Three Valleys

THE THREE VALLEYS

You’ve probably heard of the Three Valleys… It is, after all, the largest ski area on Earth!

Combining the famous resorts of Courchevel, Méribel and Val Thorens, you have a whopping 600km of pistes to play in.

There are in fact eight official resorts in the Three Valleys, the best known being Courchevel, La Tania, Méribel, Val Thorens, Les Menuires and St-Martin-de-Belleville.

Three Valleys skiing means skiing perfect pistes. The infrastructure of the lifts and piste maintenance mean that the slopes are exceptionally well-groomed.

Helped by the aspect and lofty altitude, Three Valleys skiing is open from early December until late April. The highest points reach at least 2700m. Read more about skiing and snowboarding in the Three Valleys here.

There is arguably no better ski area for intermediates of all standards, especially for those who want to ski as many different pistes as possible during their skiing holiday. Around 75 per cent of the pistes are blue or red, and most are immaculately groomed each night. The lift system has so may fast ski lifts and most of the slow chairs and drag lift can be avoided.

Each valley is different, has its own personality. As Courchevel’s slopes are north-facing, snow here is usually some of the best in the whole ski area.

There’s a great range of mountain restaurants available for skiers to top up their energy levels, with magnificent views, sunny terraces and not all at sky high prices! See our recommendations here.

The Three Valley Stats:

Number of Pistes: Around 337 downhill skiing pistes; 53 Green, 136 Blue, 113 Red, and 35 Black
Kilometres of Ski Pistes: The Three Valleys has over 600km of accessible ski pistes
Longest Piste: Depends who you ask! The Cime de Caron, Combe Vallon and Pelozet are among those mentioned.
Skiable Area: The boundary of The Three Valleys surrounds 10,500 hectares in which there are 1,512 hectares of maintained ski pistes
Number of Ski Lifts: 170 ski lifts, 159 ski lifts plus 11 valley links
Highest Altitude: The Pointe du Bouchet is at 3420m, the Bouchet lift takes you to 3320m for skiing
Vertical Drop: If you could ski from the top of the Bouchet to Les Allues or Saint Bon at 1,100m that would be some drop, but you can’t!
Ski Resort Altitude: There are too many to mention; from Brides Les Bains at 600m to Val Thorens at 2,300m
Number of Snow Canon: More than 2,100 snow canons
Glacier Skiing: Val Thorens is in a high altitude valley surrounded by six glaciers
Snow Parks: From fun parks for kids to big kickers and half-pipes for advanced boarders and freeskiers