The Three Valleys ski area

Meribel sits at the heart of the world famous Trois Vallees domain and, with over 600km of pistes on your doorstep, it’s easy to see why guests return year after year to continue their discovery of this inexhaustible ski area.

The extensive Three Valleys includes the resorts of Courchevel, La Tania, St Martin de Belleville, Les Menuires and Val Thorens, which are all linked by a vast network of 200 lifts. From Meribel, the Valley of Courchevel is easily accessible via the Saulire bubble or the Col de Loze chair (quicker if you’re based in Meribel Village) and you can scale the dizzy heights of Val Thorens in under an hour.

Whilst beginners have the choice of nearly 50 runs (plenty to start you off with, we think!), the range for intermediate skiers feels limitless; with 101 reds and 117 blues you can ski all week without doing the same run twice! For advanced skiers the options are equally impressive, from the 27 black runs to acres of steep off-piste and extreme couloirs. Even though the majority of runs are perfectly groomed overnight by the hard-working piste-bashers, you can always find a bumpy slope or two if you want to try your hand at moguls! Off-piste junkies will love the open slopes of La Masse and Mont Vallon, and even the most timid of powder hounds can experiment scooting between slopes. And, whatever your ability, you can challenge yourself in the attempt to gain the ‘Expert Skier’ award by visiting the furthest reaches of the Three Valleys. 

Although the highest peak in the Three Valleys towers at almost 3300m and 85% of the pistes are over 1800m, which assures you excellent skiing throughout the winter, Meribel’s virtually unrivalled investment in snow cannons ensures good cover on the home runs until the last week of the season. There are now 2000 cannons which between them cover over a third of the total ski area.

Throughout the entire Three Valleys there is an excellent lift system which is constantly being updated so you won’t waste time in long queues or on slow transport links (the new Golf chairlift from Meribel Village, for example, halved its transfer time last season) and the electronic lift pass system eliminates the fuss of extracting your pass each time you use a lift – you can keep it safely zipped up in a pocket and forget about it!

For those among you who prefer to jump high than go fast, there are two snow parks in the Meribel valley designed specifically to cater for both beginners and advanced freestyle snowboarders and skiers. The Moon Park can be found next to the Arpasson drag lift, while the Plattières snow park is located above Mottaret.

View Three Valleys and Meribel piste maps

For extensive information on the Three Valleys, please visit:
www.les3vallees.com