❄️ Winter season: November 30th, 2024 to May 4th, 2025
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©val-d-isere-in-time-8|Val d'Isère Tourisme

Our champions Our pride and joy

As early as 1906, when Louis Bonnevie became French champion, the history of the resort became intertwined with that of the great names in skiing. Henri Oreiller, Jean-Claude Killy, Marielle and Christine Goitschel went on to win gold 19 times at the major championships. Today, Victor Muffat-Jeandet and Clément Noël represent the Val d’Isère sports club around the world.

The Club des Sports de Val d’Isère is a veritable institution in the Val d’Isère resort: although Val d’Isère became a ski resort in 1934, the ski club was created in 1935. It was founded by Charles DIEBOLD, a native of Alsace. Today, it is the world’s most decorated ski club, thanks to a number of exceptional champions. Discover the champions who make and have made Val d’Isère.

Our champions that left their mark on Val d'Isère

Henri Oreiller (1925-1962) France's first Olympic skiing champion

France’s first Olympic ski champion (two gold medals at Saint-Moritz in downhill and combined), nicknamed the “crazy descendant”. He died at the wheel of his Ferrari on the Linas racing circuit in 1962.

Henri Oreiller was always a daring skier, training alone as a child and teenager in Val-d’Isère. He was Savoie champion, then French champion. He always remained very attached to the village of his childhood, sending postcards at every race to Abbé Charvin, the village priest, Charles Diebold and Dr Frédéric Petri, who was president of the sports club and mayor of the commune, and who often took him racing in his Bugatti. He married Gisèle Léger from Voiron in Val-d’Isère on December 20, 1956.

Firmin Mattis (born 1929) First name in a long list of winners

In 1955, he won the Critérium de la Première Neige slalom. In the 1960s, he became a trainer at the Club des Sports, sharing his passion with the Goitschel sisters and Jean-Claude Killy.

It was he who added the first name to the competition’s long list of slalom winners. This native son of a farmer entered the whirlwind of international competition unprepared by his family:

“For my parents, skiing was just a way of getting around. We lived in Le Fornet, and they’d put on their skis to go down to mass on Sundays, and that was that! They didn’t even ski during the day for fun. You can imagine, when I’d go on a trip, to Sweden or elsewhere, they’d think it was enormous and they’d worry a lot. My mother always put breadcrumbs in my pockets. In the old days, on St Anthony’s Day, we used to bless the horses and the bread, and I always had some in my pocket. It brought me good luck, because I never really hurt myself seriously.

Paule Moris (born 1932) One of the 1st ESF instructors

She took part in the World Championships in Åre (Sweden) in 1954 and the Olympic Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy) in 1956. She was one of the first women to become an instructor at the French Ski School.

Jean-Claude Killy (Born 1943) Legendary champion

A legendary champion, he won three Olympic titles at the 1968 Grenoble Games. His exceptional career was recognized at the highest level, and he was involved in the organization of the 1992 Albertville Olympic Games and was an IOC member for 19 years.

Born in Saint-Cloud, nothing predestined Jean-Claude Killy to become a top-level skier. In 1946, aged just 3, he arrived in Val d’Isère with his family and put on his first pair of skis. An avid sportsman, he practiced many disciplines during his childhood, before specializing in skiing. At the age of 16, he was spotted as a promising young skier by the French ski federation, then selected by Honoré Bonnet for the French national team.

He decided to stop competing after winning his third gold medal at the 1968 Grenoble Olympic Games. He thus put an end to his first life. He became one of the first athletes to sell his image for the promotion of major global brands. He also became a racing driver, taking part in the 24 h of Le Mans, a film actor and, finally, the entrepreneur of his own skiwear brand. A man of many facets.

In 1981, in partnership with Michel Barnier, they took up the challenge of organizing the Winter Olympics in Albertville. It was a return to his roots through the Olympic gates, and a new dimension added to his qualities as a great man. Following on from the 1992 Olympics, which revealed his skills as an organizer and manager, Jean-Claude Killy spent 9 years as president of ASO, the company that organizes the Tour de France and the Paris Dakar. He was also asked to sit on the boards of prestigious multi-nationals such as Coca-Cola and Rolex.
Since 1995, Jean-Claude Killy has been one of 115 members of the International Olympic Committee. Within the IOC, he notably chaired the Coordination Commissions for the Torino 2006 and Sochi 2014 Games.

Christine Goitschel (Born 1944) Olympic champion

Olympic slalom champion at the 1964 Innsbruck Games, and silver medallist in the giant slalom. Together with her sister Marielle, also an award-winner, they wrote the “Goitschel legend”. The youngest of the Goitschel sisters, Patricia, was also French junior slalom champion in 1964, and Patricia’s nephew, Philippe Goitschel, is a great speed skiing champion.

Marielle Goitschel (born 1945) Two-time Olympic champion

Twice Olympic champion in 1964 and 1968, and holder of seven world championship titles, she remains one of the most successful skiers of all time.

In just six years (from 1962 to 1968), Marielle Goitschel built up the most impressive record in the history of French women’s alpine skiing. Her duo with her older sister Christine left their mark on French alpine skiing, and at the 1964 Olympic Games in Innsbruck, with a Christine-Marielle Goitschel double in the slalom, followed by another Marielle-Christine Goitschel double in the giant. After the Grenoble Olympics, at just 23, she decided to call time on her career.

Patrice Bianchi (born 1969) French Champion in 1992

He was crowned French champion in 1992 and took part in several World Cups in the 1990s (two slalom victories in 1992 and 1993).

Mathieu Bozzetto (born 1973) Winner of two major Crystal Globes

He is one of the best speed snowboarders of his time, winning two Crystal Globes in 1999 and 2000. Participating in four Olympics and five World Championships, he won the bronze medal at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games.

Ingrid Jacquemod (born 1978) French champion in all events

Precocious, she distinguished herself in competitions from an early age. She has been crowned French champion in every event except slalom, and has taken part in three Olympiads and six World Championships.

Audrey Peltier (Born in 1981)

Selected for the French national team from 1997 to 2007, she took part in numerous international competitions.

Anémone Marmottan (born 1988)

She joined the French national team in 2006. She took part in the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver (Canada) and broke into the world’s Top 10 in the 2010-2011 season. She finished second in the giant Åre (Sweden) in 2014, earning her first World Cup podium. She retired from sport in May 2016.

Ambassadors Club des sports

Anne-Lise Rousset (Born 1988) Resort ambassador

At 33, Anne-Lise Rousset is a trail athlete and vet. She finished 2nd on the Transvulcania 2019, 3rd on the Olympus Marathon, in 2019 and set a women’s record on the Traversée des Aravis in 2020.

In 2022, Anne-Lise wrote her name into trail history by setting a new record on the mythical GR20 crossing in 35 hours 50 minutes.

Victor Muffat-Jeandet (born 1989) Bronze medallist in super-combined at Olympic Games

He took part in his first World Cup event in 2009, in the giant slalom, and scored his first World Cup podiums in 2015. He climbed four times in the 2016 season. At the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, Victor wins a bronze medal in the super-combined. He won his first World Cup in the same discipline at the Wengen super-combined in January 2018.

Clément Noël (born 1997) Olympic gold medallist at the Beijing Olympics 2022

He is originally from Ménil in the Vosges. He joined the Club des Sports de Val d’Isère for the 2012-2013 season. He made his European Cup debut in 2014 at the Super Géant in Val d’Isère. Following his exponential progression, he climbed the ranks and took part in his first World Cup in November 2016. He scored his first World Cup points at the Critérium de la 1ère neige in December 2017, finishing 20th. Qualified for the Pyeongchang Olympics, he finished 4th in the slalom, 4 hundredths from the bronze medal. At the Beijing Games in 2022, he becomes the 3rd French Olympic slalom champion after Jean-Claude Killy in 1968 and Jean-Pierre Vidal in 2002.

Noël magistral en deuxième manche : son slalom qui vaut de l'or | Slalom | JO 2022
Noël magistral en deuxième manche : son slalom qui vaut de l'or | Slalom | JO 2022
Noël magistral en deuxième manche : son slalom qui vaut de l'or | Slalom | JO 2022

Local riders you're likely to come across along the way

Lucie Paltz (b. 1986) Ambassador of the resort

A freelance journalist and avid sportswoman, Lucie grew up in the mountains of Val d’Isère. She is a high-intensity snowboarder and skier, with a particular passion for freeride and splitboarding. In summer, to rediscover those sensations of freedom and sliding, she hurtles down the slopes on her mountain bike in our Bike Park! She takes us into her daily life through her writing, videos and photos.

Léo Taillefer (born 1989) Resort ambassador

A freerider, he won the GoPro “Line of the Winter” competition in 2015 and 2016. His onboard camera films are spectacular, from speedriding and skiing in the powder at Val d’Isère, to night descents with headlamps in small couloirs and between rocks. He is an ambassador for the resort and travels the world shooting footage of his adventures.

Nouria Newman (née en 1991) Resort ambassador

Nouria grew up in Val d’Isère, she is known internationally for her pioneering expeditions on hostile rivers, notably in Patagonia, Iceland and the Himalayas. Three times world champion in extreme kayaking and vice-world champion in slalom in 2016, the Savoyard never stops and has even made a documentary film, Wild Water on Red Bull TV.

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