Every ski season, Les 3 Vallées ski area attracts winter sport enthusiasts from all over the world to enjoy this vast mountain playground. Well known for a reassuring snow cover throughout the winter season and into the Easter holidays; no wonder it’s a mountain lovers dream. Read on for our tips from our man in the mountains, Mr Tim Peters.

Val Thorens

A huge, wide expanse, treeless and usually cold, it has miles of long, wide pistes and, as the highest resort in Europe, is as reliable as it comes. It’s unusual as there is a reasonable amount of skiing below the resort level. Although Val Thorens can be busy there are plenty of options to get where you want to go., with some very good restaurants in the centre of the resort.

The Funitel Peclet takes you up to the bottom of hat used to be a glacier – there are some really nice runs off here.
Almost everything from the summits of Val Thorens (ie the top of the Grand Fond, Col or Cime de Caron lifts) is pleasant and skiable, with nothing too difficult. It tends to be less busy up there are there are so many options. Coming back into Val Thorens from the left of the piste map (from Col de la Chambre), watch out for the bottom of the Plein Sud piste. It leads out of La Folie Douce, so what is a totally innocuous blue in the morning becomes an absolute war zone, with bodies in various states of steadiness strewn all around the piste once the tunes have started. Take Corniche instead, or better still, from the top, head towards Les Menuires down the Mont de la Chambre piste and then fork off to the left on the Boulevard de Thorens – it is well signposted. It’s a lovely run too. The lifts out of Val Thorens up to the top of Mont de la Chambre and into the next valley (Plein Sud/Pionniers then 3 Vallees 1 and 2) are not the quickest or warmest on a cold day. As an alternative, you can ski from anywhere in Val Thorens right to the bottom of Les Menuires on the Boulevard Cumin and then take the altogether faster and more comfortable Reberty and Bruyeres.

Les Menuires

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Les Menuires has something for everyone. The upper level of lifts across the area (Granges, Roc 2, Becca, Mont de la Chambre, Bruyeres 2) serve a number of very pleasant blues and reds that you can work your way across in either direction. That particular route is worth doing both ways on a nice day. From the top of each of these, you can ski down to resort level, which is split into the Croisette and Reberty sides, but from both you can then get right to the bottom of the resort where the Masse, Reberty and Doron lifts are.The other side of the resort, La Masse, is especially good in the morning when it’s in the sun. There’s a new and relatively speedy bubble that takes you up to the summit, where the restaurant has some of the best views in the whole circuit. This area has long and interesting blacks, reds and blues, with Frederic Covili always popular. From the top of La Masse there is also a well-trodden off piste route back into the Plan de l’Eau area at the bottom of Val Thorens. There are lots of options to get over to Meribel from Les Menuires, some easier than others. The simplest (and longest) is to go up Bruyeres or Mont de la Chambre, from where you can ski directly back to Meribel by going down to Plan des Mains on the Lac de la Chambre or Venturon, down Murs Rouges, into Mottaret via Ours and then down Truite into Meribel. All in all that’s about an eight-mile descent off one lift. There are all sorts of other (and probably more exciting) ways of doing it, but that one is useful if you find yourself pushed for time and the lifts are closing.

St Martin de Belleville

Getting to St Martin almost always involves a long and relatively straightforward descent, be that from the Meribel or Les Menuires side. Everyone has heard of Jerusalem, but most routes down are similarly undulating and pleasant. It can get icy on the bottom section if the snow isn’t great. In better snow, there is plenty of appealing off-piste from the Meribel side.
The Dahlia restaurant at the bottom is excellent. It gets busy so it is worth visiting early. It’s a great restaurant with spectacularly user-unfriendly loos!  Enjoy the former, but with the latter, cut your losses and use the altogether more convenient facility at the bottom of the St Martin 2 chair.

Meribel Mottaret

This is the upper or the two Meribel resorts.

Coming in from the Courchevel side is not normally a pleasant experience as the bottom runs, which are genuine reds, are normally icy, often with limited coverage. It is usually best avoided if possible- if you need to get from Meribel to Mottaret, take Legends or Tougnete 1 and go down Perseus instead.
The other side is better, although the routes in from the top of Plattieres can be crowded, often with lots of people moving very quickly. The snow park under the Plattieres lift is always popular and there is an excellent pizzeria which is slightly hidden from viewing the centre. It is next door to an estate agent- go past the first bar you come to and it is just behind there.
Mont du Vallon is worth a visit as it has some lovely views from the top. There is a big air bag in the afternoons which is always popular.

Meribel

This is the lower of the two Meribel areas.

The gondola from Brides-les-Bains arrives here; last lift back down is 1730. The lower level runs on either side into Meribel-Chaudanne are low. The area is right in the middle of les 3 vallees and therefore has heavy traffic on the piste, and is almost always either very hard ice or slush. Proceed with caution. The option to take the Rhodos lift down on the Courchevel side at the end of a long day is often not the worst one – it can be total carnage down there on busy weeks. The Dent de Burgin / Altiport / Golf area on the Courchevel side tends to be quieter. There is nothing demanding there but it’s open and spacious and comes below the tree line.

At times of heavy traffic or on bad weather days, to get back over to the Courchevel side you can take the Loze lift rather than having to go all the way to the top of Saulire, which is usually very busy.
The Tougnete side of Meribel has been remodelled in the last few years with some really pleasant areas. The Roc de Tougne serves Lagopede and Bartavelle, which give a bit more challenge, especially when unpisted; the Cherferie brings you onto Choucas, which is splendidly undulating.

The runs off the Olympic chair are excellent with good snow. The bottom half can be very icy as it never really gets the sun.
When it is open, Raffort runs down to the third station of the Olympe lift below Meribel. It’s a great one to do when it’s snowing and visibility is poor as there are plenty of trees and there are never many people there.
Look left on your way up the Saulire lift for the Couloir Tournier – good luck with that one!

La Tania

A great spot for a snowy day, with plenty of trees, a deceptively large area of piste and a few decent places for lunch down in resort. There are lots of gentle runs both into Courchevel and back into La Tania, as well a couple of relatively harmless blacks.
You can also head from there down into Courchevel 1300. There isn’t much excitement there, but it’s tree-lined, and for piste map nerds it is the lowest point in the entire 3 Vallées. They are usually selling paraskiing from Col de la Loze if that is your thing!

Courchevel 1850

From the top of Saulire there are some stiff but rewarding reds (at the very steep bit at the top of the Combe de Saulire there is normally a line of people hurriedly reassessing their plans) and a handful of blacks. These are all pretty good to have a go at. The easiest route down is via Creux, which is a delightfully gentle descent that just occasionally gets spicy when there are too many people on it. If you want to get back to Meribel without going up Saulire, which is a bit mad late in the day, take Chenus (or Plantrey if it’s busy) and Dou des Lanches and you can get back over more gently over the top of La Tania. There is of course the Grand Couloir, if that’s your thing.

Courchevel 1650

If cruising around on gentle blues is your thing then this is the hidden gem of the whole resort. Take the Roc Mugnier from 1850 and ski down into 1650. It’s a few miles of gently undulating runs and there is a reasonable choice of them. Chapelets is the furthest point to the left of the piste map. It has a couple of reds off it that are more challenging when mogulled up and has a view worth taking in at the top. There are a couple of restaurants and bars on the snow front in resort but the most popular at lunchtime tends to be the restaurant and self-service at the top of the Ariondaz bubble.

and finally Orelle

The fourth of the Three Valleys, on a sunny day Orelle is lovely. The Combe de Rosael is not for the faint-hearted but everything else is very skiable and has some lovely views. The highest point in the 3 Vallees is reached via the Peyron and Bouchet lifts. The last of these is one of the more elderly lifts in the resort (although it’s all relative) and so is generally slow and cold. Make sure you get into the right gondola to get back to the top of Val Thoren – there are two next to each other and the other one takes you back down to Orelle village itself, where there is nowhere to ski.