Les Trois Vallées in France: flying high in the largest ski area in the world

by time news

LLuxury hotels, gourmet restaurants and luxury huts – Courchevel is the St. Tropez in the snow. When high society celebrates the savoir-vivre in the well-known holiday resort in the French Alps in winter, skiing and snowboarding are just a side issue for many. In Courchevel and in neighboring Méribel, a sporty heart beats behind the noble facade – and it beats pretty hard.

Because the hosts of the Alpine World Ski Championships 2023 are a nucleus of French ski racing. As soon as the lifts are up and running at the start of the season at the beginning of December, young talents and their trainers whiz down the groomed pistes. Their elegant and rapid turns betray them long before you recognize their ski suits covered with sponsor logos and club emblems.

Together with Val Thorens, the World Cup sites form the Les Trois Vallées ski area. With more than 180 lifts and 339 marked pistes with a total length of around 600 kilometers, the “Three Valleys Association” claims to be the largest contiguous ski area in the world. On days with fresh snow, the variant descents in the avalanche-monitored freeride area on the Creux Noirs are a dream.

Highest place for winter sports in the Alps

While the white splendor often fails to appear elsewhere due to climate change, it still trickles down quite reliably from the sky in the high altitudes of the Savoy department. 85 percent of the slopes are between 1800 and 3230 meters above sea level. That creates snow security. Valley descents to the villages are almost always possible. Especially in Val Thorens.

At Saulire is one of the transitions between the ski areas of Méribel and Courchevel

Source: dpa-tmn

The test-tube settlement at 2,300 meters, characterized by castle hotels, is the highest winter sports resort in the Alps. The more charming Méribel is still at 1400 meters in the heart of the network. Courchevel extends with its various districts from 1300 to 1850 meters.

This means that the places are higher than some summit stations elsewhere. And should Mother Holle go on strike, 2,300 artificial snow systems will help out. According to the operator, they are operated exclusively with water and renewable energies.

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The panorama of the Three Valleys is always impressive. From the glacier below the 3561 meter high Aiguille de Péclet, the view sweeps over 1000 peaks of the Italian, Swiss and French Alps – including the 4808 meter high Mont Blanc.

The World Ski Championships bring a new speed slope

With the 2023 edition in Courchevel and Méribel, France has already been awarded four World Ski Championships. Previously, the World Cup was hosted in Chamonix in 1937 and 1962 and in Val-d’Isère in 2009. In 1992, when Albertville hosted the Winter Olympics, ski jumping competitions and alpine races were held in Courchevel and Méribel.

The Olympic downhill run, the Roc de Fer piste in Méribel, has now become the World Championship piste for the women’s downhill and super-G races. The track for men’s speed races in Courchevel is new. The 3200 meter long eclipse starts at the Chenus summit and ends after a breathtaking steep slope next to the ski jumps in the district of Le Praz.

France: The Ecplise descent starts on the Chenus summit.  The professionals in the speed disciplines will race down this slope at the World Ski Championships

The Ecplise descent starts at the Chenus summit. The pros in the speed disciplines will race down this slope at the World Cup

Source: dpa-tmn

The Eclipse race track is the ultimate challenge for ski vacationers, “a highlight for racers,” says Frenchwoman Marie Marchand-Arvier, herself a former world-class ski racer and now spokeswoman for the World Cup.

Eclipse racing director Sébastien Santon is also enthusiastic about the new track. “One part looks like the chicanes at the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix.” How appropriate. Courchevel 1850, the finest district with countless luxury hotels and chalets, is as classy as summer in the Principality.

France: Courchevel extends with its various districts up to an altitude of 1850 meters

Courchevel extends with its various districts up to an altitude of 1850 meters

Quelle: Getty Images/Neil Emmerson

The high society likes to hover in private planes at the Altiport, or they race up the mountains in high-end cars. If you are more environmentally conscious, you can take the TGV high-speed train to Lyon, which is a must stop for connoisseurs. After all, Lyon is the city of Paul Bocuse. The chef of the century, who died in 2018, has turned his hometown at the foot of the Alps into a Mecca for gourmets.

Celebrity influences in Courchevel and Méribel

Bocuse has also inspired top chefs in Courchevel and Méribel. The Trois Vallées are home to a dozen starred restaurants, but also simple, quaint bars with local specialties such as “L’Étable des Lys” in a narrow alley of Le Praz.

France: Reservations are recommended in gourmet huts such as the

Reservations are recommended for gourmet huts such as the “Chalet des Pierres” in Courchevel

Source: dpa-tmn

Even from a distance, the smell of cheese reveals that one of the best fondue and raclette rooms in the area is hidden in a vaulted cellar. Fondue, raclette and tartiflette (potatoes baked with cheese) are among the region’s best-known specialties, along with hearty sausages.

Enjoyment is at least as important to many guests in Savoy as skiing, which is why the alpine pastures are dotted with first-class huts. If you haven’t made a reservation, you need patience to get a seat in “La Cave des Creux” or in the “Chalet de Pierres”.

France: The

The “La Cave des Creux” is also a place for a rather upscale stop

Source: dpa-tmn

“Trois Vallées is so huge, you can’t do it in one day anyway – so why rush?” says the waitress at “La Cave des Creux”, before opening another bottle of wine for a boozy round.

Luckily for the way home there is a very easy slope from the hut past the Altiport to Courchevel. And if necessary, the host will bring his wine-loving guests down into the valley with a small snow cat. For true athletes, however, that would probably not be an option.

The Les Trois Vallées ski area in France

Source: Infographic WORLD

Information about Skigebiet Les Trois Vallées:

Holiday destination: The Les Trois Vallées ski area is located in the French Alps in Savoie. The Alpine World Ski Championships 2023 will be held in the winter sports resorts of Courchevel and Méribel from February 6th to 19th (courchevelmeribel2023.com).

Getting there: Motorways lead to Albertville via Geneva or Lyon. From there it goes on a country road to Courchevel and Méribel. The nearest international airports are Geneva and Lyon, which are around two hours’ drive away. The train offers fast TGV connections to Lyon and Albertville, from where buses run.

Information: france.fr; courchevel.com; meribel.net; les3vallees.com

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