Destination Val Thorens, Savoy Alps, which offers the best conditions for freeride became available for us thanks to super accomodation and very pleasent tourist office member . The crew number one composed by David, Mara and Zdenda set out in the early hours of Saturday morning in order to arrive at that destination in the same day. Snow-forecast was promising upon our arrival and the next day snow fall and then for the further days complete sunny conditions all over the resort. Believe it or not, but the snow forecast was right this time and thanks to this, great pictures and the first proper video from workshop Powderline film production could be brought into light.

After endless journey, which was about 1450 kilometers, we arrived at the destination in the evening. The town of Val Thorens lies in the incredible altitude of 2300 meters above sea level which ensures adequate snow conditions even there is no snow in the valley. In our case, there was about 5 cm in the valley, but after our arrival in the mountains and additional snow fall of 30 cm, the final snow level was around 2 meters. The second day the weather was still reassuring, so we were more than half a day in foggy condition until the afternoon when the clouds split out a little bit on the east side of the resort so we're able to experience a true paradise. The whole resort is situated in 3 valleys and according to available information,  it is the largest resort in the world, which is also located in the national park "De La Vanoise''.

If you want to buy a ski pass you have three options. The first one is the resort of Val Thorens +  Orelle, the highest part of the resort is accessible from Val Thorens and Orelle city, which lies in another valley but is connected with the resort by a lift. The Orelle can be accessed directly from a freeway A43. This part of the resort has the highest altitudes and goes up to 3230 meters. As another option to choose is a combination of buying ski pass Val Thorens + Les Menuires. This resort lies below of city Val Thorens.Finally the third option is entire resort  3 valleys  “Les 3 vellees”. To explore this resort you will need more than a week since it offers incredible opportunities. Our crew mostly kept in the highest part of the resort which is Val Thorens.

Honestly  speaking, this resort has completely thrilled me. It offers so many opportunities to all aspects of riding. No metter what skier you are such a big mountain ripper or nice open space riders, snow park etc. all is out there wainting for you to explore. We ride as much as possible until our bodies were so exhausted  that we forgot to eat during the day. This mistake has arrised next day but this could not put us on our back. Mara, the cameraman has been substantially improved in the shooting and that is why his footage become usable, which reached to make a movie from it. Pics and video what we have made can be seen in gallery section.

Our expedition in this composition was riding until Tuesday. On Wednesday Mara and Zdenda went home and I David took a day off and waited for a new group, which should have arrived in the afternoon.

Mart

It is Tuesday 17:00 in the evening and still do not know if we go to France or not. After the final confirmation of accomodation and skit passes I began to collect riders by which when you say, they are able to leave everything and go. After an incredible 2-hours of organization we jumped on a WV Transporter in Brno in composition Blaza, Slava, Adis and me. Our goal was 1360 km away Val Thorens in France. Journey went smooth in total peace except little problem occurred on the Swiss border. Slava, after 6 hours' of driving did not look well and custom officer seemed him suspiciously. After a little custom control we continued. Arrived in Val Thorens around 15.00, where David was waiting for us. He took us in an luxury apartment right in the center of the city Val Thorens. Here I would like to thank Zdena no.1 and Zdena no.2 for the accommodation. In the evening heavy snowfall came accroding to weather forecast. We were looking forward to the first day of the powder so we went to bed pretty early, except Adisa and Blaza who went to explore the nearest pubs.

In the morning of course sunny and new 10 cm of fresh powder. The new snow did not completly covered old tracks but better than nothing. David took the first day of guiding, coz he has spent some time in resort previously and thus he led us into the next valley toward to Orelle side. We rode as much as we could, taking pictures ,shooting shoots. Sometimes someone complain but without any effect on the results of our work. There was not so much now snow so sometimes we meet crust snow on our way down. Especially I Mart had really close contact with it which caused me an injury of my shoulder. After a drop I left my left hand behind and this caused me that injury so for the rest of my staying in Val Thorens I was as a company and cameraman. The second day we woke up in sunny days again. The team was already well-coordinated and that is why the second day was very progressing especially for David who was hitting every drop which stood in his way down. This  also triggered Adis and Blaza who left no shame and hit some jumps also. At one point, Slava went to something smaller. The last day we made a few final photos and more exploring the possibility of the Center.

Resort is really large and when you arrive in a few days after the snowfall it is like a dream. Sometimes it seems that there's no where to go, but the opposite is true. The resort has endless potential and I am not afraid to say unlimited. Detailed info of Val Thorens will be served to you as soon as possible in Guide section.

Mart@Dejv


photo gallery: http://www.powderline.cz/cs/pics/gallery/detail/val-thorens-francie/

Video: HERE