Courchevel & Les Trois Vallees the biggest and best ski area in Europe

On the border of La Vanoise national park and the Tarentaise, Courchevel looks out to Monte Bianco, the Italian face of Mont Blanc. This is a multi level resort in the heart of the Three Valleys ski area that offers over three hundred acres of mountain entirely dedicated to all types of winter sports and with access to six hundred kilometers of marked piste, not to mention the ten thousand hectares of off-piste skiing.

Since 1973, it has been possible to ski the interlinked valleys using a single ski pass. Thus, Les Trois Vallées is the largest ski area in the world which is connected solely by ski lifts and slopes. Boasting some of the most reliable snow conditions in the French Alps, here the seasons are longer and more reliable than surrounding destinations.

Les Trois Vallées has 183 ski lifts, which can transport 260,000 skiers per hour. Other equipment owned by the operating companies include 1,920 snow cannons and 76 piste bashers. Employees in the area include 424 ski patrollers and 1,500 ski instructors.

Download a Trois Vallees piste map

As implied by its name, the area originally consisted of three valleys: Saint-Bon, Allues, and Belleville. The skiing area has since been extended into a 'fourth' valley, the Maurienne valley. It is adjacent to Val Thorens, but can also be accessed using a long gondola lift from Orelle.