Graham Bell skis La Face run in Val d'Isère
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- Опубліковано 4 кві 2016
- The Ski Sunday presenter talks us through his favourite runs while he skis them, in a new regular series of videos exclusively for Telegraph Ski and Snowboard, sponsored by Club Med.
After skiing the Grand Couloir run in Courchevel in his first video, he has chosen to tackle the Face de Bellevarde (or La Face for short). This black run in Val d'Isère, France, has hosted both Olympic and World Cup races for many years.
I was on this run today. Dont think its been groomed in weeks or over a month. Fully mogulled and icy so this video makes it look like a dream!
Great run. The snow conditions that day were clearly very easy. That slope is usually iced up. Thats how most skiers know La Face.
skimckay I skied La Face for the first time when I was 10 years old
CountDooku1024 🏅
Last year (late jan 2019) I had similar snow conditions but you should be among the first skiers before it's getting bumpy. This year (mid march 2020) high temperatures + unprepared run some mornings, even good skiers would struggle...
@@amarparis17 interesting. so how often do they groom it. is it a daily occurrence. and i assume by midday onwards its mogully ?
I recall around 10 years ago having done this as first skier of the day from the higher station where they had this train running around 10 minutes before La Face condola opens there were total of four persons in the train. It was probably one of the fastest run I've ever made as I didn't have to think what was around the corner... I did most of the corners with just one turn and my feet were aching of pain when I reached the lower station of the condola... I succeeded in getting the second condola cabin going up and got practically a second similiar round to go, which was just pure joy (and pain). Some of the best memories of my life...
I used to work in Val d'Isere and I can relate to your story. I recall being up early and making sure I was at the lift before it opened to ensure I would be first on and out, all but guaranteeing a clear run back down. Think I must have had my fastest and best technically runs down there on those early mornings.
He makes this run look so easy... the video does no justice to truly show how steep this run actually is!!
I did it twice over New Year, once at 3pm (I do not recommend) and at 9am first thing in the morning, conditions are so much better then.
Totally agree. I've done it in about five minutes going pretty quickly on morning snow. But it's really really steep and you need razor sharp edges. Icy conditions make it no fun at all. Graham bell makes it look ridiculously easy but of course the rest of us only get 13 days a year on the slopes!
Where he says the jump is, more often than not is a line of people sitting crapping themselves 😂😂😂😂 then questioning if they'll drop to their death or commit to a ride down hell. Love this run ❤️
@@mikeespain day before changeover when everybody thinks "I'll do it once" - it's the busiest run in Val d'Isere ;-) I thought my 6 minutes was ok until I saw this ;)
In the evening this track os icy as fuck
Used to take this run back to the village at the end of the day and i can say that on a snowboard when it is sheer ice, it is not nice!
Great how a world class skier like Bell does it in 3 minutes. Took me 20 mins generally.
It was the last run I did before I hung up my boots. That afternoon I went from very top of Le Fornet to valley, then to top of Solaise to valley then up Bellevarde and down La Face. What a glorious end to my 40 years of skiing, I'll never forget that last day!
Don't stop skiing!
A fantastic run. Perfect start to your day.
Did this a few times last week on a snowboard and some of the off piste to the right of the steeps. Great run, kills the legs and I've got to agree the run is wayyy steeper than it appears on film haha. Awesome run Graham.
Great run, shoossed the last bit all the way down, eyes were watering even through goggles went back up and did it again
I did that run on my first week learning to ski at the urging of my so called "mates" as in "Go on, you're a natural!" Talk about turning a black into a green run! Took me over an hour to get down.
Haha definitely some quite evil mates you've got there lol
I know those corners so well, for the right and the wrong reasons! 😄
Did this run last week - fantastic black, agree with the recommendation to do it first thing!
That was made to look so easy! Amazing run! I've gone it once before and I had to stop at least 5 times
Unbelievably fun run to do first thing in the morning and hit some unreal speed and jumps off those lips. It also happened to be the run I'd have to come down to finish the day at 4pm in late April with moguls the size of golf carts. Killer
Rarely ski in France but watching this reminds me of the fun times I’ve skied the Kitzbuheler Streif here in Austria (fortunately there are several route alternatives!)
Incredible skier , so fast !
Best run and course conditions I have seen you film.
Best black run in the world for me. Did it for 15 years and still enjoy it.
He actually smashed that slope. Fair play!
Beautiful run
We love it then your sharing all the best secrets one of my favourites
Awesome! My group is going to be there in Feb '23 for 6 days. Hope to give it a shot!
Love this. I felt lt was me skiing right there.! ⛷️😊
Really nice skiing there, Mr. Bell, a pleasure to watch. Seems like that was an average speed of at least 60km/h and that is really getting it on.
Skied this in 1990/91 just before the Albertville games, once it was known what all the courses were. True leg burner.
The English & Welsh Universities Ski Council (EWUSC) would hold its championships around here - Tignes, Les Meniures, Les Arc - around then.
now thats insane. im looking for a home in one of the EU alps to ski all season for next few yrs. this amazingly fun looking black run may have sealed the deal for me. its exactly what i want. steep black but groomed. amazing thank you very much for posting !
Love it!!!!
Great video. Of course he makes it look easy, this is a guy who was a pro downhill skier and who has skied straight down the Hahnenkamm with a video cam for tv. But a joy to watch. Bravo Mr Bell.
Don’t be fooled though, it can be a tough run when well used, with icy patches and large moguls, consequently I have skied it like Mr Bell, but also like Horace goes skiing, with one massive side slip down the last steep bit with very little control. Great 👍 run. I only hope to be back many times.
I used to work in Val d'Isere as a ski host. Used to love a first thing Face run on our day off.
If we had any arrogant and cocky skiers in our group who thought they were the next Marcel Hirscher we would take them down the Face as the last run of the day, was a great cure for hubris haha.
Five! I did 2 runs top to bottom without stopping and i was finished!
Did it un-pisted, powder snow, Moglies when i was 15 that was shit scary didnt know when to turn burning thighs. Did it again 2 years later. Pisted and smooth that was brilliant amazing run
Sick skiing.
Some advice to anyone whose not yet done it: edge your skis beforehand. Chances are when you do it, the bottom section will be a lot icier than this video makes out
The way he’s shouting to the camera between breaths so casually 😂😂😂
Skied La Face a few weeks ago, bloody hell the bottom end is icy!
Super Dupes. Wish I was that good. The adrenalin rush must be macrotic!
Wish I could ski like that
Rocking it.👍
FIVE!! I'd be broken after two!! First thing in the morning too!! Impressive with cold legs!! Won't be cold by the bottom. Snow was in fab condition too!
Wow, I did well when I was there 24.5 years ago then. My last 5 runs were down le face, in March, heavyish snow, and the bottom half was all moguls from that tight left hand turn where graham said there is the jump. I definitely earns the 5 serieux I had that night - and the nice late breakfast ‘ early lunch me and the guys had the next day before going home.
God it's weird recognising a ski slope from UA-cam
My stomach just turned coming over a couple of those crests.
Hello, ich war 36 mal in Val d`Isere ,
Es waren meine schönsten Schi Erlebnisse im Tiefschnee !!
🤣 🤣 It’s always my last run of the day before beer o’clock...and it looks and feels very different then!
ayyy we stan la face :)
Exhilarating!
I will have a go at the 5 run leg burner. Maybe not at the level you did it in. 🤙🏼🤙🏼
Very impressed with the microphone minimizing wind noise! We all have our preferences of runs and a wide open cruiser does little for me personally *unless* I get to tuck it and it has rollers to prejump. So, yes that would be only the very first run. Thankfully I got to have this kind of fun before the lifts opened in the morning "working" as a ski patroller in the west.
If the mic is properly protected it can work in surprisingly high winds. Sadly most UA-camrs don't seem to appreciate the importance of good sound.
Wow I was There on vacation 2 weeks ago on that run
@S R stop being toxic where is your sense of sportsmanship?
Lol. Try this at 4.30 in the afternoon.
haha... i loved that. up and early, no one on the run to worry about.... noisy noisy crispy snow. faster faster!
When you realise it wasn't a helmet cam 😧
This video does not do the steepness justice. It is quite honestly like skiing down a cliff face.
agreed. so icy too.
Dang your a good skier
Nice! ... 👍
Would love to get my dad out on this... maybe one day.
Quite steep and a little icy when I did it but miles better than the awful crowded blue run that takes you down into Val d'Isere if you're coming from Tignes
Wow that scared me .... I can't ski at half that speed!!!
That means you are a good skier. You obviously finish your turns.
Did this about 10 times when I was there with a 50% success rate.
Why oh why oh why did I do it every evening last week at 5pm? Because it's the quickest way back down to apres ski. Bit of an ice rink though. 😎
I could do this all day.
I love how he says dares any to do it five times first thing in the morning, once would be amazing! oh, and every run I do is a leg burner! :)
Did it las year, not a Black Run by Alaskan standards but still a fun run if you like skiing on piste. Like he says is best to hit it early when is nicely groomed.
You try doing this at 4pm last run, it’s a very different beast to conquer.
Man, great job (Luck?) at avoiding those other skiers especially below the jump bumps!
Um --- Hello try finishing your turns
he saw them long before they went over the bump and anticipated - easy carved around. this is what I would do - but that is an Ex-Downhill-Pro
I did a ski competition on this slope
Done this run many times, but the best time was after it dumped hard the night before and I got first lifts up, fresh pow all the way down before the moguls appeared.
Looks quite easy but i guess it is much steeper than the video shows
Those skiers who just stop in a narrow section, what are they like?
That was as easy as the Face ever gets. 20 years ago it was a beast covered in car sized moguls. 😀 that was far more of a challenge.
Hi Mr. Bell. End of the run is near.
👍
Raide impressionnante mais large , ça passe tout seul !
bien plus facile que l épaule du charvet juste a coté ou la foret sur la même station !
this is why i feel sorry for snowboarders. faster, harder, faster, harder, better :) love you xo
Challenge accepted.
I once skied this drunk with a helmet tucked under my jacket. Graham was more graceful. 😅
What a handsome bloke
You know how to ski
Why the dislikes??
It used to be my breakfast
Skied it
What about l'Ancolie ?
Just don’t do this as your first early run at Feb half term unless you want to join a ridiculous queue to get back up!
Nice vid! #PlanksJapan=PJ
When he says this guy is using all of the slope...Yeah, no shit Sherlock because its a steep as fuck on the approach.
Thanks, Graham. I'll give that one a miss!
I did it like around 3:30 so many ice patches
Heavy slope...but nice...
Soyjak
Traduire svp ! Merci
Pepette Bakou Learn a language - how about english??
Icy? Laughs in east coast
Narrow? More laughter in East Coast
Beautiful. Weird Europeans call that a black though.
Don't be fooled by the camera - it doesn't really show how steep it is, especially at the top. And it's not always groomed. I was there last week, it was a full mogul run (and deep ones at that!). I spent way more than two minutes to get to the bottom!
hahaha 5 times down with what a helicopter ?
He said he dares anyone to do more than 5.... I'm out here now and I'll top your 5 with a 6.
Go realy on Beleverade
What a huge disappointment - my Brother and I did this in the 80's and there was a virtually vertical horrendous mogul field at the end - the rest was much as shows now (though less groomed) - hence I always assumed that was why it was called 'Le Face' - as very steep 'face' last bit. How things change.
I've got a question for Graham and the question I've skied with Bartelski at Meribel and I'm feeling suicidal I've got an Intermediate silver badge I think mediocre pass and I don't give a fuck about Covid or ever did and I don't give a fuck about about anybody in the resort nor anyone else, please can I ski the Kitsbuhel Dowhill from the top to wherever no training, you first and I'll follow.
That's the best groomed run I've ever seen!
I've only ridden pow' for about 10 years now in Alaska ~ faithandaction.net.
ÑJuliethibault07
I only know it with huge moguls,, not nice lol