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Club Med Val d'Isere
& Annecy, France
Date:
Jan 28-Feb 6, 2017
Trip Leader: Steven Krapes
Trip Assistant: Alex Karger
(click
pictures to see high resolution image)

Most of the group took the Club's bus from
Piscataway to JFK on Saturday afternoon for our overnight flight to
Geneva on Swiss air. JFK was empty as the 34 checked in at 5pm – much
more enjoyable than last year’s crowded Friday night European departure
with Friday evening NYC rush hour traffic. When we arrived in Geneva at
9:30am Sunday morning, six more Club members met us and the 40 of us
proceeded to our motor coach for the 3 hour drive via windy roads and
rotaries through many small French towns to the mountain village of Val
d’Isere.
When we arrived at Club Med, we were greeted by
Marco (manager) and his “GO” team. We were escorted to their theater,
where we each received a mimosa drink and were told about the logistics
for the first few hours. We each received a packet with our lift ticket
and room key (if the room was ready). Several of us chose to purchase
the optional mountain rescue insurance for about $20, available from the
front desk. During the theater reception, the GO team offloaded our bags
from the bus and placed outside our rooms (fortunately, everyone adhered
to the Club policy of putting our colorful Club luggage tags on all
their bags so that the “GO” team could determine which bag went to which
room.) Since we arrived at Club Med at 1:30pm, many of our rooms were
not yet ready but the bar was open so time went quickly. We also used
the wait time to unload our ski boots and skis into our per-room
lockable ski locker, which was big enough for 3 pair of boots (with
integrated air blower boot dryer) and skis. Some people rented skis at
Snowberry and were happy with their equipment and the rental process.
There was a Club Med orientation at 7pm where we
were told what to expect during the week. Given that most of the
announcers were French people trying to speak English, it was frequently
difficult to understand the message. Many members found it easier to use
the Club Med app on their smart phones to see the daily schedule. There
was a novel concept that for each dinner there was a different dress
attire, such as Elegant night, blue/white shirt night, gown night, etc.
Very few of us had the appropriate attire but the Club Med staff didn’t
care.
 On
Sunday night we were asked to sign up for a particular ski lesson level
based on a one-sentence description of the level. Most people found this
a challenging decision based on insufficient information. With the
benefit of looking back on the week, the ambiguous level 3 and 4 levels
were as follows: Level 4 – super fast off-piste chute double black
diamond experts (nobody in our club went on this level); Level 3A – fast
on/off piste black diamond guiding with no instruction (4 Club members
were at this level); Level 3B – a wide variety of intermediate blue to
advanced black skiers wanting instruction (about 25 members were in this
level). Since there were so many people in level 3B, the instructors
split the group into 3 sub-levels (instruction for intermediate,
moderate-speed blue skiers who can do linked parallel turns; guiding
with minimal instruction for advanced moderate-speed skiers; intense
instruction for advanced fast-speed skiers who wanted to hone their
skills on steep or fast terrain). People could move up/down levels based
on instructor recommendation.
Dinner
began at 7pm. The food choice and quality was phenomenal. The buffet was
not just a few entrees; there were many choices from different food
groups. There was a carved meat area, fish, Italian pasta, burgers,
grilled chicken/pork-chops, pizza, soups, veggies, salmon, cheeses,
salads, cured meats (prosciutto, ham, etc), fresh bread, a huge
assortment of desserts, gelato, etc. There was also a frequent
assortment of non-traditional (well, to an American) buffet protein such
as sweetbreads, liver, oysters, pork pate, ultra-rare meats, and baby
octopus. Beer and wine (table red, rose, and white) were available at
lunch and dinner. The wines were of low quality but were drinkable,
especially given they were free and you could simply ask for a whole
bottle, which encouraged us to drink a lot. By the 2nd bottle
nobody cared about the quality. Premium wines were available but they
were expensive, about $50-$100 a bottle. For dinner, Club Med reserved a
section of the restaurant's tables for our club. However, if an entire
table was not occupied by 8:30pm, the "Reserved" table sign was removed
so that other guests could sit. There were times that all the other
seats in the buffet restaurant were filled so out of courtesy, we
removed some of the "Reserved" signs when we knew that many folks had
gone to the fondue restaurant instead of the buffet.
Monday morning began with an expansive breakfast
buffet, which was similar for each day of our stay. There were crepes
(thin pancakes), oatmeal, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, custom omelets,
cereal, breads, croissants , cheese, assorted fish, fruit, juice, and
yoghurt. Plus the popular espresso+ coffee machines that made café au
late, cappuccino, etc. We all remarked at how good the coffee mixtures
were. The coffee+ machines were also in the lobby for 24 hour service,
along with soda and tea. This helped for Monday morning when many of us
were awake at 5am due to the 6-hour time change, waiting in the
lobby/bar area for the 7:30am breakfast to open.
LESSON TIME


 At
9am we put on our loafers and ski clothing in our room and went to our
ski lockers to don our boots and skis. We walked out the door onto the
snow and grouped together with our level. GO team ladies in bathrobes
handed us champagne, which some of us thought was an odd thing to do
before going for a day of skiing, but hey - we're in France. Since there
were many people in the 3B level, the instructors took us on a warm up
run since for many of us, this was the first time skiing this year.
After a few runs, the instructors had us ski a 50-yard run, one at a
time, to see our individual ability and to segregate us into the 3
sub-levels, as described above. Each group went off on their own and
stayed with that instructor through Friday. Note that the Club Med “tips
included” policy does not apply to the ski instructors since most of
them are independent contractors. The customary tip was 20 euro per
person, although some of us tipped more for exceptional instructors.
Some instructors took their group to bars and restaurants so as to
experience the European way of skiing between towns and enjoying their
fare.
 At
noon, the instructors brought each group back to Club Med for a 2-hour
lunch. While that seems like a long time, we all enjoyed the chance to
have a relaxing lunch. Everyone put their coats/boots into their ski
lockers, got on their loafers/sneakers, and went to our bountiful lunch
buffet. We all ate to excess, plus there was beer (pour your own tap)
and wine (ask your waiter). There was time to go back to your room and
relax before going back to the ski lockers for the 2pm afternoon lesson.
On Friday, our instructor took us to
Le Panoramic, an amazing game restaurant by the Grande Motte glacier
at the top of the Funicular.
 At
around 4:30 the instructors brought you back to Club Med. Inside the
lobby there was an après ski event with fruity drinks, pastries, etc.
After taking our showers, many people gathered at the bar area for more
drinks, mojitos, port, brandy, beer, etc. At 6:30pm more elaborate
snacks came out, as if the 4:30 snacks and 7pm start for dinner was not
sufficient to fatten us up. A band entertained us and dancing was
encouraged. Dinner had a different menu each night. Great food with a
wide variety of choices – what more can I say. At 9:30pm there was
nightly entertainment put on by the GO team. Okay, these folks are not
going to get an audition for Broadway but they really tried to entertain
us. Having between 3 and 5 drinks beforehand greatly enhanced our
appreciation of their efforts.
And yes, the rumors are true. The trip leader got
conscripted into an on-stage performance, complete with tutu and wig –
anything to please the Club’s trip participants.

 Tuesday
through Friday was a repeat of Monday. We skied a lot of terrain – 100
miles according to our GPS watch. Saturday was similar but you skied on
your own with no instructors. Several of us spent our spare time
touring the shops of downtown Val d'Isere - a small town dedicated to
the needs of skiers and vacationers, such as an ice carving event.
 The
Val d’Isere ski area is vast and it is easy to get confused about your
location. Signage is minimal and points to which town is in your general
ski direction. Piste difficulty ratings (e.g., blue, red, black) can
change in the middle of a run so you had to check the trail map to avoid
surprises.
Flat-light
conditions were common during cloudy days so be sure to bring your
yellow lenses. You had to be careful of flat-light, especially on the
dreaded Santons run, aka “The Gunbarrel”, the "easy way" back to the
Club Med area from the Rocher De Bellevarde area. It is marked a Blue
(easy) run but it’s a narrow V-shaped treeless gully run between two
tall mountains, so it’s always in the shade, so all skiers are all
funneled into the bottom of the V where you can’t see the snow
conditions. It is skiing by Braille – your eyes are useless. Personally,
I thought the "Face de Bellevarde" black run was a less risky way home
from the Bellevarde area. Even though it was steeper, you could see
where you were going.
Sunday morning was the departure day for most Club
Med guests, so the lobby was filled with luggage going to different
places. It was again imperative that each of our member’s bags had our
colorful luggage tags so that we could differentiate our bags from
others. We did have a situation where a non-HSC person tried to load
their untagged bags onto our private HSC bus. Luckily, the lack of our
colorful tag on that bag caused the trip leaders to halt that bag from
being loaded onto our bus.
 We
departed Club Med for the Hotel Splendid in Annecy. Old-town Annecy
contains many restaurants and shops along its canals. It is a wonderful
place to spend a day and is much closer to Geneva airport (75 minutes
away in weekday commuter traffic) than Val d’Isere (3 hours on a clear
day, but who knows when it’s snowing). Unfortunately it rained in Annecy
during our entire visit, but that did not thwart people from walking
around town and enjoying the sights and bistros.
Our Monday morning flight from Geneva to
JFK went smoothly. We were the only flight landing at 2:30p at JFK
Terminal 4 so immigration, baggage, and customs went quickly. By 3:15pm
we were walking to the charter bus area for our ride home to Piscataway.
A good time was had by all, including the wonderfully happy trip
participant below – time to plan our Club's next awesome trip.
THANK YOU FROM YOUR TRIP LEADERS - STEVE & ALEX

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