Skiing & Snowboarding

There’s something for everyone in the Three Valleys…

Skiing in the 3 valleys offers more pistes for pound and the best quality skiing & snowboarding in the World! Rolling green runs and wide blues, fast and fun reds and a good range of black runs, including the steepest in Europe: Courchevel’s Grand Couloir. Experts will find plenty of off-piste and we’d recommend a lesson from one of the excellent ski schools so that you can enjoy it safely whilst receiving tips on technique.

On snowy days, you need go no further than the top of La Tania: the tree-lined runs are protected from wind as well as providing some visibility and some lovely untracked powder.

Skiing in the 3 Valleys

With an extremely efficient lift system whisking skiers and snowboarders quickly up to the top of the mountains, the ‘S3V’ (the company that organises the lifts) ensure you get maximum play time on the snow.

Annual improvements and huge investment into the infrastructure means that outdated lifts are being replaced with quicker machines that carry more passengers. For instance the new Le Foret chairlift (with a roof!) from Le Praz carries 2400 people per hour, compared with the bubble lift it replaced which took a mere 1000 per hour (in rather close comfort!). Impressive stuff: you can really tell that the S3V are reinvesting the lift pass revenue into the resort.

Skiing in the Courchevel Valley…

La Tania is one of the small village resorts that makes up the valley of Courchevel. With your Courchevel lift pass (click here for lift pass information) you’ll have access to the pistes of Le Praz, Courchevel Village (1550), Moriond (1650) and Courchevel (1850). The 150km of pistes comprise 19% green, 31% blue, 40% red and 10% black, with 11 free lifts for beginners.

La Tania itself has a long green run (Plan Fontaine) which winds through the forest and is a great track for those who have mastered the nursery slope Troika. At the top of the bubble lift you’ll have access to Moretta Blanche and Folyères which run down into resort. You can also ski down to Le Praz from here via Jockeys and Murette. Reaching the very top via the Bouc Blanc chair, you’ll be able to explore all the pistes of Courchevel (or ski back into La Tania via a red or blue), or alternatively you can take the Dou des Lanches chair which takes you in the direction of Meribel.

Must-ski runs in the Courchevel valley are racy Rochers in Moriond, the wide black Suisse, curvaceous blue Biollay and La Tania’s very own Folyères.

Courchevel’s fun park areas include the Verdons ‘Family Park’ which has lots of jumps and rails, big air bags and a ski/board cross track. This park flows into the ‘Wood Park’ in a naturally lumpy bumpy area around the trees which children love. For those wanting to increase their knowledge of avalanche awareness, visit the Avalanch’ Park near Suisses lift to practice searching for transceivers under the snow.

Over in Moriond (1650), on the Indiens piste you’ll find Grey Wolf’s tepee with marshmallows to roast, face painting and dressing up for the youngsters and archery for older children. You’ll also find a Stop Zone which measures your speed, then just before the foot of the slopes, there’s the Snake Park which is an easily accessible boarder cross.

As well as downhill skiing and snowboarding, there are also cross country tracks in the Courchevel valley. Le Praz and Moriond have popular circuits. If you’ve never tried cross country or Nordic skiing and would like to have a go, then we can help you with organising equipment and a lesson to get you kick-started with the technique.

Skiing the rest of the Three Valleys…

Skiing in the 3 valleys means splashing out on a Three Valley pass. But this opens up another 450km of intermediate skier’s heaven. With 75% of runs blue or red, it’s relatively easy to explore quite far afield without too many unnerving experiences! Especially given that the pistes here are renowned for being exceptionally well groomed each night.

Don’t miss: Jerusalem or Pramint in St Martin de Belleville – rolling tracks that are wide and fast; Mont Vallon is high altitude: the challenge is to do it without stopping! Cote Brun and Cime de Caron are other favourites, as well as the classic itinerary to Val Thorens and back. Make time to get up to the Glacier de Peclet while you’re there, or into the 4^th Valley of Orelle. Try your hand at the World Cup run ‘Face’ to see whether you can beat the winning time of 1m40s!

The highlight of the Three Valleys freestyle scene is DC Area 43 in Mottaret which is one of the largest in the Alps and has spaces for all levels of rider, with a smaller half pipe as well as one for experts. There’s also a big air zone here.

Following on from the Indiens area in Moriond, Méribel’s altiport has an Inuit area which is lovely for small children. Intermediate skiers will enjoy the Moon Park with a ski/boarder cross and a timed parallel slalom.