Peclet Ski Area and Restaurant review

Skiing this early in the season is always very exciting and there was certainly a feeling of beginning of winter enthusiasm in Val Thorens this weekend. It does however mean relatively short days, with the sun starting to disappear from a lot of the pistes at around 3.30pm. The area below the Peclet glacier clings onto the sunshine for the longest though, so we headed to Funitel Peclet for the last couple of runs of the day.

Coming off the lift, we clocked the unbelievable view and the excellently placed restaurant and came to a unanimous decision to do a run and then come straight back up for a vin chaud.

The pistes from here are fantastic! The red run down on the skiers left side is a lovely long, wide piste with some great mellow sections for big sweeping turns. We opted to do this one first and save the blue tete ronde on the right for a post-wine return to resort.

As last lifts approached, there was still a fairly sizeable queue for the Peclet with lots of people heading up to the best view point for the sunset. We still managed to get a great seat on the terrace of the Aiguilles de Peclet though and were soon sipping excellent vin chauds and hot chocolates, which came with equal amounts of Chantilly and hot chocolate…! Watching the stunning panoramic in front of us turn pink and reflecting on a great day on the mountain was a really special ski holiday moment. Lots of others were doing exactly the same too, from ski tourers skinning up for some late powder turns above us to groups enjoying the view from every possibly spot around us.

Eventually it was time to head down the hill though before we completely lost the light, so we started down the blue run. This starts with a cat track which is a little slow for snowboarders, but worth the effort as it then opens into another wide motorway piste all the way back to Val Thorens. Hard to beat with few people left on the mountain at the end of the day and beautiful dusky light.

We enjoyed this spot and the restaurant so much, that we choose to head back up the Peclet the following morning for a coffee stop. It was a little chillier this time, so we wandered indoors to look for a table. The welcome that we received was unlike any service that I have ever experienced in a ski resort! The owner was incredibly friendly, greeting us at the door and helping us to find a table. Although the restaurant was busy with people eating lunch, he had no problem with us just sitting for a drink and even came over after a little while to check that everything was alright.

The food that people were enjoying on surrounding tables looked fantastic too, with mountain classics such as spaghetti bolognese, generously topped tartiflettes and burgers appearing to go down a treat. The various slices of tart that diners had lined up for dessert looked delicious too (and were enormous!).

I would certainly recommend spending some time in this part of the Val Thorens ski area, for lovely cruisy pistes, a fabulous lunch spot or an unforgettable sunset.