Tips for the World's Largest Ski Resort: Les 3 Vallées, France
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- Les 3 Vallées, France is the largest ski and snowboard resort in the world. Here are some tips in case you plan to go there:
1) Plan for the Day. Les 3 Vallées is so big that depending on where you're staying, you may need to plan AT THE BEGINNING OF THE DAY where you want to go to ensure that you have enough time to get back. This includes being aware of wind and storms. If they get bad during the day, certain chairlifts may close and you may not be able to transfer between valleys.
2) Activities. Les 3 Vallées has many activities that other winter resorts have, but it also has some unique ones. Definitely take advantage of them.
3) Chairlift Lines. If you haven't skied or snowboarded in Europe, be aware that lines are not as organized as they are in the U.S., Canada, or South America. There are rarely formal lanes with a resort employee directing everyone when to go. It is more like a mass traffic jam of cars merging. However, the plus side is that lines are rarely long. They're typically much shorter than in the U.S.
4) Travel Logistics. Geneva Airport is the closest city to Les 3 Vallées. You can take a bus or rent a car to get to the resort. It makes sense to check French school vacation schedules. The French tend to take Saturday to Saturday vacations, so try to avoid traveling to the resort on Saturdays during school holidays, particularly during the Paris school vacation. The traffic can add hours of extra time.
5) Where to Stay. If you can manage the extra cost, it may be better to stay at as high an elevation as possible because if there isn't a lot of snow, you'll have better odds of snow coverage. The towns with the highest elevation are Courchevel 1850, Meribel-Mottaret, and Val Thorens.
6) Courchevel Airport. If you don't mind small planes, paying more, and waiting for perfect weather, you could fly to Courchevel Airport. You take off downhill and land uphill, so it may only be for the brave.
7) What to Expect in Town. No matter where you stay, you'll have access to plenty of restaurants, cafes, bars, shopping and grocery stores. So you don't need to plan as if you will be in an isolated winter environment, or one with very limited options.
8) Lift Tickets. You can buy chairlift tickets for each valley independently or for the combined 3 Vallées. If you do the former, make sure you don't ski or snowboard into a different valley since your pass will not work there. If you have the Epic Pass, you can go to the ticket office and they will give you a pass that works on their lift system.
9) Saturday to Saturday. Because the French tend to take Saturday to Saturday vacations, many hotels and apartment rentals are only available from Saturday to Saturday. If you want to stay on a different schedule, you may need to have patience in your search, but you should be able to find an option.
France and Austria have the best ski resorts. They take it seriously! ☺️
I am planning to go to Austria the week of New Year’s Eve for the first time with my girlfriend. Which resort would you recommend there? :)
@@Dv-pc9jr The Zillertal Valley - 544km. 👍
@@hailcob494. Going to Mayrhofen in three weeks. It’s brilliant.
I wonder how the American and Canadian resorts measure up? I've done a lot of France, Austria and Italy. But never been to the Americas for a snow holiday
American sky resorts are too busy. expensive. Canadian resorts are a little bit better.
Going with my friends there for the first time in february this video just made me even more excited 😅
Good job man. I watch a lot of these type of videos, and yours is as good as any, for the budget. Sure, you can have a camera crew follow you around, and all kinds of different drone shots and whatever, but you really crushed it and actually told a story. Nice editing.
Thanks so much! Yes, it would be so much easier with a camera crew, but I like the challenge of filming myself and trying to get as close to that effect as possible. Certainly not the same, but it's fun to try.
I’ve gotta say this was a great video to show off the 3 valleys ! Thanks
@@arobinson4544 Thanks so much!
You have forgotten about Les Menuires ;-) You have in fact the possibility of buying different forfait (ski pass) size, including "only" Les Menuires, only Courchevel, only Méribel, only Val Thorens and even only Orelle (the south connection between Val Tho and Maurienne valley).
Great video! Answered a lot of questions
Very helpful insight for our trip planning ❤
Great video, and super helpful for someone (me) heading there for the first time in a few weeks! Thanks!
Thanks! I'm sure you'll love it. It looks like they have good snow already.
I’ll be there end of February. Let me know how the snow is
Your videos are awesome really informative. I just got back from 3 valleys. I stayed in les menuires and ended ip skiing to Val Thorens everyday. I did Meribel and mont Valon but I never made it to courchevel bc it was soo far. For anyone going lat March early April I would only recommend Val Thorens
Thanks so much - and I agree. I think I'd stay at Val Thorens next time I go, even though it makes it tough to get to Courchevel.
@@SkiBoyNY. I just got back from Reberty which is just above Les Menuires. 11th April and we had fresh snow and blue skies. VT was insanely good
thanks so much...going next week. this was very helpful...
Have a great time! It's an awesome resort.
This is a very good video bro going here this weekend can't wait
Thanks! Hope you have a great time there. It's so insanely huge!
Thank you for a great video. Very interesting stats on the various resorts. I have never skied in America. I live in the 3 Vallées, in the Belleville valley (Val Thorens valley).
@@garyg3617 Thanks! Yes, compared to any North American resort, Les 3 Vallées are huge! You're very lucky to live there!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Top Job. Heading there in 5 days 🎉
A beautiful place that must be visited ✌️😍😇
stay in La Tania ....cheaper than Courchevel 1850 and first lift up in the morning takes you to col de la loze lift where you can ski down to meribel ....beats lift queues at the Saulire to ski down. on the way home if the lifts are crowded or you are late and ski life are shut ....ski down to the aeroport in meribal and take the lift back to the col de la loze. Then last ski into la Tania.
Best advice on here 💯
Great vid. I was in 3V 48 hours ago. missing it already! Les menuire and Saint Martin are pretty big areas themselves. La Tania shouldn't be missed either. all part of the 3V.
I still miss it, haha!
Definitely somewhere that's on my bucket list, sadly out of budget for us atm so going Folgaria instead.
Aweomes vid.. Heading there at the end of Jan 2025 . Doing a snow dance
@@TheParamike Hope you get great snow!
Really good review. 🤙🏼
Out the top of Val Thorens there’s a fourth valley .
I’ve been 6 times and I haven’t a clue how to get to places, luckily there’s people in my group who have been skiing there for 20+ years and know every lift and every run, what times different lifts finish, which are queued at certain times and how to take an extra lift to navigate round them on the run home. We always stay La Tania as it’s cheap and you can get into meribel in the morning with 2 lifts that dont have big queues.
Get into what???
@@MrMrWazzaa what do you mean?
Oh my bad i didnt see the full comment. Im going there soon myself. How long does it take to get to Val Thorens and is it a burden to get back to La Tania in time? :)
@@MrMrWazzaa I couldn’t tell you what route we take to get there, but we’re normally waiting for the first lift to start up and I’d say maybe a little over an hour to get there. If the weather is good I’d recommend carrying on into the 4th valley for a bit. Orelle is a proper sun trap and is usually very quiet. The route home is upto you but we usually come back via meribel. As long as you make it to loze before close your all good. If you go via courchevel there’s a number of lift options, but if you miss the last one as I have a couple of times there’s a regular bus service via La Praz, that’s not the preferred option though as I’m now regularly called a ‘Bus Wanker!’
Very informative! Thanks!
Leuke video met leuke edits en goede informatie 👌🏼
Heel erg bedankt!
Great stuff
Awesome video going in February, great video!!
Thanks! That's a great time to go!
nice video, satursdays to Saturdays is the only option you get from 3 valleys hotels and apartment providers in 95%
Make sure you don't get caught in the wrong valley at the end of the day, it's well over €200 for a taxi. A lot of people just find a room for the night and ski back the next day. He forgot the fourth valley Orelle on the other side of VT.
That is true. It’s because there are no roads between the valleys. The taxi will drive all the way down to Moutiers and then back up again. It takes at least about 1.5 hours.
Not to nitpick super hard with your comparisons with US resorts, but Aspen is kinda similar to 3 Vallees in the sense that there are technically 4 different mountains there, although they aren't connected. Aspen Mtn (Ajax) is the one that drains right into town and it's relatively small, that's the one you quoted on your list...Snowmass is the largest by far at 3000+ acres, and all together the 4 mountains represent around 6000ac of terrain.
Yes, great point. If you consider the way non-contiguous mountains are marketed - like the way Aspen and Snowmass have been marketed as one resort for decades now - then some resorts would have more terrain than I've listed. But what I'm talking about here is contiguous terrain - where you can put on skis or a board and access the all of the listed skiable acreage. I listed Aspen Mountain's skiable acreage because that's the mountain that people historically think of as "Aspen." You'd have to stop, take off your skis or board, get in a car or bus, and drive for 20 minutes to go ride the skiable acreage of Snowmass. That makes the experience very different. They aren't connected. At Les 3 Vallees, you don't have to do that to access the listed skiable area. Every part of the trail map is available to you without having to take off equipment and transfer to another mountain.
in meribel they once had a bungee ski jump
you forgot to mention that Cozrchevel 1850 is a very expensive place to be, its for high society
Great video. New sub to your channel. Love the 3 Vallees, there is so much variation there
Thanks! Yes, so tough to beat Les 3 Vallees. Based on size alone, it's unmatched.
good video but you didn't explain Orelle (the 4th Valley) 🤦🏼♂
Good content thanks.
Ski type recommendations? The narrower the better? It looked like you were on front side carving specific so......
Thanks! Overall, I'd say the majority of Zermatt is intermediate, so any ski that you enjoy on groomed blue slopes or off slope terrain at that level (if you jump off to the side of the groomed areas) should be fine. Over at the Sunnegga section, you can get a more backcountry feel off the groomed slopes, so that type of ski would be perfect. There just don't seem to be a lot of well developed bumps like you can find in the U.S. or even Verbier in Switzerland.
@SkiBoyNY. Excellent thanks. I'll stick with my Enforcer 88s then, as quite versatile and I enjoy them onpiste.
Im going 17 april hope it aint too late for val thorens
love you thanks
great video!
what about quality of preparation of the tracks? They are prepared all days? Im usual to Alta Badia in Dolomiti and they are soooooooo perfect
I've been skiing in Les Trois Vallées for maybe 12 years in a row, staying in Les Menuires. This year I went to Sölden, Austria. Honestly was quite surprised about the quality comparison. I feel like they were more neatly prepared in Austria compared to Les Trois Vallées (as far as I can remember, but last time I was there was 2019 due to covid), perhaps because they can't cover every slope there, which is why there are more moguls sometimes. However, I do feel like snow quality in Les Menuires really made up for it. Tends to be a bit more icey because of the height, which I like. But then, what makes Les Trois Vallées so special is the quiet and not so busy hidden slopes they have, not to mention the length of them. I would choose it over any resort any day
Are there budget options for lodging in the valley? What resort do you recommend staying at? Or renting a car and driving in? I'm from Colorado so I have no experience in EU
You can definitely find budget options, but they predictably tend to be at lower elevations and may not be as close to the lifts as other options. Prices go up during French school holidays, which typically fall in mid-February, so whatever you spend during those times, you may be able to pay less at other times, or get something better for the same money.
Thanks for this! Staying at residences hevana meribel mottaret. Any suggestions for me? Donts or do’s. Really appreciate ❤
Are you sure Residences Hevana is at Meribel-Mottaret? Just did a quick search. Either way, if it is, I'd definitely try that ski jump onto the parachute pad. It's free and a lot of fun to try to pull off a crazy jump. Also, I didn't say this in the video, but pay attention to the weather forecast when you go into other valleys. If it suddenly gets windy or stormy in the afternoon when you're trying to get back to Meribel, they might close the lifts and you'll have to take a taxi back!
Great video, and looks like you're about to hit 1,000 subscribers so congrats!
A couple of points, although there are 3 valleys, they comprise several areas/resorts, seven in total, and the largest area of them is Les Menuires and Saint Martin de Belleville (these two areas are combined under a single ski pass) located between Meribel and Val Thorens. Les Menuires is more family friendly and affordable, and at decent altitude so might also make a good base to explore the entire region from particulary neighbouring Meribel and Val Thorends (or just ski locally which is enough for many).
Courchevel 1850 is really expensive, a good location if you can afford it but other villages in Courchevel would be more affordable e.g. Moriond (previously known as Courchevel 1650), and I believe the village at 1550 although lower it is only one lift to 1850.
Thanks for the added info. It's always a trade off, right? Courchevel 1850 is the most ideal location in the valley but it comes with the price tag. If there's sufficient snow in the entire valley, the other locations are a no brainer. But you never know in advance. Either way, any location in any of the 3 valleys is a place I'd be happy to be!
I agree that Les Menuires is a good choice. It is also CONSIDERABLY less busy than Val Thorens, which tends to be the most crowded place in the area. Going from Les Menuires to Courchevel doesn't even take that long, so you can explore the entire 3 Vallees from a base in Les Menuires.
some people might get lost skiing here
So true. You have to be on top of where you are and how long it will take to get back by the end of the day!
@@SkiBoyNY. it can take hours to get from one side to the other side.
Everybody gets lost!!
@@SkiBoyNY. Got to keep an eye on weather too in case lifts back over to the others valleys close..
When did you make this video?
It was actually filmed in 2022. Talk about a delay in putting it all together!
@@SkiBoyNY.Do you mind sharing what month you were visiting during? I'm considering visiting in the final week of February, but also considering mid-March as I'm guessing the crowds will be smaller.
@@kho2333 Yes, February tends to be when there are French school vacations, so it's more crowded, but even then, it's not as bad as resorts in the U.S. I filmed this footage in mid-March, and there were no waits anywhere in Les 3 Vallees.
@@SkiBoyNY.That's awesome! And the snow looks great in mid-March. Thank you! Your videos are super helpful, btw. I've watched most of them. 🙂
@@kho2333Thanks so much!!
How do the passes work? Is there an all inclusive pass for all the resorts or do you have to buy individual resort passes?
Yes, there are a variety of passes available. You can get one valley only, or all three valleys, or even part of a valley like Les Menuires. The ticket office Val Thorens, for example, can sell you a Val Thorens-ony pass, or a pass of the entire 3 Vallees. If you have the Epic Pass, it will cover all of Les 3 Vallees.
The price difference between a pass for a valley and the whole area is quite small, so unless you are a beginner, it usually makes sense to just buy the one for the whole area.
Aspen includes snowmass which is over 3300 skiable acres....
Yeah came here to say that 650 acre statistic was misleading. If you're in Aspen to ski you're definitely hitting Ajax, Snowmass, and Highlands at least, which isn't even including Buttermilk for beginners.
Which still leaves you 2000 short of 3 valleys 🤣
If you ever get your chance to go, your mind will be blown 🤯
@@HalfJoked You're missing the point. You have to take a bus between Ajax, Snowmass, and Highlands. That's not a continuously skiable terrain. Why won't you add all CO resorts together and say the area is bigger? 🙂
Been skiing NE for some time especially Killington VT it was like I’ve skiing 3rd world country compare to Europe 😢
What is skiable terrain??? How does it matters
I think it's the bashed pistes that are traversable.
Skiable terrain is a way to get a sense of how much area you can actually ski or board on a mountain. U.S. resorts measure skiable terrain in acres. It you have one resort with a 700m vertical drop and 2500 skiable acres, and another resort with a 1200m vertical drop and only 2000 skiable acres, then you know that the first mountain may not have longer runs, but it has more terrain overall to ski or board.
WHat camera are you using
I filmed all the action shots of myself on the Insta360 One X2. The Insta 360 X3 is an upgrade, but not in terms of image quality. There are rumors that next year, the new version (X4?) will get an upgrade in resolution. A traditional GoPro camera has much better picture quality, but is nowhere as close in terms of versatility. So it's a choice of what matters to you more. Filming myself, there's no question that the Insta360 (or the GoPro 360 camera) is vastly superior. When I film others, I switch between the Insta360 and a camera with better resolution. Because who doesn't want better resolution?
For the shots where I'm speaking, and for many of the shots of the scenery, I'm using my smart phone and a gimbal about 90% of the time. The other 10% is the Insta360.
10:18 sus skiier 😫
no it not in Austria we have the large ski area in sailsburgh the links by bus allow ski to ski across most the country in to garmany from the italan border from kaprun by hope on ski bus it would take 4 days to ski it if you return vis zellme zeller life system i work in france ski the 3 i would never every return after ski in Austria because you get only the 3 valley s no access to other ski resorts from my door i can reach troil use bus and train between most are just hope on free ski bus it woulod take 4 day just to ski salbache you would use ever lift in the system my friend just that big area has free bus to life down the road to zell me see then on to kaprun were i live in winter with in 10 mins have work in france i find the food shit and the cost of living in french ski resort over prices in austrian i never 15 mins from local supermarket ! i can understand uk citizen pay told to the french aipls by car when it free motorway in Belgium and german we buy told car at petrol staion of Austria for around 25 euros to get to the resort with the same milage with out stoping at tolls
the village is alp village in Austria have work in french ski school i found the kids were just to be dragged around i found 100 uk kids left in snow ditchs crying because that how french kids are brought up Austria school push first principal of Austria culture children are important to them we hate uk ski people who hit child while ski it more respect cultural of we do skiing !
Hi there! I am planning to go to Austria the week of New Year’s Eve for the first time with my girlfriend. Which resort would you recommend there? :)
@@Dv-pc9jr so how good ski are you
@@Dv-pc9jr and do like party time
@@Dv-pc9jr so. Good resort for most adventurers uk skiing like British identity it sokden James Bond 007 set it has the London pub. So you be at home and glacier if you want to go to Heath centre just be aware the adults side is no clothes at all So easy jet fly in to. Innsbruck the bus to the railway station in the front door you can buy tickets at Tabasco in the airport. It easy. For you she speech English. No Issa get of. Go down the escalator in the station as for far plan to sokden They book you bus and train ticket all the way give you plan and time plus number s and the platform. ! The bus is from the station. At the left as you come out you can book a hotel on the local tourism site of the ski area. But check they take cards. As more hotels older. Only take cash on leave the hotel. There high resorts up the valley on the same pass. From across the the road of London pub. At the bus stop they just run World Cup races so I no the snow is great with solden. Had the first World Cup j s race. Have great time my friend I live in zell me see hour from kitzbual. And zell zilller. Which sky over to hitutux and mayhofen. That easily fly in to sailzburgh there directly bus from the airport in front of the carpark. You can get the tickets online at obb. Or apps.apple.com/gb/app/salzburg-verkehr/id484532993 which covers all of Austria We two have kitz horn glaciers it why I live there. Because I can ski most years but aug I hope over to hintux to ski if I want
Sankt Anton is wonderful, a bit expensive but the biggest ski area in Austria. If you prefer a more cozy destination I would suggest Bad Gastein which contains a lot of hot springs for relaxation in the afternoons. Honorable mention would be Kitzbuhel with its wonderful views and great snow@@Dv-pc9jr