Skiing The Three Valleys

Justifiably famous for being both snow sure and simply ENORMOUS, the Three Valleys (or Les Trois Vallées) consists of 600km of beautifully maintained pistes and stunning scenery.

Renowned as an intermediate playground, there’s flattering skiing for everyone, with some interesting challenges for experts to be found as well as lovely cruisey blues and greens.

Skiing St Martin itself

Whizzing you rapidly up and out of the village is the gondola St Martin 1. From there you hop onto the new 6-person chairlift St Martin 2 and in just 15 minutes you’ve reached the top of the mountain to see the extent of the skiing available to you on a Three Valleys pass. It’s just gigantic!

But before we head out into the wild white yonder, let’s just investigate St Martin’s pistes…

Skiers familiar with the Three Valleys will undoubtedly tell you not to miss the popular red run Jerusalem. And they’re right, you shouldn’t. It’s a wide track that undulates and turns and brings you grinning down to the bottom of the chair.

But go up again and take a right turn to Pramint. Equally flattering and fun but with a less famous name, it’s definitely a run you’ll ski again and again during your stay. Skiing down to the village is a joy on blue Bioley, looking over the Belleville Valley and towards the stunning Vallee des Encombres – it still takes our breathe away on the way home.

The rest of Les Trois Vallées

Getting higher and higher in altitude as you go up the valley, Les Menuires ski pass holders can enjoy everything from St Martin all the way over to La Masse on the opposite side of the valley and find almost 360 degree views from the top!

Over the Tougnete ridge you’ll find the valley Méribel which includes the unmissable reds of Mont Vallon and Tougnete itself and the popular Moonpark and DC area 43 snowpark as well as the Big Airbag on the snowfront at Mottaret.

View the Piste map here

Onwards and upwards on the Pas du Lac you’ll find yourself at the top of Saulire: Courchevel’s highest peak, where gnarly skiers can try Europe’s steepest black, the Grand Couloir. There’s plenty of gorgeous intermediate skiing here, plus the delights of people-watching from the mountain restaurants. The rule of thumb is that the higher the price of a beer/coffee, the more entertaining the clientele become!

See our guide on mountain restaurants to find the best spots in each valley.

Read our tips on finding the best secret spots in the Three Valleys.