 2, 2010
This would just be another dull photo if one of our liveried luxury limousines and a UFO hadn't sneaked into it. It's been snowing again overnight and is still snowing now, though we're promised a sunny afternoon. Let's hope the evening is clear for the Fête à Bozzett', a torchlight descent and firework display in honour of local boy Mathieu Bozzetto, who is coming home today with an Olympic medal. People ask why so few medal-winners nowadays come from the top ski resorts. We think we know. If you lived in some tinpot mountain village with two lifts and a car park, where your neighbours all had one eye in the middle of their forehead, you'd probably find endlessly banging yourself against wooden poles quite fun. But if you trained somewhere with the skiing and après-skiing of Val d'Isère, you might get a little distracted! (Particularly this week, which is Scandie week...) Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Sunshine and fresh snow - 1/3/2010 10:41John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow conditions in Val d'Isère - March 1, 2010
This is the top of Bellevarde today. March is when the snow is at its deepest in the high resorts - and starts melting everywhere else. Mind you, melting snow (particularly if it melts before reaching the ground) is all the mode at the moment, isn't it? Who had the brilliant idea of holding the Winter Olympics somewhere where it rains a lot? They wouldn't do anything so daft with the Summer Olympics, would they... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Where's your head at? - 25/2/2010 11:55John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow conditoins in Val d'Isère - February 25, 2010
Inspired by our success in Vancouver (we're ahead of Jamaica) there are lots of young British boys and girls in Val d'Isère and the neighbouring resorts training for 2022. Cognoscenti will admire this one's solid platinum Ted-the-Shred helmet, especially as his dad was recently told he was a bad example for not wearing a helmet himself. It's not so much that he thinks that non-racers who ski in helmets are mostly unstable head-bangers who'd rather injure other people than themselves, as that after buying his sprog everything from remote-controlled footwarmers to a kevlar cricket box he couldn't afford one for himself. Still, the palaeontologists among you might enjoy what Boris Johnson said on the subject here. [Ed: I'm not one of them. C'mon Boris - lots things have changed and improved in the Alps since you started skiing. The sport's come on a bit - people are skiing faster on busier pistes, and more of them are going to more dangerous places. It's obvious why we should be wearing helmets.] Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Fresh snow in Val d'Isere - 23/2/2010 12:57John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow conditoins in Val d'Isère - February 23, 2010
Our photographer seems finally to have realised that all we want to know is what the snow is like and whether we should grab a last-minute deal and rush to Val d'Isère. We don't want to hear his opinions on helmets, backpacks, boarders, beards or baldness. So from now on he's just going to send us the same view every day (from his bedroom, of course) so we can check out the snow for ourselves. Today's picture shows that several inches of fresh powder fell overnight, and that more snow is falling now. Conditions are FANTASTIC. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Another forecast malfunction - 22/2/2010 11:28John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow conditoins in Val d'Isère - February 22, 2010
It's happened again! Today was forecast to be grey, snowy, windy and miserable. So our photographer spent last evening getting genteelly bladdered in the Alsace, watching Bode touch perfection in the greatest of all the wintersports events, and then a load of thugs in baggy suits practise tag wrestling on snow in the ski cross, whichwould be the most undignified event if there weren't boarder cross!Great telly, though... Is Bode a dude or what? Asked in Val d'Isère last February how he waspreparing psychologically for the Downhill, he replied "Dunno. Didn't start yet. Coupla beers, I guess." So anyway, this morning our man would like to go back to bed, but can't with all that snow and all that sky! If you're on Bellevarde today, look out for someone with the DTs, popping nurofen. [Ed: John? John?? What are you talking about? Ski cross is a sport for heroes...] Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Anyone for moguls? - 19/2/2010 10:22John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - February 19, 2010
Our photographer says this is how Solaise looks this morning. Which is slightly surprising, since the sun doesn't hit Le Plan until at least lunchtime, and anyway the webcams show that it's snowing today! We reckon he's gone back to bed with a hangover - about all he gets to go to bed with nowadays - and that this is a shot he took yesterday afternoon... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. The temperature jumps! To -13C... - 16/2/2010 10:34John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - February 16, 2010
Today's cloud has allowed the temperature to rise from yesterday's slightly parky -19º to a balmy -13º, but it's still cold enough to keep the dam iced over. To the layman, this would imply that we're enjoying a typical, traditional Val d'Isère winter, though if we asked the University of East Anglia we'd probably learn that it isn't ice we're looking at, but tiny particles which have fallen off the glaciers receding above... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. A sight for snow-hungry eyes - 12/2/2010 18:33John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - February 12, 2010
Don't wipe your screen - the cloudy bits are steam rising from the spring next to our luxury chalets des Neiges, des Pentes and des Pistes, which shows that the temperature is below -13C this morning. There's a foot of fresh powder, squeaky-clean snow on the pistes and wall-to-wall sunshine. And you are, erm, sitting at your computer...? Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Shhhhhhh. We're skiing - 9/2/2010 18:27John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - February 9, 2010
This may not be such a perfect example of franglais as that email from the ski school, but what on earth does 'Reserved to quiet ski' mean? We wonder if computer translation is responsible - possibly the same programme they use in the Kremlin, where the British Ambassador's cheery 'out of sight, out of mind' recently came back as 'blind imbecile.' Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Yeah - the weatherman wasn't wrong - 5/2/2010 13:47John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - February 5, 2010
We can't whinge about the weatherman today. He promised snow late morning, and these were some of the first flakes falling against the already fairly snowy roofs of Le Fornet at midday. We're expecting 20-50cm today, and more tomorrow followed by several days' sunshine. If you suspect we just give you the same forecast every Friday, check it out on here. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. New 'pocket ski instructor' apps - 4/2/2010 17:32John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - February 4, 2010
This is a surprising photograph. Partly because it isn't snowing today (we took it tomorrow); partly because these people look so happy to be skiing in a blizzard (she's Scottish, he's Swedish, so this is a summer's day to them); partly because they are instructors from rival schools (Tansy is from Mountain Masters, Andreas from Alpine Experience) and wouldn't usually be expected to ski together, but mostly because they're MARRIED, which is normally the kiss of death to both skiing together and looking happy... You can't fit them in your pocket, however. 'Your ski instructor in your pocket' is the slogan for a new 'app' (whatever that may be) for your iPhone (whatever that may be) produced by veteran Val d'Isère instructor Martin Heckelman. Apparently, you can see how to ski on its screen, and practice while listening on an earpiece. It sounds like a brilliant idea and costs a paltry £2.39. Take a look on here. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Yet more snow in Val d'Isere - 3/2/2010 10:57John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère - February 3, 2010
It's been snowing slowly but surely since lunchtime yesterday. We're promised sunshine today, but there's no sign of it yet. By the way, did you see the head of the Met Office on Newsnight the other week? Apparently, they didn't get it wrong forecasting the barbecue summer and mild winter. Those were the most likely scenarios. Nature slipped up, doing something statistically improbable. And it's not just Michael Fish. Michel Poisson is no better. Météo France's web forecast for this week predicted two days of snow then three days' sun, while their telephone forecast was for exactly the opposite. Both were wrong! Are we the last people to realise that weather forecasts are an elaborate hoax, a sort of cross between astrology and homeopathy? And does anybody want to buy a barbecue? Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Perfect corduroy: less-than-perfect English - 2/2/2010 10:55John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - February 2, 2010
Wouldn't you just love to be getting your carvers into this perfect corduroy? If carving's not quite your thing, perhaps you need some lessons. And if you need lessons, perhaps the school which has just sent us the following might appeal to you: "All the ski instructors are fully French state diploma and speaking fluently English. Please let your guest beneficiate our 10% discount. We are kindly listening their wishes by adapted us to offer them the best day skiing they never had." Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Snow's in the air - 29/1/2010 09:08John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 29, 2010 It wasn't really snowing enough for an umbrella this morning, nor sunny enough for a parasol. Perhaps they were just striding off to an audition for The Mikado. But by the time the photo was downloaded, the snow had won, and big flakes were falling. We're expecting a foot or so of powder over the weekend, before the sun returns on Monday.
Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Beneath the Vanoise express... - 28/1/2010 08:25John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 28, 2010
It's snowing today, so this was what it looked liked yesterday instead. Inspired by his recent expedition to Tignes, our photographer has now visited another obscure little resort. This is Peisey, in the gap between Les Arcs and La Plagne. For years the Peiserots refused to allow the two big resorts to link across their land. Then they had a change of heart and in December 2003 the world's biggest cable car, the Vanoise Express, transformed Les Arcs and La Plagne into the modestly-named Paradiski. Quite a novel concept, that slinging a cable between two unexceptional resorts can form one great resort... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. What's in a name... - 27/1/2010 10:36John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Tignes and Val d'Isère - January 27, 2010
You may have been surprised that this photo comes from Tignes. It's like finding Tower Hamlets on the Kensington & Chelsea website. But this is the shot our photographer wanted: the OK, Diébold, 3J and Verte, seen from Tovière. One might wonder why Val d'Isère, generally considered the prettier of the twin resorts, has such unattractive names for its runs, while Tignes, which remains terminally ugly, has names like Crocus, Cyclamen and Saxifrage... Click here for our Val d'Isère and Tignes resort reports. Sun, snow and sarcasm - 26/1/2010 13:22John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 26, 2010
Here are the Violettes and Rocs pistes, as well as the fearsome Tovière bumps, seen from the Tommeuses chair this morning. Nothing contentious today. No attacks on the trichologically-challenged. Mind you, the baldies fought back: everything from 'Hair falls off a gentleman: you have to scrape it off a pig!' and 'Grass doesn't grow on a busy street,' to 'That's my dad!'. One correspondent was pleased to see that we don't know what PC means (Police Constable? Personal Computer?), while another reckoned we'd probably lost 60 per cent of our customers in one go... that's a bit of a worrying thought, since 50 per cent of our guests are female. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Snowy days back again - 25/1/2010 12:27John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 25, 2010
Isn't that typical? You've got the shot you want - nothing award-winning, but an adequate sort of picture of light snow falling against the snowy roofs of La Daille - then when you download it there's a bald bloke spoiling the view! Why don't bald people ever wear hats? Actually, don't answer that. They probably do wear hats, but then you can't see they're bald... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. All runs open - including the Tunnel run - 22/1/2010 09:34John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 22, 2010
Hot off the press: all of Val d'Isère's runs are open as of today. The obscure Tunnel run between Solaise and Le Fornet, where you crawl through a tunnel then fall off a cliff, has just opened for the first time in years! Who-hoo! There's stacks of snow here at the moment. There are nearly five feet of it at the bottom of the pistes. The weather is gorgeous. The skiing is brilliant. Even the tacky tin roof which usually spoils the view from our photographer's desk looks nice with this amount of snow. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Better value pound brings costs down - 21/1/2010 09:29John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 21, 2010
The sun is getting higher, the snow is getting deeper and the prices are getting lower. It snowed 13cm last night, and the pound hit 1.15 euros for the first time in ages. That's 5 per cent off your expenses in Val d'Isère straight away. It's like getting the senior lift pass without having grey hair or a staff discount without having to clean loos... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Whooshing through the pow - 20/1/2010 08:55John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 20, 2010
Here's the man himself. No, not our photographer, but Henry. Yesterday. Looking like he's just stepped off his moped. Apparently his betrothed insists on the helmet: she'd rather he stayed safe than looked cool. That's true love. Our photographer would rather be a cool corpse than a dorky-looking survivor. But Henry does find wonderful powder. And skis it beautifully. Plus, there's no-one safer to ski with than an expert on avalanche awareness... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Hmm, controversial! Have to say we're with Henry-the-avalanche-guru, on erring on the dorky side and going for the helmet option - let's face it, the man's a legend and knows what he's talking about!! And you never know when an out of control idiot might take you out on the slopes... Click here to read our feature on Ski safety. Ed Powder fields - 19/1/2010 06:15John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 19, 2010
There's powder in them thar' hills. Which is where our photographer is this morning, making tracks. (Mostly straight lines with a hole at the end...) But why on earth has he gone off-piste? He hates powder, he can't ski it to save his life! He prefers bumps (he can't ski them either, but at least he enjoys trying). Powder gets up your nose, down your neck and in your goggles. But Henry of Alpine Experience and Henry's Avalanche Talk has persuaded him to hire some skis as big as windsurfers and come along. If he doesn't fall on his camera on the first run, we'll send you a shot tomorrow. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Ten-year-old Brit wins Saturday's regional super championships - 18/1/2010 08:47John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 18, 2010
Here's Bellevarde today, with sunshine, blue skies and a foot of fresh powder. So why are we also sending you a picture taken in the white-out on Saturday afternoon? (Particularly as it's a lousy shot of a skier - though a brilliant one of the flag) Simple: the lad who was about to win the regional Super-G championship for ten-year olds was English, and in these days of captains out first ball, we though you might like to see a picture of a Brit actually winning something...
Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. The Face looks particularly good today - 15/1/2010 11:58John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 15, 2010
That's more like it! This picture shows three interesting things. First, that the weatherman got it blissfully wrong for today. Second, how well Val d'Isère cares for cross-country skiers, with langlauf tracks groomed smoother than George Clooney. And third, that there's nobody here mad or masochistic enough to use them! Who'd want to be panting up beside the road when he could be flying down the fabulous Face? Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Grey gloominess in Val - 14/1/2010 10:55John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 14, 2010
If you're sitting in a nice, warm house or office in Britain, thank your lucky stars you're not here! It's cold, grey and miserable, and the gale is whipping snow in people's faces... Just to make this week's guests really happy, the Savoie on Météo France's weather maps for next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday is predicting temperatures of -5 or 6 with lot of sun. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Fresh snow in Val d'Isere - 13/1/2010 15:31John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 13, 2010
And yippee again! This time for the snow. Four inches of light, fluffy powder fell overnight and it was snowing gently on this lady at 9.45 am this morning. We're promised more snow until Friday, then again on Sunday. There could be a couple of feet of fresh powder for next week's guests. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Another day of sunshine - 12/1/2010 11:36John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 12, 2010
Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Just how January should be - 11/1/2010 10:25John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 11, 2010
This is how January should be. Deep snow, wall-to-wall sunshine and the streams smoking, which only happens below -13C. January is also the month of empty pistes, uncrowded restaurants and low prices, in case you're interested... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Round and round in Val - 8/1/2010 10:25John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 8, 2010
After a couple of sunny days, we're back to snow and wind. Ok, perhaps you have as much snow in Snodland as we do in Val d'Isère. And lower temperatures in Lowestoft. But are your carousels still working? Ours are. (You might have thought opening a roundabout in a ski resort was the definition of optimism, but somebody must be using it: that lady's boots must cost 180 euros a pair!) Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. The changing face of Val d'Isère - 7/1/2010 09:14John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 7, 2010
Today's photo shows how the main street of Val d'Isère looks at night nowadays. If you don't remember its being like this, don't worry - it's not your memory going, the village has changed a lot recently. It now has trees everywhere, pedestrian areas, smart hotels, posh shops and more spas than the Cutty Sark. Surprisingly, the clientele is the same as ever. It is still a young, irreverent, sporty resort. People may dine all evening and dance all night, but they're still on the first lift next morning... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. A very chilly bluebird sky - 6/1/2010 16:12John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 6, 2010
This is the top of Bellevarde today, not from our photographer's boudoir but from his desk, which is at least a step in the right direction. There is a lot of snow up there. It's -18º in the village, and conditions are incredible. This week's guests would like to send heartfelt thanks to all their predecessors, who put up so stoically with non-stop bad weather over Christmas and New Year, so they could enjoy heaven on earth today... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Fab conditions for army racing - 5/1/2010 10:16John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 5, 2010
Finally, a sunny morning! The British Army are enjoying the perfect conditions for their ski championships - this was the fastest man in the giant slalom, Capt. Peter Balfour. Rather surprisingly, he seems to represent Scotchguard. Perhaps they supply waterproofing or something. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. One metre of powder down and more to come - 4/1/2010 09:22John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 4, 2010
Another 30cm of snow has fallen on Val d'Isère since yesterday, and it's not over yet. There's already a metre of snow in the village and 1m 55 at the mid-stations. We think today is the seventeenth snowy day in succession. While the last two Christmases and New Years were absolutely gorgeous, this year's guests had obviously misbehaved and were punished with miserable weather. But when it does finally stop snowing, conditions are going to be amazing! Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. The biggest, brightest and bluest of moons - 1/1/2010 08:56John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - January 1, 2010
The New Year was absolutely beautiful here in Val d'Isère. The Face was lit by searchlights and Solaise by the brightest moon we've ever seen. Not only was it a blue moon, which apparently nowadays means the second full moon in a calendar month (following a mistake in 1946 by an American astronomy magazine!), but it was fuller than most (there was a partial eclipse at dinner time), higher (it was almost vertically over our heads), bigger (it's the perigee at the moment, when the moon is nearer the earth) and brighter (because the perihelion, when the earth is closest to the sun, is this week). Also, the sky was clear for the first time in a fortnight. But what made it particularly lovely were the hundreds of sky lanterns launched into the windless sky. You can just about make a pair of them in the photo. And the fun goes on: tonight we have the torchlight descent and fireworks... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. PHEW! The powder returns - 31/12/2009 08:29John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - December 31, 2009
About twenty minutes after we sent our rainy shot yesterday, the rain turned to snow and this is how it looked. The powder was fantastic on the upper slopes. It wasn't bad on the main street! Snow is still falling this morning, and the hills are alive with the sound of dynamite as the pisteurs clear potential avalanches. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Yikes! Rain is falling in Val - 30/12/2009 10:19John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - December 30, 2009
It's not often that our photographer takes a picture from inside his car, but then it's not often that it rains in Val d'Isère! Overnight, transparent snow fell as high as the top of Solaise. The snowpack is wet and heavy, the off-piste is dangerous and the pistes are sticky. The upside is that Val d'Isère has plenty of snow, whose different layers will now bond together to form an excellent base for the fresh powder forecast from Friday. This news might not cheer up this week's guests, so if you know someone out here right now, please don't call to ask if they're having fun! Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Transparent snow - huh? - 29/12/2009 19:46John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - December 29, 2009
A few timid rays of sun were hitting the top of Bellevarde this morning. It had snowed another 15cm overnight, though there was rain as high as Les Brévières. There may be some transparent snow this afternoon up to 2000m, though that hardly affects Val d'Isère or Tignes. Indeed, while the rest of the Alps squirm in the current thaw, our major concern is where to put the accents in Les Brévières. No-one here seems to know, and Wikipedia use four different permutations! Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Some colour in the gloom - 28/12/2009 12:02John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - December 28, 2009
Finally a bit of colour and some happy smiles! It's a cold grey snowy day, and there were cold grey snowy people everywhere our photographer looked, until Max from Top Ski arrived with his charming client. Apart from a few hours on Boxing Day, we haven't really seen the sun for ten days, and we're forecast several more days' snow. A bit tough on people here at the moment but wonderful news for those of you coming out in January or February. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. The strange case of the Christmas fireworks - 24/12/2009 09:14John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - Christmas Eve, 2009
If you think there's something fishy about this picture of last night's firework display, taken - surprise, surprise - from our photographer's boudoir, we agree. And we've worked out what it is: the fireworks are going sideways! Either they've been photoshopped in at a very peculiar angle, or there was a hell of a blizzard blowing last night. Our photographer swears it was the latter... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Pile it on - 23/12/2009 05:50John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - December 23, 2009
It's been snowing all night, and the forecast is for more snow every day for a week, except on Boxing Day, when we're promised sunshine. Which is good news for those of you coming skiing this Saturday. It's always nice to have sunny weather when you're sitting in one of those epic holiday-Saturday traffic jams... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Days are getting longer again - just! - 22/12/2009 10:41John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - December 22, 2009
Today is a good day. Temperatures have risen from -24º to around freezing. The sun has risen above Solaise for a day which will last a whole second longer than yesterday. Yes, the worst is past. Rock bottom was at 17.47 on Monday, and now we're bouncing back into summer. 'So why did the sun rise later today than yesterday, Daddy, if the day is longer?' Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Bring back the Ladies world cup! - 21/12/2009 09:58John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - December 21, 2009
The girls were looking good at the weekend, even if the trees looked a little sad. Now, the trees are looking good, after two days' snow, but Lindsey, Chemmy and the other fast ladies have moved on, and it's our photographer who's feeling sad...
Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Christmas is definitely in the air - 18/12/2009 10:38John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - December 18, 2009
Christmas trees were delivered to our chalets yesterday and are being decorated today. Why the photographer thought a couple of glasses of wine were an indispensable prop we don't know, but we very much doubt whether they got poured back into the bottle... Apparently, you might have a White Christmas in Britain. We certainly will here. A further dusting of snow fell overnight, the ladies raced through snow showers this morning, and more is forecast for next week. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Fab conditions in Val - 16/12/2009 10:13John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - December 16, 2009
Here is La Daille this morning, with YSE's chalets Neiges, Pentes and Pistes on the left. The OK and Raye are both in gorgeous condition, though the former is closed until Monday for the Ladies' World Cup races. But everyone over Christmas will be able to bomb down it on the most perfect snow... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Brrr, it's chillsome in Val - 16/12/2009 10:11John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - December 16, 2009
The weather is beautiful at the moment though seriously cold - but that's good for the snow already on the ground and great for making more. Every night, Val d'Isère's 300 cannons are each producing mountains of snow big enough to form their own private avalanches! You may be tiring of pictures showing artificial snow, but we're glad to have it. Without it, the pistes would be getting a tad bare by now. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Val hots up (or cools down) for the Beeb - 14/12/2009 12:40John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - December 15, 2009
Val d'Isère will again be the centre of attention over the coming week. It was all over Eurosport last weekend and will be on the BBC the weekend one coming up, when the ladies race on the OK. There was fresh snow on Saturday and the canons are working 24/7. It was a bone-chilling -15ºC this morning - brrr!! Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Body stockings and helmets rule this weekend - 11/12/2009 11:18John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - December 11, 2009 Just look at the Face today! From this angle it looks almost benign. But to the young men at the top, clad only in a body stocking and a helmet, it must look terrifying.
There are probably only three places in France with enough snow to organise a World Cup super-G right now. One is Val Thorens, and the other two are Val d'Isère and Tignes, where conditions are just phenomenal. Bring it on. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. World Cup freeskiing on the Face - 10/12/2009 11:05John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - December 10, 2009
The whole of the Men's World Cup circuit was freeskiing the perfect Face this morning at five-second intervals. The super-combined is happening tomorrow with the super-G on Saturday, and two legs of the slalom on Sunday. The highlights will be on Ski Sunday, which may also include interviews from two of YSE's chalets, des Pistes and des Neiges. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. It's another stunning day in Val - 9/12/2009 14:11John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - As you can see, Val d'Isère is having teething troubles with the new climate-controlled chairlifts.
Sorry, that was a joke. Rather a bad joke. Worse, it's one we've used before. Everything's recycled nowadays, even feeble humour. The real joke is that just after the photo was taken the chairlift started moving, and some of the ice fell off and landed smack on one of our cars. It made one hell of a dent. Who thinks the insurance company will use 'Act of God' to wriggle out of paying? Fortunately, it was snow cannon snow, not natural snow, and the lift company is fully insured, even if the Lord isn't... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. From rain to snow, I love it when that happens - 8/12/2009 10:59John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - date, 2009
Well, it did rain in the end yesterday but the rain turned to snow overnight and there's good powder on the upper slopes this morning. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. The cannons are still blasting in Val - 4/12/2009 10:55John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - December 4, 2009 It snowed another 15cm or so last night, but still they ran the snow cannons. You might wonder what difference 50,000m3 of artificial snow will make when the Lord has already dumped a good 15,000,000m3 on the Espace Killy (and has promised more for next week) but we won't be complaining when the lowest slopes are still perfect in May.
Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Whoop! Val gears up for the official start of winter - 2/12/2009 10:30John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - December 2, 2009 The sun rose behind Solaise this morning, pretty much where it's going to appear for the next six weeks or so as we enjoy the real depths of winter.
It's a seriously exciting time here: we've got the Beeb coming out on Sunday to cover the men's World Cup races (they're being held on the Face the following weekend); then the ladies race on the OK; then it's Christmas (with an airbus full of iPod Touches for Cosmo and ponies for Persephone touching down) and New Year (when the nightclubs are full and the pistes are empty); then there's a brilliant week when the Brits are on holiday but not the French... Bring it on! Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. It seems to be chucking snow down in Val - 1/12/2009 11:22John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - December 1, 2009 It must be December 1, because that's when our photographer returns to his winter quarters and takes most of his pictures out of the window. Don't be surprised if your other half seems suspiciously familiar with the view from our man's boudoir - half the British skiing population have seen it second-hand (although distressingly few have enjoyed it in person!)
The mottled affect on the photo comes from the fact that it is still snowing. However, we're forecast cold, sunny weather tomorrow and then some more snow. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. More lovely pics from Val - 26/11/2009 09:58John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - November 26, 2009
As usual, Val d'Isère is not letting the grass grow under its feet of snow. Thousands of tons of artificial snow are being produced daily. Which is a good thing: Val d'Isère and Tignes may have the best base in the Alps, but it isn't like last year. There aren't several feet of the stuff at all altitudes. This looks like being a year for the high resorts, particularly those with glaciers and snow cannons. If you've found yourself a good deal somewhere low, you'd better start checking the cancellation terms... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Freshies in Val - 25/11/2009 12:12John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - November 25, 2009
This is the view today past the Fontaine Froide and Grand Pré chairs to the Grande Motte. First tracks in three days... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Count-down to lifts off - 24/11/2009 15:38John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - November 22, 2009 Every ski resort looks great with fresh snow, but not many across the Alps look as good as Val d'Isère right now.
Ten days of warm weather have really separated the men from the boys (if I'm allowed such a metaphor nowadays!) As you can see, Val d'Isère still has a good base right down to the village, and we're forecast more snow before lifts open on Saturday. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. The latest snow in Val d'Isere - 10/11/2009 12:30John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on the latest snow in Val d'Isère - November 10, 2009
Taken in Val d'Isere this morning Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Not the warmest of welcomes - 16/9/2009 11:35
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports a dusting of snow in Val d'Isère, September 16, 2009 The sign says BIENVENUE A VAL D'ISERE. Not the warmest of welcomes today... (This isn't the first snow of the autumn, by the way - as you'll see from John's shot, below of the Col de l'Iséran on September 5 - click here for the full story.)
Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Quite a contrast - 6/8/2009 11:54
John Yates-Smith of YSE shows us how Val d'Isère looks in summer - August 6, 2009 (Check out the picture below to see how the same view looked on December 18, at the start of last winter.)
The last day of a brilliant season - 4/5/2009 06:58
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère - May 4, 2009 It began with sunshine, blue skies and serious skiers (French, in other words. We British don't believe in taking skiing too seriously. Do the Frogs take cricket seriously?). The Brits had all been to the closing-down party of the Folie Douce on Saturday afternoon, and were in no state to ski until at least lunchtime. At 5pm, though, the flower of the island race, plus a few descendants of convicts and sheep, took the traditional Final Funi to enjoy the last party of the season. Here are some of the highlights...
Five girls on a plastic sheet on a 45-degree slope...
...sound like a recipe for speed...
...more than control...
The paddling pools went fast.
But not always in the right direction.
Meanwhile...
the ironing board...
...went back to the drawing board...
While the tri-ski pallet
went straight
back to the dustbin.
And the pink paddling pool set off on its own...
...went fast - for a while...
And then threw its rider. So there it is, ladies and gentlemen, one of the best seasons ever is finally over. You will remember it as the winter when sterling crashed then pigs flu, but we had the best snow for a generation. The skiing in Val d'Isère was mind-blowing from November until May, its mountain restaurantsand ski shops won awards, prices came lower as our wallets got lighter, the World SkiingChampionships were brilliant, and our photographer found a comfortable ski boot. Just one. The right. But it's a start. So we know he'll be back in 205 days to work on the other. We hope you'll join him. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Tunnel vision - 29/4/2009 17:37
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère - April 29, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Still snowing here... - 28/4/2009 07:22
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère - April 28, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Just when you thought it was all over - 27/4/2009 17:29
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports on snow conditions in Val d'Isère - April 27, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. The dead hand of tradition... - 31/3/2009 18:45
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - March 31, 2009 Aren't the traditional chimneys great? They knew a thing or two, the ancient Savoyards. Who needs those naff, shiny, spinny things which suck the smoke up the chimney no matter what the wind's doing? The proper local design catches any passing gust and channels it down into the fireplace, so the flames come out horizontally to singe your Uggs, and next morning you can taste ash in your porridge. And they look nice... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. What a difference a day makes - 25/3/2009 13:51
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - March 25, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Clearing the roads again - 24/3/2009 17:25
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - March 24, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Newwwwww boots! - 17/3/2009 10:14
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - March 17, 2009 Does it work? Well, yesterday our photographer skied the best he ever had. And today he can't walk. So the jury's out... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. 40cm of fresh snow - 11/3/2009 16:26
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - March 11, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. On the up... - 6/3/2009 15:22
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - March 6, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. A room with a view - 27/2/2009 10:50
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - February 27, 2009 Today is another gorgeous day, and the air is above freezing for the first time for months. But don't imagine that the winter is over if you're coming out on Saturday or Sunday: we're forecast fresh snow next week. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. A summery -1C - 23/2/2009 19:15
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - February 23, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Heaven? - 19/2/2009 21:08
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - February 19, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. A busman's holiday - 18/2/2009 21:17
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - February 18, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. A balmy -15C - 16/2/2009 18:35
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - February 16, 2009 The general feeling, in spite of wind, snow, arctic temperatures, the Minister for Sport's speech, the frozen ladies dangling from a crane and the Gendarmes declaring Saturday to be open day for criminals while they closed the Gendarmerie to go and guard M. Sarkozy, is that these were the best World Skiing Championships ever. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Still snowing... - 12/2/2009 20:33
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - February 12, 2009 Somewhere in the snow is a girl racing down the Face in the Ladies' Giant Slalom. Our photographer couldn't see a thing, so he retired to the Bar des Sports and got a much better view on Eurosport. And a vin chaud. Chemmy looked good. Well, Chemmy always looks good, in spite of the GB catsuit which gives our racers red, white and blue-striped bums like mandrills... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. More snow! - 10/2/2009 14:02
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - February 10, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. The toughest course they've ever skied - 9/2/2009 10:13
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - February 9, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Taxing conditions - 5/2/2009 19:01
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - February 4, 2009 As with all speed events, there was just one run per competitor, and since the temperature was rising, each racer was slightly slower than the one before. It was the same in the Olympic Downhill in 1992, which was won by the first man down. All they really need to do is draw the start numbers, then let the first three spoof for the medals. The exception was Lindsey Vonn, who won with start number 14, but she doesn't count, as she's American and built like a concrete convenience (actually, she's absolutely gorgeous, and our man got a picture, but he keeps getting flak from feminine types for being too laddish, so you can't see it!). Ingrid came 19th and Chemmy 20th, pretty much their bib numbers... Wouldn't it be better if the run were a little shorter, and the first thirty went a second time in reverse order? Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Three fat ladies on a crane - 3/2/2009 16:43
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - February 3, 2009 NOTE TO LONDON 2012: please, please, please, don't let the opening ceremony drag on for more than half an hour! Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. The view from La Rosière - 29/1/2009 22:29
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - but from La Rosière, not Val d'Isère; January 29, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Yet more snow - 27/1/2009 22:23
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - January 27, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. After the tempest - 26/1/2009 12:26
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - January 26, 2009 Friday's 125mph winds may have blown the Solaise Express clean off its pylons for the first time, but they also brought in a lot of fresh powder. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Another 30cm this morning, and a metre more to follow - 23/1/2009 13:46
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - January 23, 2009 The photographer was actually up to his chest in snow to get this shot! Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Smokin'! - 22/1/2009 19:24
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - January 22, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Another lorryload of snow - 21/1/2009 11:11
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - January 21, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. 40-50cm of fresh snow - 20/1/2009 21:02
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - January 20, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Call a spade a spade... - 19/1/2009 18:34
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - January 19, 2009 As you can see, it's snowing again, and we're forecast a lot of powder over the next couple of days. Conditions are brill and getting briller. The best thing is going to be the first two weeks in February, when the World Championships are on. Every bed in town is taken by a racer, journalist, sponsor or sponger, and while the village is going to be rocking, the pistes are expected to be embarrassingly empty, as they were during the Olympics in 1992. People still talk about the wonderful skiing we enjoyed then, with racing, music and fireworks adding to the fun. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Another day in paradise - 12/1/2009 12:14
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - January 12, 2009 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. -18C - 7/1/2009 07:08
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - January 5, 2009 If you've forgotten what -18C feels like, just climb inside your deep freeze for the rest of the day. In fact, if you want to re-live the whole experience, put your sun bed in the deep freeze, fill your bobble hat with ice, pummel your shins with a hammer, have dinner served by a beautiful girl in a YSE polo shirt who barely notices you because she's in love with a ski bum called Randy, persuade a couple of French kids to barge you in the legs and a snowboarder to knock you over, while tearing £50 notes to pieces. There, you don't need to go skiing any more! Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. New year, new snow - 1/1/2009 16:24
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - January, 2009 This is our new Chalet Ig, a traditional Inuit dwelling with no wc, which is proving very popular with former millionaires. Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Undaunted - 30/12/2008 22:03
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - December 30, 2008 Really sensibly, the French team have chosen this week to close most of the Face so they can practise on it. They openly admit it's to give them the edge in the upcoming World Championships. The theory in France is that if you can abuse your position, it's rude not to. Bill Clinton wouldn't have been impeached here. He'd have made his fortune endorsing cigars. Anyway, they left a narrow strip of the Face open. Which is where YSE Annabel and Ben the Beast had just been when our photographer met them. The Beast slid down most of it on his tummy, but was pretty happy about his achievement, nonetheless. Talk about Face-planting... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Another good day for skiing gates... - 29/12/2008 17:07
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - December 29, 2008 Did you see the six smiley Santas on Christmas Day? They looked so happy and healthy and bright that we just had to get a picture. Imagine how horrified we were to realise that they were YSE guests! We're sorry, but YSE customers just don't do fancy dress. And how much space did six fat suits and a bag of beards use? No wonder we had a job fitting all the luggage on our coaches yesterday... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Fresh snow on Boxing Day - 27/12/2008 12:54
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - December 26, 2008 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. A sight for snow-hungry eyes - 27/12/2008 12:35
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - December 25, 2008 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. A great day for skiing gates... - 24/12/2008 10:42
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - December 24, 2008 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. It's all downhill from here - 22/12/2008 15:25
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - December 22, 2008 Today is the best day of the year! Not because the weather is beautiful, the snow incredible, our guests ecstatic or the staff delirious (although all those things are true); but because it is longer than yesterday. OK, for the next few days the sun will rise a tiny bit later and even further right, but sunset has been getting later for a week or so now, and the combined effect is that we've survived the solstice. From now on things can only get better. And they were already pretty near perfect... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Weak sunshine, great skiing - 19/12/2008 11:55
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - December 19, 2008 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Val d'Isère: under clear skies at last - 18/12/2008 14:01
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - December 18, 2008 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Val d'Isère: it's still snowing - 17/12/2008 14:17
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - December 17, 2008 Can somebody tell our photographer why this bloke is skiing with his poles behind his back? It seems to be the latest fashion, along with helmets, backpacks, wide legs and frostbitten builder's bottom. Or indeed saying poles instead of sticks. It's not really a pole, is it? Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Val d'Isère: cabin fever sets in - 16/12/2008 14:03
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - December 16, 2008 Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. Val d'Isère: in the grip of a "Retour d'Est" - 15/12/2008 16:07
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - December 15, 2008 This is what is called a 'retour d'est,' which is snow which falls on the French side of the high peaks along the Italian border. It only reaches Val d'Isère and the little village of Bonneval on the other side of the Col de l'Iséran. Even Tignes has had far less, and if you look at the webcams from neighbouring Courchevel or Les Arcs, you'll just see a dull, grey morning, enlivened by the occasional passing fur coat (Courchevel) or acrylic one-piece (Les Arcs). Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. You wanna see more snow? Then step this way... - 11/12/2008 22:41
John Yates-Smith ofYSEreports - December 11, 2008 Click here for ourVal d'Isèreresort report. You wanna see more snow? Then step this way... - 11/12/2008 00:47Val d'Isère, France
John Yates-Smith of YSE reports - December 11, 2008 Ski racing has to be near the pinnacle of human physical achievement. It is nearly as fast as Formula I and more dangerous than Moto GP. It is as technical as Wimbledon and as graceful as Strictly Come Dancing. Yet its TV ratings are down with sumo wrestling, far below darts! Would the public really rather watch a fat bloke called Roy with a pint in one hand and a dart in the other? Our photographer thinks it's because the skiers all look the same. It isn't easy to identify with the nose and stubble of an android called Janka, Kucera or Kostelic, from some country one can't pronounce either. They should take a tip from beach volleyball, and put the racers in national-coloured swimsuits... Click here for our Val d'Isère resort report. You wanna see more snow? Then step this way... - 9/12/2008 22:41
John Yates-Smith ofYSEreports - December 9, 2008 You wanna see more snow? Then step this way... - 8/12/2008 22:41
John Yates-Smith ofYSEreports - December 8, 2008 Click here for ourVal d'Isèreresort report. How soon can my children start to ski? - 5/10/2008 12:26 picture: www.yseski.co.uk  John Yates-Smith, Director YSE Having watched multicoloured snakes of tiny children on the ski slopes, many parents are desperate to take their own offspring skiing. They have this idea of what fun it would be to glide elegantly en famille down the blue runs, their grateful children glowing with health and grinning from ear to ear... It can happen like that, and when it does there's nothing better: but there's a lot of work along the way before you arrive at that stage. Children can start to ski a little at two, if they are confident, co-ordinated and relatively fearless. Little boys seem to take to it earlier than girls, perhaps because they don't have the intelligence to imagine how much careering into a tree will sting! But you need good weather, good snow, a very gentle nursery slope and lots of time and patience, one to one. They can manage about an hour per day, probably at lunchtime, when the weather is warmer and the slopes at their emptiest.
Possibly the best preparation for skiing is tobogganing. The combination of speed, terror and lack of control is good practice. Beware, however: sledges are faster and more dangerous than skis. You need to pick your slope very carefully! When your child is ready to start skiing, don't be fobbed off with plastic imitations of skis: he should have proper little skis and rear-entry boots. He does not need poles, however. He must have sunglasses or goggles. He probably won't be skiing fast enough to crash hard himself, but could always be fallen on by a twenty-stone beginner, or hit by a drag lift, so a helmet is essential. Two-year olds will probably start by being pulled along the flat, holding the end of one of your poles. After half an hour or so they'll be ready to be carried or dragged a few yards up a gentle slope, and allowed to slide back into the arms of Mummy, or someone else in whom they have total confidence (probably not Daddy!). From as young as their third birthday, children can learn to go up the drag lift and ski back down in gorgeous little parallel turns, though still only for about an hour per day. A parent can help with the initial stages, such as getting used to the drag lift. You put one of your skis between the child's, put the drag between your own legs, and push the child along with your leg. But most parents are survival skiers, getting down the piste in spite of their technique, not because of it. Children learn largely through imitation, and they need someone technically perfect to copy. If you can get an instructor from your own country, it makes life a lot easier. Children find even practically bilingual foreigners very confusing. We met a Londoner furious his child had been criticised for not using his aitches properly. It took a while to work out that the teacher meant 'edges'.
The easiest way for them to learn is with a private instructor per child. This is very expensive. You can halve the price by sharing the lesson between two children, but with two tiny beginners an instructor spends most of his time rushing between them, preventing wipe-outs and tantrums. It costs half as much, and each child learns a quarter as much and enjoys it a tenth as much! Ski holidays are expensive, but if you want your children to learn to ski and be happy there is no alternative to spending a bit more. So many parents get an en-suite marble bathroom for their children, but consider private lessons an unnecessary luxury. Once your child can get on and off lifts alone, you can start thinking about shared lessons or even ski school, so long as classes are small and lessons relatively short. But don't rush them. Skiing is only meant to be a bit of fun. If they are as happy tobogganing or building a snowman, let them. A three- or four-year old with, say, twenty hours' experience on the nursery slopes can probably manage to ski a green run with his or her parents. And that will be the proudest moment of your life! And if they don't get there until they're six or eight, who cares? As one Brit living in a ski resort was recently heard to say, "My lad skied red runs at three, blacks at four, bumps and slalom at five, and got his adult Giant Slalom badge at six. But he still can't write his own name."  picture: www.yseski.co.uk | ||
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How green is our Val d'Isère? Very green, and getting more so. Recycling and renewables are all the rage here. Look at this scene from the recent village fête.
