TIM HUGHES takes novice skier Ed Nix to Val D’Isere in the French Alps for a ‘crash’ course

ED slid to a perfect ‘snowplough’ stop and broke into a wide smile.

Four days ago he’d never even seen a pair of skis, even less stood on them. But after a handful of lessons, a bit of practice and a massive fix of determination he was becoming a natural.

“It’s so crazy!” he whooped, as immaculately turned out French and Italian skiers whooshed past, coming to crisp halts in a spray of powder and nudging their ways into the queue for the chairlift ready to do it all over again. It’s always tough learning a new skill, particularly one as unnatural as clipping on two strips of metal and sliding down a mountain. And, like most things in life, it doesn’t get any easier with age. Not that skinny, bearded 30-something Ed is in any way over the hill, he just knows it all would have been so much easier to do it, like the confident local kids, when there was less distance to fall and fear was an alien concept.

The trick was finding somewhere we could both do our thing – he as a complete novice and me as a slightly more experienced but still, at best only intermediate, skier.

Seeking a good resort with great conditions (ie one at high altitude), a good range of runs, a lively social scene, we set our hearts on Val D’Isere in the French Alps. The trick now was to do it all without breaking the bank – or any bones.

As veterans of the ski holiday, Mark Warner Holidays are reliable, good quality and, importantly, great value. They were also able to sort out a week of skiing lessons for Ed, with the respected Oxygene Ski School, from 10am-1pm, giving us both a chance to raise our games in the slopes before meeting for lunch and practising together in the afternoon – until the shadows lengthen, the sun dips below the mountains, and the serious business of après ski gets underway at scores of lively bars – many of them right next to the piste allowing the thirsty party animal to ski in and ski out – the latter slightly wobblier.

Our base for the week was the cosy Chalet Hotel, overlooking a busy central square and just a short (if ungainly, in ski boots) walk from the slopes. A free bus shuttle takes skiers to the lifts and, to help keep things interesting, to points further along the valley – and onto the more than 300km of managed pistes it shares with neighbouring Tignes. A trip over to Tignes is a must for anyone confident on red runs and above.

There are 99 ski lifts in the Espace Killy ski area between the two villages (the area is named after is named after Olympic star skier Jean-Claude Killy, who grew up in Val d’Isere), allowing a great day of gentle cruising along connected runs. The experts, meanwhile, head off piste, disappearing down precipitous drops in clouds of powder.

The scenery, as one might expect, is superb with vistas over untouched snowy wilderness to high Alpine peaks.

A gem is the Eye of the Needle – a towering rock arch carved from a mountainside, flanked by pillars of bare stone.

It’s a sight as breathtaking as the runs which lead from there down to the pretty village of Tignes-les-Brevieres – a jumble of Alpine chalets with steep overhanging roofs, clustered around a stone church. It’s the perfect spot for a carb-heavy dish of the local speciality, tartiflette – a creamy concoction of potato, bacon lardons and reblochon cheese, produced from milk from the cows which graze these hillsides once the snow and thrill-seekers have gone.

Local ‘Savoyard’ food is also big at the hotel which, despite being basic and homely, prides itself on its standard of cooking. Dinners are a big deal, giving skiers the chance to exchange adrenaline-soaked tales of escapades, falls, near misses and high jinks, and beginners a chance to reflect on their own successes – and all to plan out the night ahead in a town where fun in the bars and clubs comes second only to grins on the slope.

“I will definitely come back,” said Ed, who finished the week with a sun tan, couple of blisters and a huge sense of achievement. “It is completely addictive. Next time I’ll be on the black runs.”

And, you know what, he probably will be.

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