Weather report
The good news is that we are in for a beautiful sunny day !At the start of the day, a few cloudy periods are expected. There was only a light wind of between 12 to 20 km/h overnight. We may occassionally have north westerly gusts of up to 47 km/h.
Temperatures of up to 2° at 2000 metres are expected but the temperature at 9.30 is -6° in the village, zero at the top of Solaise and -5° at Pisaillas.
Roads
After the traffic yesterday, there should be a much quieter day on the roads with only 12,000 vehicles expected to pass uphill via Moutiers, while 8,000 continue downhill towards Albertville.
Not all of these cars will be coming to or leaving Val d’Isere.
No delays due to road works or traffic jams are expected.
Ski Report
The Pisaillas area will be open for skiing today, with all runs open apart from the Combe du geant. However the wind may cause delays particularly on the chairlifts.
In the Fornet sector, almost everything is now open but Mangard remains the only option down to the Fornet Village.
Over on Solaise, the majority of the terrain is now open apart from piste L, and the Marmottons run. The Leissiers chairlift linking Solaise and le Fornet may be affected by the wind.
In the Bellevarde sector, everything is open with the exceptions of the Santons and the Epaule du Charvet.
Skiing in Tignes can be accessed via the Tommeuses or Borsat chairlifts.
Cross Country skiers can head out to the Manchet Valley, La Daille, or the Lake d'Ouillette.
Pedestrians are spoiled for choice as almost all of our walking paths are open.
The avalanche risk is 3/5 today.
Always ski with a partner, have the appropriate gear and know how to use it.
If in doubt hire a guide.
Local News
Although he is preparing for the only, but very busy, night he works each year, Santa Claus has decided to spend the day with US !
Like most keen skiers, Santa Claus regularly visits Val d’Isère. As has become his custom he and his Elf will start the day by handing out Christmas chocolates on the nursery slope. He will then head up the mountain to the Val Kids area at the top of the Solaise where he will be between midday and 2 pm, before moving mountains and exploring the slopes in the Belvarde area, where he can be found until 4 pm at the top of the Grand Pré lift next to where “Val d’ Isère” is spelt out in huge red letters. Towards the end of the day, he will travel down the main street in a horse-drawn carriage before appearing on the stage in the main square, where he will meet the children individually and gratefully accept their letters and drawings. David Hemelsdael, the Events Manager at our Tourist Office has arranged musicians to entertain everyone, and hot drinks to warm you up.
So that we can all enjoy this event, the main road will be closed to all non-Santa vehicles between 5 pm and 7.30 pm.
We would all like to congratulate Diégo Bonnevie, who came first in the Under 18 category of the Trace du Chatelard ski mountaineering race in Aussois. His huge achievement at reaching the top podium is also another step towards the ski mountaineering French National Cup.
Santa Claus visits Val d’Isère !
He and his Elf will tour the slopes and give out presents.
9.30 – 11.00 nursery slopes
12.00 – 14.00 Val Kids at the top of Solaise
14,30 – 16.00 Top of the Grand Pré lift on Belvarde,
next to where “Val d’ Isère” is spelt out in huge red letters.
17.00 – 19.30 Santa Claus will be travelling down the Avenue Olympique, the main street, and then will appear on the stage in the main square.
The main street, the Avenue Olympique, will be closed to vehicles between the two roundabouts.
15.00 Make up workshop in preparation for Santas visit, at the Tourist Office.
16.00 Childrens football competition at the Swimming pool and Sports Centre.
19.0 Children’s Christmas Eve service in the Church.
The red shuttle bus (‘le train rouge’) runs between La Daille and Le Fornet, via the roundabout adjacent to the nursery slopes (‘Rond-point des pistes’) every six minutes from seven am to eight pm and then every twenty minutes until two am.
The blue shuttle bus (‘le train bleu’) travels between the Rond-point des pistes and Legettaz every fifteen minutes from eighty thirty am to eleven twenty pm.
The yellow shuttle bus (‘le train jaune’) takes you to the Manchet valley via the main street and the rue de la Balme every twenty minutes from eight thirty am to eleven twenty pm.
The shuttle bus between Val d’Isere and Tignes does six round trips a day, leaving from La Daille at 07.55, 08.35 and 10.50 in the morning and 16.25, 17.25 and 18.20 pm in the afternoon.
and from Tignes 1800 at 8.05, 8.45 and 11.00, in the morning and 16.35, 17.35 and 18.30 in the afternoon.
The Tourist Office is open from 08.30 to 19.30.
The swimming pool and sports centre is open from 10.00 to 21.00.
The ice-skating rink is open from 10.00 to 20.00.
The reservation centre is open from 09.00 – 12.00 and again between 14.00 and 18.00.
