Val-d'Isère

Val-d'Isère
Val-d'Isère ski resort
Location of Val-d'Isère
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Savoie
Arrondissement	Albertville
Canton	Bourg-Saint-Maurice
Government
• Mayor (2001–2008)	Bernard Catelan
Area 1	94.39 km2 (36.44 sq mi)
Population  (2006)	1,753
• Density	19/km2 (48/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	73304 /73150
Elevation	1,785–3,599 m (5,856–11,808 ft) (avg. 1,849 m or 6,066 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Val-d'Isère is a commune in the Tarentaise Valley Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It lies 5 km (3 miles) from the border with Italy. It is on the border of the Vanoise National Park created in 1963. The Face de Bellevarde was the scene of the men's downhill race as part of the 1992 Winter Olympics. Other alpine skiing events held during those games included men's giant slalom and alpine combined. Val-d'Isère hosted the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2009.

Skiing

View in the center of Val-d'Isère

The Eastern and Central areas of Val-d'Isère are most recognizable by its "chalet" architecture, while at the Western part of the town high-rise architecture dominates the landscape. Along with nearby Tignes the area forms part of the "l'Espace Killy", the self-titled "Most Beautiful Ski Area in the World."

The Pissaillas Glacier offers summer skiing, as well as the usual winter fare. Summer skiing has not operated recently as the glacier has shrunk. Snow cannon are placed on certain slopes to accommodate heavy skiing. The ski slopes themselves are equipped with a high-volume gondola, able to transport standing skiers, the funicular from La Daille via a tunnel to the top of Bellevarde, traditional chair lifts—some with windshields and many detachable, button/disc-pulls and tow-ropes. There are both groomed slopes and backcountry (off-piste) skiing. Some runs, particularly down to the village are shown as easier than they are - a blue run at this may be closer to the difficulty level of a red. However, as in Tignes there are grand, easy motorway pistes as well to let rip on. It is first class off piste country for powder addicts and there are many good guides available.

Tignes possesses more of the same, with a funicular shuttling skiers up through one of the mountains to the Grande Motte glacier. A free shuttle bus runs between the villages in the valley, providing free transport throughout the towns of Val d'Isère and La Daille.

History

Human habitation of the valley dates back to before Roman times. The town received parish rights in 1637 and the parish church which still is a landmark in the town centre today was built in 1664.

Skiing in Val-d'Isère has its roots in the 1930s when a drag lift was built on the slopes of the Solaise. This was followed by an aerial tramway (cable car).

Tarentaise Valley Skiing

Within the Tarentaise Valley you find the biggest concentration of world-class ski resorts in the world. Most well known neighbour systems are Paradiski (Les Arcs, La Plagne) and Les Trois Vallées (Courchevel, Méribel, Val Thorens and more). A weekly lift ticket in Val d'Isère/Espace Killy gives you a choice to ski one day in each of the other two systems mentioned. There were once plans to interlink all systems and resorts to create the - by far - largest ski area in the world. However that vision was ended with the creation of the Vanoise National Park.

Tour de France

The resort was the start of Stage 9 to Briançon in the 2007 Tour de France.

Popular culture

Val-d'Isère was made well-known as the vacation spot of characters Edina and Patsy in the British sitcom, Absolutely Fabulous.

Notable people

• Jean-Claude Killy grew up in Val-d'Isère.

See also

• Communes of the Savoie department

References

• 1992 Winter Olympics official report. pp. 114-7. Template:En icon & Template:Fr icon

External links

• Val-d'Isère Tourist Office
• Val-d'Isère history
• 2009 World Ski Championships - organizing committee website
• - Impartial list of all ski schools
• - Panoramic virtual tour of slalom piste & snowpark