Holiday Essentials
02.
Your Val d'Isère
Lift Pass
In some resorts, just getting up the mountain can be a real mission. Not in Val d'Isère. Our lift system is one of the most modern and efficient anywhere in the world, and once you've bought your lift pass everything just works.
There are no less than seven different ways to get up from the valley floor and, once you're up there, the lifts are really well laid out. No arriving at the bottom of a run only to discover you have a 50-metre uphill slog to reach the next lift.
No annoying bus rides to get from one sector to the next either. The whole area is linked on snow from one end to the other - you can ski from the top of Le Fornet right down to the bottom of Tignes les Brévières without taking your skis off once.
Lift passes in Val d'Isère are hands-free, so there's no fumbling around your neck or in your pockets looking for your pass every time you reach a lift. Just pop it in a left-hand pocket and it's automatically scanned as you pass through the gate.
A full area adult pass for 6 or 7 days this year is 468 Euros – yes it seems a lot but you get a huge amount of skiing for your money. Last year people told us they had been paying the best part of three times that at some of the major North American resorts!
Early and late season deals are available during the first and last couple of weeks of the season, and there are various discounts and special offers for families, children, seniors and a range of area or time-limited passes. Under 8s and over 75s ski free, although they still need a lift pass card.
Beginners may not need a lift pass immediately as the lifts on the nursery slopes at village level are free. Check with your ski school or instructor before you buy one and they will keep you right.
Depending on the duration of your lift pass it also includes one or more free entries to our fabulous pool complex.
When you buy your pass you'll be offered the option of adding insurance (Carré Neige). The difference is only about 3 Euros a day and we strongly recommend you take it unless you're absolutely certain you already have very good winter sports cover.
Apart from anything else, Carré Neige and Carte Neige (not quite the same thing but very similar) are the only insurances the pisteurs will accept immediately to cover rescue costs if you have to be bloodwaggoned off the mountain. Otherwise they hold your skis hostage until your holiday insurance contacts them to confirm payment!
Holiday Essentials
Buying Your Lift Pass
There are several ways to buy your lift pass, but whoever you buy it through, the pass itself is always issued by the lift company, STVI. Other businesses and shops aren't allowed to sell lift passes directly, although your hotel or ski school may be able to arrange the purchase for you.
Most people now buy their passes online before they arrive. It saves standing in what can be a very long queue on your first morning when you'd much rather be out on the mountain skiing.
If you prefer to buy when you arrive, there are lift pass offices at the bottom of several of the main lifts – the Olympic and Solaise lifts in the town centre, the La Daille bubble and the Fornet cable car. There's also an office in the snow square in the town centre, right next to the Post Office.
You can either buy your pass at the ticket office or, if you prefer (or the office is closed), use one of the automatic distributors outside.
Assuming you don't want to waste time standing in a long queue on your first morning, you can order your passes online before you leave home at www.valdisere.ski. You can then have them delivered to your home address before you travel, collect them from any of the lift pass offices when you arrive or simply use one of the distributors. Just enter your order number and it spits out your passes, even if the lift pass office is closed when you arrive.
If you still have last season's pass (assuming they don't change the format between seasons), you can even enter its number and it will be automatically recharged for this season immediately.
Even easier, you can collect individually numbered blank passes from various locations around town – including both of our shops. Scan the QR code on your phone to take you to the Val App, choose the passes you want, enter the code on each pass card and pay via the app. Simple as that!
Holiday Essentials
Lift Pass Options
As well as the standard full-area adult pass (ages 19 to 64 inclusive), there are a number of other options available.
Under 8s & Over 75s
Children & Seniors
Discounted prices are available for children aged 8 to 18 and seniors aged 65 to 74.
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One Day Pass
Doing it day by day can work out well if you aren’t sure you are going to ski every day though – if the weather is great and you do end up doing the full 6 days it’s no more expensive to have bought 6 one day passes than to have bought the whole week up front at the beginning, while if you take a day off you’ll save the 78 Euros for that day! However you don’t get the free pool entries for a one day pass.
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Val d'Isère Only Pass
At €70 per day for an adult compared with €78 for the full Val d'Isère/Tignes area, this can look tempting. However, it can only be bought on a day-by-day basis rather than as a week-long pass and it doesn't include the free entries to the pool, so it's worth doing the sums before deciding whether it's really the best value.
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4-Hour Pass
At €63, this gives you four consecutive hours of skiing in the Val d'Isère area and is a good option if you don't intend skiing all day. The four hours starts the first time you go through a lift gate, and you can buy it online just like the other passes.
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Ski Touring Pass
If you're only using the lifts to reach the start of a ski touring or off-piste adventure, this is excellent value. It covers one ride on each of up to three different lifts for around €38 and is valid for one day.
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Pedestrian Passes
Perfect for non-skiers who'd like to join the rest of the family for lunch on the mountain. Last season a return ticket (one trip up and one trip down) cost around €15, while a full-day pedestrian pass allowing unlimited journeys was around €19.
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Family Pass
If you qualify for the Family Pass, it can save you a huge amount of money. To qualify you need a group of at least four people, including at least two adults aged 19 to 64 and at least two children aged between 8 and 18.
The passes must be for a minimum of 6 days and the discount is a fixed 330 Euros for the family (or group, you don’t actually have to be related). You don’t get more discount for more than 6 days or for more than 4 people in your family.
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This is where you can save money by being a bit sneaky….if you’re travelling with friends or other families it’s worthwhile juggling your family members around so you make as many qualifying groups as possible.
A family of 5 will get the 330 Euros discount while a family of 3 will get nothing at all. Swap a child and make 2 groups of 4 and suddenly the 2 families between them get 660 Euros discount instead of 330!
Likewise if you’re lucky enough to have a two week family ski holiday you can get 2 lots of 330 Euros discount if you buy a 6 day pass and a 7 day one instead of 13 days all together.
