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Perfect weather for ski racing & skiing over the weekend

Good snow over 2500 metres with firmer conditions lower down

featured in Snow report Author Wayne Watson, Val d'Isere Reporter Updated

The sun continues to beat down and if you’re looking for sunshine it doesn’t get any better. The weather has been perfect for the three Men’s World Cup races that have been held over the past three days with a Super G on Friday, the Downhill on Saturday and then the GS on Sunday.

Often in the past it seems to snow during the races and too many have been cancelled due to too much fresh snow. These events are extremely expensive to run and take a huge amount of preparation, so the organisers have been extremely pleased with how the weekend has gone. (Mind you the rest of us would be happy for some fresh snow!)

snowy mountains

The resort has opened many more pistes to the bottom of the mountain and the piste skiing in general is excellent. The snow above 2500 metres has a lovely cold winter texture to it and the man-made snow down below is very good even if it is a little firm in places. Val d’Isere and Tignes are both pretty quiet at the moment and holiday-makers are profiting with un-crowded pistes, restaurants, and bars and everyone seems to be having a great time.

My colleagues and I are skiing off-piste daily and although conditions are limiting us at the moment we are still finding some fantastic skiing with very little effort. We’ve skied mostly at the Fornet but have skied around the Grande Motte in Tignes for a change of scenery a couple of times but off-piste enthusiasts are desperate for some fresh snow.

two skiers

The new lift accessing the Tete du Solaise is absolutely brilliant! The footprint at both the summit of Solaise and at the bottom is minimal and very nicely done. There is a small bar selling coffee for 1.5 Euros and croissant for 1 Euro and there is space for people to have a packed lunch. This is new in Val d’Isere but North American resorts have always had shelter and place for those who don’t want to spend a fortune on lunch, and I think it’s a great addition. The lift itself has heated seats for those cold snowy days and Wi-Fi for those who’d rather do what people do on their phones these days instead of looking at the scenery or conversing with their friends. They have removed the original Cable Car as well as the high-speed quad chairlift so if the new lift breaks down or has teething problems it won’t be easy to get to the top of the Solaise sector.

gondola in val disere

The forecast is for at least another 5 days of brilliant sunshine with between -5C and -7C in the village during the night, and +2C during the day on Monday and rising to around +7C during the day by Friday. It all bodes well for another fantastic week of skiing so have a great time if you’re here in the resort and log-on for more news on Friday!


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