What's New in the 3 Valley's Ski Area this Winter

What's New in Courchevel?

Courchevel has replaced three lifts for this coming season. The tiny, ancient Fôret bubble lift at Courchevel le Praz has been replaced by a new, faster 6-seater detachable chair lift. The old, 1970s lift was cramped and slow and carried only 1,000 people per hour. The new Fôret chairlift will carry 2,400 people in greater comfort and will offer a fast connection to Courchevel’s ski area via last year’s Bouc Blanc chairlift, and to Méribel via the Dou des Lanches chairlift. Cost 9 million Euros.

A new, fast Aiguilles du Fruit chairlift has replaced the old chairlift of the same name and the nearby Gravelles chairlift. The new 6-seater detachable chair has a higher capacity than the two previous lifts (3,300 skiers per hour) and will improve the connection between Courchevel-Moriond (1600) and the rest of the ski area. Cost 8 million Euros.

Courchevel’s pistes have also seen improvements. The Altiport run has been redesigned as an easy blue run and now starts from the top of the new Aiguille du Fruit chairlift. The quality of the snow cover on the connection between Courchevel-Moriond and Courchevel has also been improved by the installation of 8 new snow cannons.

Finally, an ungroomed, avalanche-controlled area has been created in the Courchevel-Moriond sector. Called “Liberty Ride du Tétras”, it will be accessible to red-run-level skiers, allowing them to enjoy the sensations of backcountry skiing in safety.

What's New in Méribel?

Those in the know have long used the Loze chairlift as a quiet, queue-free route from Méribel to Courchevel. This winter, the old 4-seater chairlift has been replaced by a high speed detachable chairlift, named Loze Express. This will whisk you to the Col de la Loze in just six minutes. Try it to avoid the busy Chaudanne area or just to give fast access to all the excellent tree skiing in the Loze sector.

The blue Roc de Fer piste has been reshaped and equipped with snow cannons in preparation for this winter’s Alpine Skiing World Cup Finals (held in Méribel from 18 to 22 March 2015). You can compare yourselves to the very best racers in the world by skiing this course before the event.

There is now an easier route into Méribel-Mottaret centre, avoiding the steep bottom part of the blue Martre piste. A little-know alternative route via le Hameau, called the Easy Way, is now signposted and has been re-graded to remove the flat section.

What's New in Val Thorens?

The Portette 4-seater chairlift has been replaced by a faster and more comfortable 6-seater chairlift of the same name. The start point has been moved 100m down the mountain, making it more accessible, and capacity has been increased to 3,300 skiers per hour.

The lovely but little-used Boismint area has been redesigned to improve skier flow. Here, the slow 4-seater Plan de l’Eau chairlift has been replaced by a fast, 6-seater chairlift. This new lift will extend further up the mountain, giving a greater vertical drop and also linking up with the Caron ski area.

The total cost of Val Thorens’ improvements this year is 20 million Euros.

What's New in Les Menuires?

A new blue run called le Bouquetin has been created on la Masse. The busy Menuires blue run into the resort has been given more snow cannons to improve snow cover throughout the season.

What's New with Ski Passes?

Families have their own reduced price pass, groups have a Tribu pass, but what about couples? Well, with the new Duo Pass, you can ski with your partner or a mate for less. The Duo pass gives you a discount on any 6-day or longer 3 Valleés or single resort ski pass. You'll save 10 euros per person by paying €273 for a 6-day 3 Vallées ski pass instead of €283. (Joint purchase, one payment only, for the same type of pass and duration.)

Holders of a 3 Valleys season pass can now ski for free in other resorts in the USA, Russia and Australia. You are entitled to a free 5-day ski pass at one of the American ski resorts in the Vail Resorts group* and to a free 3 consecutive day ski pass at the Australian Mont Buller resort and the Russian Rosa Khutor resort. Epic pass (link: http://www.snow.com/epic-pass.aspx ) holders are entitled to a free 5-day ski pass in the 3 Vallées resorts – worth considering if you’re going global on your ski holidays this year.

*Vail Group resorts: Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Vail, Afton Alps, Northstar, Rockresorts, Grand Tetons, Mt Brighton, Canyons, Heavenly, Keystone, Kirkwood.