The Sunday Times - UK (2021-11-28)

14 November 28, 2021The Sunday Times

Travel Ski

Ben Clatworthy reports from Val Th

Alps, as ski resorts reopen with ca

WE HA

LIFT O

O

n Saturday morning last

week, at 8.30am and under

cloudless blue skies, I clicked

into my skis to secure my

place at the front of the

queue for the Cascades chairlift in the

French resort of Val Thorens.

Thirty minutes later, as the clock struck

9am, and to the sound of cheers from

the 30-deep queue of jostling skiers,

the shutters rolled up on the entrance

to the lift and we were off: the first

passengers on the first chairlift on

the first day of the season.

In a normal year, this would have been

largely insignificant; a non-story. But

this year, the turning on of the lifts here

heralds the restart of the European winter

sports season.

While glaciers such as Les Deux Alpes

and Tignes were able to open sporadically

between pandemic lockdowns, French

Alpine slopes, and the lifts serving them,

have been closed since midnight on March

14, 2020, when President Macron ordered

their immediate shutdown.

The 2020/21 ski season in France was

a write-off. Locals enjoyed ski touring

— where you hike up ungroomed slopes

with detachable strips of fabric adding

grip to the bottom of your skis, before

descending — but resorts were largely

shuttered. In Switzerland and Austria

some opened, but strict winter lockdowns

and border restrictions around the world

meant they were off limits to the majority

— and certainly to Brits.

So, it was with real joy that I, and our

group of diehard skiers, boarded that first

chairlift (in our mandatory masks) for a

weekend of skiing. I whizzed about the

mountain, making the most of the terrain

that was open. Carves through the —

surprisingly good — man-made snow

were magical, even if interspersed with

the odd wobble, this being the first time

I’d touched a pair of skis since early

January last year.

Traditionally, VT, as the locals call it,

is the first non-glacier resort to open in

the Alps each winter and this year they

are celebrating more than ever. “There’s

no going back,” said Bruno Gabet, the

chairman of the resort’s tourist board.

“We’re open until May now.”

More than 15,000 skiers ascended

the long winding road from Moûtiers, in

the valley, for the opening weekend and,

so strong is the urge to return to the

slopes, many hotels are fully booked for

the duration of the season.

Ski resort bosses were worried, though,

that with Covid case numbers soaring, the

inevitable would happen and vaccine

passports would become mandatory for

skiers. “We were told that if cases reach

200 per 100,000 population, we will have

to extend the pass sanitaire to the ski lifts,”

Gabet said. That threshold has since been

passed, with cases at the time of going to

press standing at 227 per 100,000, and an

official declaration outlining the new rules

will be in place by December 4. Whether

the pass will be checked when buying ski

passes or at every individual lift is yet to be

confirmed, although resorts obviously

hope the former is the case. The NHS

Covid pass is now accepted in France.

They have the assurance of Jean-

Baptiste Lemoyne, the French tourism

minister, that “closing is not an option”,

although they are acutely aware of the

lockdown in Austria. Lemoyne said: “The

season is shaping up to be exceptional

and we are ready and raring to go.”

Val Thorens was able to open about

30 per cent of its slopes last weekend,

largely using man-made snow. Links to

neighbouring Méribel, Courchevel and

Les Menuires are due to open on

December 4, providing snow conditions

permit. Lower-altitude resorts, including

chocolate-box St Martin de Belleville, will

Cheers once

again

reverberated

around the

resort

fire up their lifts a week later.

“We have our fingers crossed for more

snow,” said Christophe Cluzel, a ski

instructor who has taught in the valley for

40 years. “It’s still very early and it always

comes. It is fantastic to be back and we

hope this will be a season to remember

after everything that has happened.”

Masks are mandatory in queues and on

ski lifts for everyone over the age of 11 in

France, although compliance, especially

among young adults, was sporadic at best.

“Masque obligatoire!” one ski patroller

shouted as he ejected a teenage boy from

the Péclet cable car.

Infringements aside, on the slopes and

in the mountain bars and restaurants,

spirits were high. The suntrap terrace

of La Maison, in the centre of the

resort, was packed with skiers

tucking into tartiflette — the local

speciality of potatoes,

reblochon cheese, lardons

and onions — and enjoying

cold beers in the sunshine.

We obliged, delighting

in the “eat-as-much-

cheese-as-you-can”

mantra of ski

holidays, before

Geneva airport

100 miles

Courchevel

Méribel

Val Thorens

FRANCE

5 miles

“Masque obligatoire!” one ski patroller

shouted as he ejected a teenage boy from

the Péclet cable car.

Infringements aside, on the slopes and

in the mountain bars and restaurants,

spirits were high. The suntrap terrace

of La Maison, in the centre of the

resort, was packed with skiers

tucking into tartiflette — the local

speciality of potatoes,

reblochon cheese, lardons

and onions — and enjoying

cold beers in the sunshine.

We obliged, delighting

inthe “eat-as-much-

cheese-as-you-can”

mantra of ski

holidays, before

Vaall Thorens

5 miles

lethargically clicking back in for more

afternoon runs, lapping the slope below

the Moraine gondola a few times, followed

by a couple of top-to-bottom descents

from the summit of the Péclet lift to the

Moutière chairlift. And that was quite

enough. After a year’s hiatus, my legs were

burning more than they usually would on

my first day on the slopes. The bar called.

In the past decade, VT has sought to

adapt its image from a “pile ’em high in

cheap rental apartments” destination to

a more luxurious, family resort. A handful

of five-star hotels have opened, including

the Pashmina and Koh-I Nor, with

smart restaurants, such as the Steak

House Club 72 (on Rue de Gébroulaz)

and Il Gusto (in the Résidence l’Oxalys)

to go with them.

This season, the slopeside four-star

Hotel Marielle finally flings open its doors,

having been delayed by the off-year.

It’s named after the French Alpine ski

champion Marielle Goitschel, and its

rooms have dark blue walls, comfy beds

and wood-panelled bathrooms. The

IAN DAGNALL, THOMAS BEKKER/ALAMY; THIBAUT LOUBERE; BEN CLATWORTHY