Not everyone in a ski group skis. A grandparent, a pregnant sister, someone recovering from a knee, a teenager going through a phase, or somebody who never liked it and came for the week anyway.
They are not stuck. There is a great deal to do in Val d'Isère that has nothing to do with skis, from huskies and ice driving to a pool built for a World Championship, and because most of it sits on the valley floor within reach of the free bus, a non-skier can build a full week without a car and without a lift pass. Though as you will see below, a lift pass is worth having anyway.
The big one: the leisure centre
Built for the 2009 World Championships and still the best wet afternoon in the valley. Swimming, a climbing wall, a gym and workout rooms, squash courts, sauna, jacuzzi and steam rooms, all under one roof. It sits under the Face, on the Route de Balme, and it opens every day, which matters more than it sounds in a week where the weather sets the schedule.
Good for: teenagers with energy to burn, anyone travelling with small children, and the day the weather closes in.
Going up the mountain without skiing
You do not need skis to use the lifts. Pedestrian passes exist by the day or by the week, and they buy you the best views in the valley and lunch at altitude with the rest of the group. The mountain restaurants are reachable on foot from the lift stations, so joining the skiers for lunch needs nothing more than the pass and boots with some grip, and it turns the middle of the day into the meeting point rather than the evening.
Expect: to plan around lift opening times, and to want more layers than the skiers, since standing on a mountain is colder than moving down one.
Dogs, engines and air
Husky sleighs. Run weekly as whole-day or half-day excursions with a local musher, and the half day is plenty for children.
Snowmobiles and quads. Up on the mountain, in a set afternoon window, so it needs a proper slot in the day around it rather than a gap between other plans.
Ice driving. A circuit in the lower sector where you can drive on ice, in cars, on snowmobiles or in karts, so the same afternoon works for three different ideas of fun.
Paragliding. Tandem flights for anyone who has never done it, solo for people who have. There are options over Val d'Isère alone or the wider linked area, which is the longer flight when the weather is behaving.
Snowshoeing. Guided outings for all levels, a half day or a full one. This is the quiet option, and the one that gets you into the trees and the Manchet side of the valley where the noise stops.
Slower days
The ice rink sits at the foot of the Solaise sector, open afternoons and early evenings, with a later closing one night a week. Good to know: the rink runs until March, so the last weeks of the season miss it.
Spas and pools. Several of the hotels open their spa facilities to non-residents on an entry basis, among them the Mourra, the Christiania, the Tsanteleina, the Blizzard and Les Barmes de l'Ours, and ringing in the morning is usually enough to book the same afternoon. Between them and the leisure centre, a different pool or spa every day of the week is a realistic plan.
Beauty and hairdressing. Eden Institut Carita, in Val Village, does facials, body treatments, massage and hairdressing, open through the day into the evening.
Yoga. Classes run through the week with a local teacher.
For children specifically
The Mad Academy at La Folie Douce is aimed at 6 to 14 year olds and runs chocolate making, DJing and fashion design while the adults have a long lunch upstairs.
Parcours Val Aventure is a tree adventure course, open to children from four. A parent goes round with any child under eight, it is reservation only, and it is worth dressing for: ski suits, gloves and boots with grip, not trainers.
Childcare. Chalet des Aiglons at Rond Point is the main one, taking children from three years old up to eleven through the winter, with a summer nursery for toddlers. Several agencies also place private nannies and babysitters in the village, among them Jelly and Ice Cream, its Popsicles playclub, and Top BabySits. For anything younger than the crèche takes, our team can arrange a nanny.
Planning a non-skiing week
Most of the outdoor activities here depend on the weather and are cancelled at short notice, so a week with some flexibility in it works better than a full schedule. The leisure centre, the spas and the beauty institute make good fallbacks precisely because the weather cannot touch them.
The one thing worth arranging for every non-skier is the pedestrian lift pass, since it opens the views and the mountain restaurants without the skis, and lunch at altitude is the easiest place for the whole group to come back together.
And if somebody in your group is not skiing, let our team know before you arrive, since it changes which homes we would point you towards.
Quick answers
Can you go up the mountain in Val d'Isère without skiing? Yes. Pedestrian lift passes exist by the day or by the week, and the mountain restaurants are reachable on foot from the lift stations.
Is there a swimming pool in Val d'Isère? Yes, in the leisure centre under the Face, alongside a climbing wall, a gym, squash courts, sauna and steam rooms. Several hotels also open their spas and pools to non-residents.
Is there childcare in the village? Chalet des Aiglons takes children from three to eleven through the winter, and agencies place private nannies and babysitters. For younger children, our team can arrange a nanny.
What is there to do in bad weather? The leisure centre, the hotel spas and the beauty institute in Val Village all carry on regardless, so a bad-weather day has somewhere to go.
Discover Val d'Isère with One of a Kind Travel
A week that works for the non-skiers starts with where you stay. Our chalets and apartments in Val d'Isère are spread across the village, and our advisors know which ones sit closest to the bus route, the leisure centre and the lifts.