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Espace Killy is a world renowned ski resort in the Savoie Alps in France.  I was sure I’d get to know it properly last February, since I spent a good two weeks there during the Alpine World Cup. However, there were only two sunny days and the temperatures were extremely low, about -17 Celsius. The weather couldn’t keep me away from the slopes entirely but I managed to see and experience those slopes that were open, and I was very pleased with what I saw.

Val d’Isere is located at a high altitude so there’s plenty of snow each year. The terrain on which the slopes are located is vast and varied and so fits every skier’s needs.  Some lifts are out of date but most have been recently updated and are capable of getting you to the top of the slopes within a couple of minutes. The French are known to pay less attention to grooming of the slopes and expert skiers have trouble adjusting to the unkempt snow.

Due to the World Championships, Val d’Isere improved its own look and its offers to customers, which coming from the French is a good thing. It often happens in France that projects remain unfinished, dirty and so on. Val d’Isere really surpassed itself this year and is now ranked firmly among Europe’s best ski resorts, and needs just a few modern ski lifts and Swiss precision to become level with Zermatt.

The ski resort got its name after the best known resident of Val d’Isere, Jean Claud Killy. Even though he was born in Paris, he spent his childhood in the Alps. In the mid 60’s, he was the best skier of the time, winning several of the first World Championship races in 1966 as well as Olympic gold in three disciplines in Grenoble in 1968. In Franconia, USA, the place where Bode Miller learned to ski, he won three races in three consecutive days, a different discipline each time. When the FIS decided to entrust the World Championships to Val d’Isere, Killy was an obvious decision to be President of the Organisational Committee. It is interesting that he had to resign from his post to prove that the project wasn’t being carried out the way it was supposed to, and after that, things started going the right way – who knows what state Val d’Isere would meet the World Championships in otherwise.

Marc Bauer, Jean Claude Killy and SAS Albert de Monaco

Perhaps it was because of these discords that Killy was not present at all the races, but he was in the finish area at the grand slalom race. Perhaps he felt that a skier capable of achieving Killy’s success was already on the slopes. The young Carlo Janka had easily managed to stay on top of the extremely steep slope and avoided all of the mistakes his competition had made. At the age of 22, he won the title of world champion in the most basic of skiing disciplines. A new star was born and the public was in a state of shock – but not because of Janka, it was his relaxed demeanour during the race itself and the ceremony that followed. It only took a year for the Swiss to take Killy’s role – he too won gold in three disciplines in three consecutive days, which happened last weekend in Beaver Creek. Even Raich ad Svindal acknowledged his feat.

Now, the ski caravan is nearing Val d’Isere, where everything started for Janka and Killy. This weekend, both Super G and grand slalom races will take place and Killy will be watching again, perhaps thinking about the Olympics taking place this season, just like those in Grenoble in 1968.