• YSE skier
Val d'Isere Christmas
Val d'Isère gentianes
YSE chalet staff

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO SKI IN VAL D’ISÈRE?

Winter 2023-24

PRE-CHRISTMAS IN VAL D’ISÈRE

Our chalets open on Sunday 3 December 2023 when you may book individual rooms at our chalet hotel Les Chardons. If you want your own chalet for 3-10 December, please contact us.

On both 3 December and 10 December the slopes will be very quiet, it costs less than staying at home, and you’ll have time for Christmas shopping when you get back!

The week 17-24 December will enable some families to get a week skiing with their children before Christmas – particularly if they aren’t hosting anyone else for Christmas Day!

Val d’Isère’s snow factory can make enough snow to cover Wembley stadium six inches deep every hour. So even if the real stuff doesn’t come, Val d’Isère will cover its slopes. The World Cup circuit is confident of this, and the first major races of the season are held in Val d’Isère. As soon as we have the race dates for the Winter 2023-24 season we will post them here.

CHRISTMAS IN VAL D’ISÈRE

A proper white Christmas, such as most British children only dream of! Our Christmas week is Sunday 24 December to Sunday 31 December 2023. You bring the presents and we provide the tree to lay them round, the log fire, turkey, Christmas pudding, mince pies, mulled wine, etc. The slopes are surprisingly uncrowded, the resort is ‘en fête’ with events and processions.

NEW YEAR IN VAL D’ISÈRE

This is a wonderful time to ski, as long as you go somewhere with enough pistes and lifts to handle being busy. Val d’Isère has a vast ski area and 16 lifts from the valley floor. Revellers love the partying on 31 December. Skiers love the empty slopes a few hours later. A few very fit people enjoy both! Our New Year holiday is Sunday 31 December 2023 to Monday 7 January 2024. Our prices are slightly lower than our Christmas week.

JANUARY IN VAL D’ISÈRE

Our favourite month. It can be fractionally colder than at other times, but this high above the clouds cold weather tends to be sunny. It can also snow every day of course, but that’s true of any month. What is certain is that the slopes are quiet (with almost no schools on holiday), the snow is the squeaky perfect stuff everyone skis well on, and our holidays are distressingly cheap.

FEBRUARY IN VAL D’ISÈRE

The classic month to go skiing. It’s logical: there will almost certainly be more snow than in January, the temperatures will be similar but the days longer and the sun stronger. British schools’ half-term is 11-18 February 2024 (with some schools on holiday 18-25 February), and the French holiday is split over four weeks between 10 February and 11 March 2024. But child-phobics needn’t worry: there is still half an acre of snow per skier. And the more children there are, the more space everyone else has, because ten kids in a little snake occupy less snow than a single adult male in a racing snowplough after a big lunch.

MARCH IN VAL D’ISÈRE

The sun in March is stronger than in the Med in midsummer, and Factor 60 is a must. There will be perfect winter snow on the upper runs, and the first spring snow off-piste. Towards the end of the month, the lower pistes can be soft in the afternoons, but they are groomed back to perfection every night. Long sunny lunches on the terraces of the Fruitière, Trifollet or Edelweiss aren’t great for one’s skiing or silhouette, but excellent for the morale…

APRIL IN VAL D’ISÈRE

This is when Val d’Isère stands out most from other ski resorts. The sun is incredibly powerful, but in our high, narrow, north-facing valley the snow lasts exceptionally well. April showers falling as rain lower down fall as powder here, and April sometimes brings more fresh snow than all the other months put together. Off-piste, the warmth transforms it into exhilarating spring snow, though there’s still winter snow on the glaciers. Some people stop for long lunches in the sunshine; others ski until the last lift. This winter our chalets will close on Monday 1 May 2024.

For a list of festivals and events, which may help you decide when to come to Val d’Isère, please see the Après-ski page. Contact us for more information on any of the above.

© Copyright - YSE Ski LTD 2019