About bad weather skiing in Val d'Isère

The high, open pistes here will lack the contrast required for orientation during white out conditions when slope and sky seem to blur into one.

There are certain runs that offer more contrast providing vast amounts of skiing and snowboarding when the flakes are falling. The trick is to head for the pistes that are tree-lined to provide definition when everything else seems to be white.

Check the webcams

Bear in mind that the valley itself can be covered in an all-encompassing fog, but the top of the mountains can be bathed in glorious sunshine (check out the webcams!). Also, if it’s lashing down with rain in the valley, it means it’s snowing up top, giving you the best and freshest powder you’re likely to ski on! And because it’s a bad weather day, chances are, you’ll have the mountain to yourself.

If the weather closes in when you're up the mountain, head slowly down as safely as possible. Usually, the lower you are on the mountain the more visibility there will be as the cloud starts to get thinner. Another alternative is to stop in a restaurant, but make sure you have an obvious route down as the weather could get worse, not better. 

Le Fornet

If you're in this area Le Signal is just at the top of the Le Fornet cable car so it's a good stopping point to see if the weather will pass. In a similar way, Tête de Solaise sits at the top of the Solaise Express chair and the Solaise cable car for an easy descent. You can get straight down from Folie Douce on the La Daille bubble.

La Daille

One of the best areas in poor weather conditions as the trees running down the pistes will provide much better visibility. 

Solaise

Alternatively head to the lower slopes of the Solaise like 'Piste M' which are also tree lined but can often be busy. 

Remember the weather can always change quickly in the mountains (for better or for worse) so make sure if you are out skiing during bad weather you always have an easy and accessible route home.