VAL D'ISÈRE  (ESPACE KILLY)

Resort Overview
Welcome to one of France's longest established ski resorts and one of the most respected and prestigious wintersports destinations in the world.

Introduction
Ever since the first ski lift was installed in 1934, Val d'Isère has remained in the snowsports spotlight and has developed an enviable pedigree. It is home to the prestigious Critérium de la Première Neige race, a permanent fixture on the Alpine Ski World Cup season every year, and has hosted more than 150 World Cup competitions plus the blue riband events of the Albertville Winter Olympics.
It is also a member of the exclusive club of the world's top ski resorts that have acheived snowsports' grand slam of hosting both the Olympic Winter Games [1992] and the World Alpine Ski Championships [2009].

Character
The town itself has not been overshadowed by the focus on its surrounding ski area. The attractive tranquil core of the original village remains and in 1998 a project was initiated to renovate and landscape the more modern resort centre, with priority for pedestrians, more shrubs and trees and an emphasis on more traditionally styled architecture. This mission continues and the effects are laudable. The resulting ambiance is world's apart from some of France's purpose-built snowsports stations.

Although retaining its authentic Savoyard soul, the town also enjoys a phenomenal partisan following in the British/Irish snowsports travel markets, resulting in an almost 50/50 mix of French- and English-speaking visitors thronging its streets and slopes every winter, and fuelling a cosmopolitan and vibrant après-ski scene.

World Class
This area's main attraction is still the quality and quantity of its snowsports terrain. Enthusiasts rank Val d'Isère alongside Chamonix and La Grave as a full-on, serious snowsports station. The sheer extent and seriousness of the off-piste potential is a big draw, with wild high-altitude glacial zones and steep powder chutes that seem to go on forever, aided by a favourable microclimate that has delivered an average of 6 m (20 ft) of the white gold every year. The resort primarily appeals to, and is ideally suited to, good intermediates and advanced riders, but the huge area and variety of accessible terrain means that there is something here for everyone.

As a Mecca for experts and off-piste extreme enthusiasts, yet a popular family resort with high-quality accommodation and well-established services, Val d'Isère has consolidated its position as one of snowsports' world-class all-rounders.