Short break: Chalet Cristal, Val d’Isere, France

Sunlight glinted on the ski slope making all the snow around me sparkle. Bending further into my knees, I heard the whoosh of my skis as I hurtled down the run.

Just as I picked up speed, I felt a gush of wind to my right and turned to see my son bombing past. I didn’t know whether to be annoyed or proud as, after all, the last time we’d been skiing together was when he was five and still doing the plough and French Fries.

The Ski Beat villas are cosy and right by the slopes. To be honest, I’d been worried about coming with him on this trip to Val d’Isere, in France, even though it’s one of the best and most celebrated ski destinations in the world. It’s where the Hollywood elite and British stars, including the likes of Harry Styles, Margot Robbie, Ed Sheeran, Hugh Grant and Jamie Oliver come to ski and be seen. But that was the problem.

Once a black ski-run and off-piste powder hound, I hadn’t been on skis for nearly a decade and my son was now 21 and a complete novice. Would we spend the entire week on the baby slopes being laughed at, or worse still, in hospital?

I needn’t have worried. My knees only creaked a little and my son was a natural after a couple of lessons. My only problem now was persuading him to go slower so I could catch up. ‘Wait for meeeee,’ seemed to be the only thing I said anymore, and it was only the second day into our trip.

We’d arrived the day before to find Val d’Isere blanketed in snow. Located at high altitude, the village looks like something out of a Christmas movie with alpine chalets, glitzy bars and restaurants and high-speed connections to over 300kms of linked pistes.

‘I want to try snowboarding,’ my son said as soon as he saw the snow, but I shook my head. ‘Learn to get down the slope on two skis before you go down on a single board,’ I told him. The tricks and cool manoeuvres could wait until after he’d mastered putting on his skis.

Cristal Chalet is 150m from the slopes First though we went to explore our home away from home – Chalet Cristal, an Alpine chalet with the slopes on its doorstep. Made out of wood and stone, and with plenty of Savoyard charm, it has a large open plan lounge and dining room and a wood burning stove. The high, beamed ceiling and minstrel’s gallery give a feeling of space while there’s a large balcony for apres ski drinks.

There are five bedrooms, all ensuite, and our twin came with spectacular views of the mountains.

The chalet is tucked away from the village’s main road with la Daille telecabine and the the ‘Funival’ – a high-speed funicular that takes skiers to top of Bellevarde in just a few minutes – is only 150m from the front door. It’s the same point as the Val d’Isere World Cup Downhill finish, though no competitions were on during our stay.

At the top of la Daille telecabine is the world famous apres bar, La Folie Douce with its epic live music, VIP areas, DJs on balconies playing to packed terraces and piste-side caberet shows.

Ski Beat is a Brighton based ski travel specialist company Our stay, organised by Brighton-based Ski Beat, included cooked breakfast, afternoon tea and three-course dinners with wine included prepared by our chalet host, Liv. While she went into the kitchen to whip up supper, we went to pick up our hired skis, helmets, boots and lift pass. We’d also booked my son in for some lessons – which came to a total of £1,833. It might sound expensive, but our package was a snip because we’d decided to stay in a shared chalet.

Meeting the couples, friends and another father and son over supper that night made for a relaxing couple of hours before we went to bed at 10pm eager to hit the slopes early the next day. The apres ski could wait.

Now here we were enjoying exploring the easiest ski runs together while basking in the sunshine. At lunchtime we’d head to one of the myriad restaurants and feast on fondue, egg, ham and cheese pancakes and hot chocolate. Not good for the waistline but good for the soul. Then it was back on the slopes to ski until it was time for afternoon tea and we tucked into more hot chocolate and home-made cakes.

Dinner is a fine dining affair. Nothing was too much trouble for Liv who cooked, cleaned, and looked after us brilliantly. By the second night, we were all friends in the chalet and had pre-dinner drinks together comparing experiences on the slopes and chats about everything from football (mainly my son) to food (mainly me).

We got into an easy rhythm after that – getting up early and spending the entire day skiing (bar for lunch, snacks and that new addiction: afternoon tea). Every day we’d venture a little bit further, higher or try out a different slope, graduating from blue runs to red by the end of the week.

The open plan lounge and dining room are chic We headed into town some nights with the others to check out the apres ski, something my son said was ‘weird with your dad.’

But we had fun together, didn’t fall over (much) during the day, and laughed while nursing our sore muscles rather than sore heads. The week flew by in a flurry of snowy fun and we enjoyed our taste of a champagne celebrity lifestyle – without the huge bill at the end.

We’re already planning our return next year – after all, there’s that small challenge of learning to snowboard now that my son can ski, and if you can’t beat them, you might as well join them.

The balcony is perfect for pre-dinner drinks Getting There:

A week’s stay in Chalet Cristal in Val d’Isere starts from £1043pp. Prices include private chalet hosts to prepare cooked breakfast, afternoon tea with home-made cakes, freshly prepared three course evening meals with wine, return flights from Gatwick and transfers. www.skibeat.co.uk, 01273 855100. ATOL protected.

Ski Beat is now the UK’s largest ski chalet package holiday company to France. This season it has its name on over 30 of the best located, cosy, and most sociable chalets in seven, high altitude French ski resorts, offering ski chalet holidays through from December 2024 to April 2025.

A twin bedroom at Cristal Chalet