Jenny Southan gets into the party spirit on the powdery slopes of Val d’Isère.
It’s about 3.30pm and the sky is steely grey. Flecks of snow float down in the bitter air and, over the white ridge beyond, a rainbow stream of skiers brings yet more partygoers to the mountainside rave. Those who aren’t swigging from icy bottles of Moët are dancing in ski boots on the tables or pumping their fists in the air to the irrepressibly upbeat tunes that are booming out.
Welcome to the craziest après ski party in France’s glamorous Val d’Isère resort, at La Folie Douce, where serious skiing meets hard drinking. And if you happen to have packed a tribal headdress, then all the better. Still, if “larging it” with the Chelsea set doesn’t appeal, you can always finish a long morning on the slopes in La Folie’s La Fruitère restaurant for lunch (book in advance). Leave your helmet and gloves in one of the pewter urns and tuck into a veal burger and fries or hot chestnut soup while the party goes on in the background.
Once the pot-bellied Russian guy who stripped down to his underwear has finished cavorting with drag artist compere Kely Starlight, those revellers looking to continue the party ski back down to an awaiting bus bound for Dick’s Tea Bar, where slippers are handed out on arrival and bar staff wear blue one-piece pyjamas. But by the time the light fades, my friend and I know we are not sober enough to safely navigate the steep run back down from La Folie. We hop on the last gondola and return to the warmth of our chalet just in time for a home-cooked meal.
Val d’Isère is in the Rhône-Alpes region of the Tarentaise Valley in south-eastern France, only 5km from Italy. It is 180km from Geneva and 165km from Grenoble, and the ski season runs from December to May.
Even though cars regularly get stuck, the village is particularly pretty as the council doesn’t salt the roads, and it is easy to navigate on foot or by bus (they run frequently and are free). Combine this with 300km of slopes across the L’Espace Killy area – which also incorporates the resort of Tignes – along with excellent off-piste skiing, a legendary après scene and great shopping, and Val continues to live up to its reputation as one of the world’s best resorts.
It started attracting skiers in the 1930s, when the first lift was installed on the Solaise. Since then, it has generated a loyal following, including many royals and celebrities, and its formidable Face de Bellevarde was used for the men’s downhill race in the 1992 Winter Olympics and the World Alpine Ski Championships.
Our holiday operator, VIP Ski, has 56 chalets and two hotels across nine resorts – others include Les Gets, Verbier and Zermatt. The chalet we are staying in – Bellvarde Lodge – is wonderfully cosy, with a hot tub, Molton Brown toiletries, and daily cleaning and meals by our two lovely hosts, Tom and Caroline.
It is my first time staying in a shared chalet, but the two British families we find ourselves tucking into breakfast and dinner with every day only add to the fun. In the evenings we congregate for wine and canapés and share stories of our day on the slopes, and when a blizzard sets in one night we join the kids for games of Perudo.
As beginners, we discover Val is a fairly tough place to learn to ski – some of the green runs and many of its blues can be steeper, bumpier and downright scarier than anticipated, and I am told would be classed as reds or even blacks in other resorts.
However, thanks to a morning or two on the nursery slopes and our instructor, Raph, who pushes us to our limits, we are soon high above the treeline on the crystalline white pistes. And when my friend decides she has had enough, I continue on to tackle red runs – swooshing over pristinely groomed powder and carving down gulleys that form natural half-pipes, only taking a tumble once or twice.
Come 4pm most days, we unclip our skis and clomp our way into the village to our favourite après bar, Café Face, where beer starts at €2.40 – a steal in this pricey resort. Le Petit Danois is another lively option, serving pitchers that prove popular with the student crowd.
When it comes to food, there is also plenty of choice, with fondue savoyarde an unmissable pleasure at local restaurants such as the rustic Sur la Montagne – not to mention the cakes that Caroline bakes each afternoon at the chalet. When my week in Val is over, all I can think about is when I can go back.
- One-day ski passes cost €45, five days €205.
- Info: valdisere.com
- Accommodation: vip-chalets.com
- Clothing: perfectmoment.com
- Lessons/equipment: oxygene-ski.com