Bellevarde is the biggest of Val d'Isère's three main sectors. It's a fantastic ski area in its own right and it's also your gateway to the vast Tignes side of the ski area, so sooner or later almost everyone ends up skiing here.
From the town centre you can take the Olympic Bubble or, if you'd rather enjoy a bit of sunshine on the way up, the Bellevarde and Loyes chairs. Alternatively, you can access Bellevarde from La Daille using the Funival right to the top or the newish high-speed bubble to the mid point at the Folie Douce. These are also great options during the busiest weeks of the season when the town centre lifts can get quite busy.
From the top of either the “Funi” or the Olympic Bubble back down towards the resort centre you'll find two of Val d'Isère's most famous black runs - the Face and the Épaule de Charvet. Don't be fooled by the flat entries to these runs, they get fairly mean further down! Try the Face early in the day, when it's been groomed and not had too much sun or too many people on it - it's amazing.
The Épaule, on the other hand, is very rarely groomed and you can find yourself staring down the barrel of an endless pitch of the biggest moguls you've ever seen. Not for the faint-hearted!
Bellevarde - for all levels
Bellevarde isn't just about expert skiing though. There's a huge Ski Tranquille area that's ideal for lower intermediate skiers upwards, while the wide open pistes are also perfect for better skiers wanting easy cruising. Intermediates love the fantastic motorway skiing around the Borsat-Genepy-Grand Pré loop, and the Boardercross beneath Grand Pré is great fun, as is the mini version for children beside the Verte.
Next to the Borsat chair you'll find the Grande Stade where you can race through the gates against the clock - or against your friends. Beside it, served by the same double Poma lift, is the Snow Park. It's free to use and packed with rollers, kickers, rails, pipes and a huge airbag. Carry on past the park and you'll soon arrive at the Folie Douce.
If you've never experienced its world-famous après ski, from early afternoon until the lifts close you literally can't miss it!
From there you can continue down to La Daille or head across towards Tommeuses to link over into Tignes.
We particularly love "The Meadows" - the bottom part of the OK below La Folie early in the day.
Yes, it can be challenging when everyone's heading down at four o'clock but earlier on, when everyone else is still up the mountain, it's often super-quiet and perfectly groomed.
We often just lap the bubble for a couple of hours - 12 minutes for the round trip down and back up to the top.
If you're really lucky, the Club des Sports racecourse where the local kids train, just to the side of The Meadows, will be groomed, open and with nobody on it. What are you waiting for?
