Val d'Isere is, for many, the trendier half of L'Espace Killy and without a doubt has some of the best lift accessed terrain in France. The resort has a very upmarket feel to it. It's not as high as its neighbour Tignes, but at 1850 m its still high enough to be a very safe bet for snow. Val d'Isere has one of the largest vertical descents of any ski resort in France.
Its not particularly suitable for beginners as there are no green runs which lead down to the village; intermediates should just about survive the descents though. Needless to say that its not the best place for a family holiday if you've got young kids who aren't that great at skiing.
Intermediates will really enjoy the resort as there are fairly mellow runs which extend right to the top of the mountain and the terrain is incredibly varied. Its quite easy to get to Tignes so there is an incredible potential for exploration. By the end of a weeklong holiday you might even find yourself veering off piste after watching hordes of others having a brilliant time in the powder.
The terrain park, as shown in the picture below, has some awesome features and is a great place to learn new tricks or even just to go really big. There is a really good super pipe which has 20 foot walls and is incredibly well taken care of.
Advanced skiers or boarders will find so much cool terrain at Val without even trying. From time to time there are various big-mountain competitions on the mountains and these are well worth watching (unless of course you are competing). My personal favourite run was the famous black 'Face' which is accessed from the Bellevarde cable car. Its one of the longest and fastest runs I've ever been on and its a lot of fun- make sure you don't miss out!
Like at Tignes, there is summer skiing on the Glacier des Pissaillas which, until recently,was open all year round. Luckily it still remains open for skiing for at least 9 months of the year so if you haven't got fit after that, you just haven't been trying. There isn't much steep stuff available on the summer runs, but the park is certainly up to scratch and is constantly in battle with Tignes which forces the resorts to improve year after year.
The bottom line for Val D'Isere is that it is a great place to ski, but its also a pricey town. There are also cool people around though, and there are some good skiers and boarders which call this their home mountain; so they must rate it highly. It would make many skiers shortlists for places to do a season and the skiing comes highly recommend.
