Ski in 3 Vallees

Why ski in the 3 Vallees?

Perched on the summit of the Alps, the 3 Vallees ski area is made up of 8 resorts, ready to welcome you on your holidays with family or friends. The area is renowned for its easy access, with kilometres of pistes linked by cable car. With the 3 Vallees ski pass, you can go anywhere in the area.

Les 3 Vallees is :

• One of the largest ski areas in the world.

• 25 accessible summits.

• 600 km of skiing.

• 7 village resorts: Courchevel, Brides Les Bains, Meribel, Orelle, Les Menuires, Val Thorens and Saint Martin De Belleville.

• 321 downhill ski runs, including :

  • 51 green runs for beginners.

  • 132 blue runs for the more adventurous.

  • 106 red runs for experienced skiers.

  • 32 black runs for advanced skiers.

• 169 ski lifts, including 3 cable cars, 4 funiculars and 32 gondolas.

• 130 km of cross-country ski trails.

• A single ski pass for all the resorts.

Where to ski in the 3 Vallees?

The 3 Vallees ski area is a winter holiday destination in itself. It has a wide range of pistes for beginners, children and experienced skiers.

It's no coincidence that Les 3 Vallees is the number one destination for winter sports enthusiasts. With 342 pistes covering a total of 600 kilometres, the area offers an immense range of possibilities.

Nestled in the heart of the mountains, Les 3 Vallees offers panoramic views of the highest peaks and a wide range of pistes for winter sports enthusiasts from all over the world. The most popular ones are

• La Jerusalem - the blue run at Saint-Martin-De-Belleville - surrounded by magnificent scenery, is an easy run with lots of bumps.

• The Grand Couloir - the black run at Courchevel - is the run par excellence! Once you're on it, there's no turning back! Never groomed, it offers a wall of incredible bumps.

• The Combe Du Vallon - the red run at Meribel Mottaret - with a vertical drop of 1,000 m and an altitude of 2,952 m, it offers a great descent to the bottom of the Mottaret slopes at 1,750 m.

And then there's the most surprising descent of all: L'Éclipse - the black run at Courchevel-Le Praz! Located at the top of the Loze at an altitude of 2304 m, it is the longest run in the resort and its 3.3 km descent offers a complete panoramic view of the valley! In fact, it's the attraction that will host the 2023 World Championships.

With the kids

At Les 3 Vallees, children make the rules! Everything is designed to satisfy the youngest children and teenagers. They can learn to ski or just have fun. The resort offers group ski and snowboard lessons so they can learn together and make new friends. We also have Piou-Piou creches for the little ones. So they can discover snow and sliding in safe areas.

Meribel has been awarded the "Family Plus" label and, with its 42 fun and themed runs, it pays special attention to children and their parents so that they can enjoy as many adventures as possible on skis and as a family.

From the age of 6, children have access to several fun and themed runs in this resort. The Acticross course is a fun activity made up of tunnels, slaloms, whoops and banked turns. A great holiday experience! Or, if you want to live like the Inuit, with penguins and seals, the Family Cool area at the Altiport welcomes young skiers for a Great North atmosphere.

In the same area, on a green slope, your little ones can become explorers, looking for clues and footprints to find the different animals in the valley. Then it's off to the Great Himalayas, in the footsteps of the Blue Yeti, where your children can enjoy a wide range of activities, including playing the Himalayan trumpet.

In Courchevel, your little skiers can become cowboys and Indians at the Western Ski Park, an area with gentle, safe slopes where they can learn all aspects of skiing. A little further on is the Stop Zone, a place where your children will learn how to brake in all situations.

Version freeride

Accompanied by a qualified instructor, treat yourself to a freeride excursion in the powdered snow. A moment of total freedom to discover the mountains off-piste. Explore the riches of the 3 Valleys, off the beaten track and in close contact with nature. Freeride offers unique panoramas and a good dose of adrenaline.

To take you to the top, the French Ski School instructors will help you practise freeriding in complete safety. An off-piste excursion must be prepared in advance by checking the weather in the area, the condition of the slopes and the lifts. Once all these checks have been made and the course booked, it's off to the white paradise!

The best freeride spots in Courchevel are:

• The more accessible: the Avals route.

• For beginners: the Pyramide or Creux Noirs runs.

• For more experienced skiers: the Saulire, Nord du Fruit and Lauze couloirs.

Other snow sports

Nowadays, tourists are not only interested in ski, they also want to try other activities during their stay in the mountains. Luckily, the 3 Vallees ski area has everything to satisfy these fans of a different kind of skiing. The resorts offer a range of activities, each more original than the last.

Dog sledding in the middle of the forest, 4 km of bendy toboggan runs, ice diving, snowshoe trekking... all experiences to be tried out and discovered in the area.

If you want even more, the 3 Vallees have seven snow parks and areas dedicated to snowboarders and skiers, such as in Courchevel, where the Family Park and the Wood Park are suitable for all levels, with easy obstacles and rails. In Val Thorens, the VT Fun Ride is a 900m course, ideal for beginners or advanced snowboarders. At Les Menuires, the BK Park Snowcross is open to all.

Nordic version

Are you a Nordic skiing enthusiast? The 3 Vallees ski area offers you 90 km of cross-country tracks at an altitude of over 1850m, between the villages of Courchevel and Meribel.

Several areas are open to cross-country skiers, including Courchevel-Le Praz, where the combined events were held during the 1992 Olympic Games. Depending on your level, you can choose between 1.5 km, 7 km and 8.5 km circuits.

For more experienced skiers, we recommend longer runs in the forest or the discovery of the Lac du Lou, a high-altitude lake crossed by a torrent in Saint-Martin-De-Belleville. If you're a beginner, there are a number of trails, such as the one around Lac de Tueda in the Meribel valley. Whether you're an experienced skier or not, whether you prefer forest walks or hilly trails, the Nordic ski trails of the 3 Vallees await you.