sagely. “Not only is it more fun skiing when it’s sunny,
but the longer days mean you can do other activities in
the evening – making your holiday less dominated by a
sport your partner may be having a tough time with.”
As a columnist for snowboarding bible
White Lines
,
Ed should knowwhat he’s talking about – and he’d had
coal-face experience in these matters. “I took my
girlfriend as a first-timer to Bardonecchia in Italy,” he
told me. “It’s not a massive ski area, so we were never that
far from each other to meet up. It also catered well for
beginners, with good slopes and ski schools. It’s worth
looking out for well-planned lift infrastructure too.”
With Ed’s advice fresh in my mind, I considered the
variables. We needed a destination of manageable size
with good beginner facilities and decent snow in late
season, when it’s sunnier and there are no nasty white-
outs to contend with. That last demand immediately
ruled out a fair few of the 1,000-plus resorts in Europe.
Most are still open in April, but many can be something
of a powder lottery at that time of year. The solution,
I figured, was to go high, where it stays colder for longer.
That’s howwe ended up on a bright spring morning
getting ready to leave the ski room of the Altapura hotel
(
altapura.fr
) in Val Thorens in
the French Alps. At 2,300m, it’s
Europe’s highest resort, with a
season that stretches into May,
but another reason I’d chosen it
is because the whole place is
ski-in, ski-out, so there’s no tiring
equipment schlep to contend with
(as I’d almost certainly have ended
up carrying everything).
We’d also come up with a plan:
mornings would be lessons for her,
while I skied alone; afternoons
would be spent together. That way,
I could enjoy the slopes while Lulu
was learning, and we’d explore the
resort as well.
“The first thing we need to do is
get her believing in her ability,” says
instructor Paul Moucherad. We’ve
opted for one-on-one lessons to
speed up the learning process and I can tell she’s in
good hands – almost too good, I think, as I consider
the man I’m leaving my wife with. Like every French
ski instructor I’ve ever met, he has a lantern jaw and
chiselled good looks.
He’s also, clearly, an exceedingly nice bloke. “Each
person is different, so it is difficult to predict the number
of lessons they need,” he says, “but Lucrezia already has
the most effective weapon: the desire to learn.”
I hope he’s right. At least, I reason, they plan to stay
on the wide nursery slopes outside the hotel, and use the
retour lifts – effectively a beginner-friendly conveyor
belt – to do short runs where they can work on the basics
and get to grips with the equipment.
Fortunately, this isn’t the first time Lucrezia has
wrestled with a pair of Salomons. Ed’s other bit of advice
was to have lessons before you go. So, prior to the trip,
we’d spent two invaluable weekends at The Snow Centre
in Hemel Hempstead, just north of London
(thesnowcentre.com)
. “Beginner slopes at domes can be
even better than mountains,” he’d said, “as there are no
icy conditions to hinder the learning. It also means
novices can get familiar with the feeling of just being on
snow, so it won’t feel so alien.”
The Snow Centre was certainly impressive. In what’s
effectively a gigantic freezer, the 160m indoor slope is
one of the UK’s longest, with real snow and mountain
landscapes on the walls. It’s better than any artificial
“The first thing we need to do
is get her believing in her
ability,” “Each person is
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T H E C H A L L E N G E
V A L T H O R E N S
TIP 2
VET
THE INSTRUCTOR
Avoid anyone too good looking or charming
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