Why you should experience La Face de Bellevarde in Val d'Isère.
La Face de Bellevarde in Val d'Isère is the kind of run that separates memory from repetition, a slope that demands focus, silence, and respect from the moment you drop in.
Cut into the mountain for the 1992 Albertville Olympics, it's steep, direct, and brutally honest. The start gate sits high above the village, where the wind feels thinner and the view stretches across every ridge of the Haute-Tarentaise valley. From there, the descent is a test of rhythm, a 959-meter vertical drop that keeps your legs burning and your mind completely clear. The first few turns hit fast, the snow compressed and sharp, before the pitch deepens into a series of long, arcing lines that seem to pull the ground toward you. It's the kind of run where you don't think, you react, reading light, balance, and texture by instinct alone. When you reach the bottom, heart pounding, the village rises up to meet you, and the sound of applause from the terrace cafés feels almost like relief. La Face doesn't need to be introduced. It's the kind of slope you remember by feel.
What you didn't know about La Face de Bellevarde.
The Face wasn't always meant to be iconic, it became that way because of how it was built and what it represents.
Designed by Bernhard Russi, the Olympic downhill champion from Switzerland, the course was carved directly into Bellevarde's raw limestone face without altering the mountain's natural shape. Every contour, every transition, follows the terrain exactly as it existed, no artificial reshaping, no softening of lines. That's why it feels so elemental underfoot: it's not a man-made descent, it's a collaboration between skier and geology. During the 1992 Games, La Face hosted the men's downhill, giant slalom, and super-G, a triple crown that etched Val d'Isère into Olympic history. Even today, the slope remains a proving ground for professionals and advanced locals alike, used regularly for the World Cup and for off-season training. Yet despite its reputation, the mountain hasn't lost its accessibility. When the race lines fade, the same slope opens to the public, anyone with enough edge control and nerve can stand in the start hut and feel that same surge of gravity. Few resorts in the world allow that kind of proximity to greatness.
How to fold La Face de Bellevarde into your trip.
Start early, before the sun crests over the ridge, when the slope is shadowed and the snow still crisp from the night freeze.
Take the Olympique cable car from the village, it's fast, modern, and carries you from cobblestones to clouds in minutes. Step out at the top, take a breath, and let the silence settle before pushing off. If you're skiing it for the first time, follow the standard line down and keep your speed measured; the pitch surprises even confident riders. Intermediate skiers can detour to the Joseray or Verte runs that trace the same mountain with gentler gradients, offering the same views without the pressure. When you reach the base, drop your gear outside a café on Avenue Olympique, La Baraque or Cocorico if you want noise, Le Petit Danois if you don't. Sit back, watch the lift spin, and look up at what you just skied. The mountain looks impossibly steep from below, like a wall painted in white light. That's the spell of La Face, it humbles you without a word.
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