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An independent guide to Val Thorens
Find out about the Val Thorens beginners area here.
Beginners usually start at the Rond Point des Pistes, and use the magic carpets and nursery slopes there.
Then 2 Lacs chairlift (replaced by a gondola in 2024-25) gives access to the main green run, also called 2 Lacs. Cascades chairlift, leading to the 2 Combes piste, is usually the next one to try.
After that, there are some fairly easy blue runs.
Read about the Val Thorens beginners area here.
The Rond Point des Pistes in Val Thorens has some gentle slopes which are ideal for complete beginners to get used to sliding a few metres.
It's where most ski and snowboard lessons with ski schools start too, with meeting points for group lessons for adults, children, snowboarding, and private lessons.
(Click to enlarge)
If you're staying in the lower part of Val Thorens, in the rue du Soleil, it's easy to get to the Rond Point des Pistes.
You can walk directly onto the snow at the hairpin bend in the road by the Chamois d'Or. Or, from Montana, Cheval Blanc or Temples du Soleil, you can use the magic carpet lifts (Musaraigne and Campagnols, which open at 8.30am) to get up there.
If you're a beginner staying in the middle or top part of resort, you'll have to walk from the Place de Caron down a short slope called La Voie Lactée (the Milky Way) to get to the Rond Point des Pistes.
The easiest way to do it is to walk inside the Castor & Pollux tunnel, between the two magic carpets, on rubber matting.
Later in the week when they have acquired the skills needed, beginners will be able to ski or board down La Voie Lactée.
To get back up to the place de Caron, take one of the two parallel magic carpets Castor and Pollux (no lift pass needed).
Once you've got your balance at the Rond Point des Pistes, you'll move onto the beginners' area (espace débutant ), which is served by two travelator or 'magic carpet' lifts.
The lower one is Musaraigne (which means shrew), and the upper one is Campagnols (voles).
They are in perspex tunnels, which are great for protecting you from the wind but not so good as it gets warm in the Spring, when it can feel like being in a greenhouse.
No lift pass is needed for these magic carpets.
The slope by Musaraigne is easier, and has the advantage of being out of the main flow of ski traffic.
When you're confident there, move on to Campagnols. (If you start at Rond Point des Pistes, you will have no choice but to ski down by Campagnols once to get to Musaraigne).
Val Thorens has ruined part of the beginners area by putting a snowtubing area, Moon Xperience, to the left of Campagnols magic carpet.
That removed one of the safer slopes for beginners, who now have to ski to the right of Campagnols magic carpet where it's a busy thoroughfare for confident skiers and boarders heading towards the rest of the lifts in the ski area.
There's an annotated map of the Rond Point des Pistes and beginners area above. Click to enlarge.
The Oxygène meeting point is out of shot to the photographer's right in the image above, but is shown in the image below. It is in front of the Oxalys Tourotel.
When you can control your speed, and turn left and right, you're ready to take a chairlift and attempt a green run.
2 Lacs (two lakes) is the first lift that beginners should take.
Head past the bottom of Musaraigne, go by the Plein Sud chair (on your left), and you'll arrive at the departure point of 2 Lacs lift (on the right hand side of the piste).
Go up on the lift. As mentioned above, it was a chairlift for many years, but will be a gondola from Winter 2024-25.
From the top of the 2 Lacs lift, go down the green Traversée des 2 Lacs.
Soon, there's a mountain restaurant - the Chalet des 2 Lacs.
Continue a little way past the mountain restaurant, then there are a couple of options:
Either way, you end up back at the Rond Point des Pistes.
The Piste de l'Espace, or VT Fun Ride, is in between Espace Junior and Combe de Thorens.
First installed in 2016 as the Funslope, it's an easy Skicross, suitable for children and lower level skiers.
Honestly, the Funslope was a lot better than the Piste de l'Espace. See what the Funslope was like in this video:
The easiest green runs are from 2 Lacs lift, but there's another green run from the top of the Cascades chairlift - 2 Combes. This is the next step in the progression.
Now for a look at the easy blue runs.
If you're progressing from greens to blues, Dalles is usually the next step after 2 Combes.
Turn right at the top of Cascades chairlift to head down Dalles, towards the Chalet de la Marine mountain restaurant.
Other easy blues (starting with the easiest) are Gentiane, Linotte, Moraine, Blanchot, and Plein Sud.
How difficult a run is can vary a lot, depending on the weather and snow conditions. Runs are generally easier first thing in the morning, too, when they have been pisted overnight. By the afternoon, they can get more chopped up.
In other words, if you're going to be ambitious it's best to do it in the morning not the afternoon.
If you want to get to the top of the mountain and ski down on a fairly easy blue, there's Tête Ronde, Niverolles and Pluviometre.
Skiing Made Easy is a Kindle ebook and paperback. It's a practical guide to learning to ski, based on many happy seasons of ski teaching in Val Thorens.
'This is the book I wish I'd had when I started skiing' - Amazon reviewer.
Read more about Skiing Made Easy.
Buy the paperback direct or on Amazon. Buy the Kindle ebook.
OutdoorMaster ski and snowboard goggles from Amazon - £39.99 at the time of writing (affiliate link).