Skiing in the stunning Les Trois Vallees

This year, I got to spend a week skiing in the gorgeous Les Trois Vallees (The 3 Valleys) resort in France, which comprises of the valleys of Val Thorens, Meribel and Courchevel. It is known as one of the best ski resorts in the world and I totally agree. It feels almost endless, with the three interconnected valleys providing skiers with miles and miles of slopes all around. We were there for a week and did not even start to get bored with the slopes.

Skiing on...

The weather was spectacular and sunny for the first two days, and then there was a snowstorm which gave us fresh snow for skiing the next few days. In addition, we were staying at a luxurious serviced chalet in Meribel which was the icing on the cake and made it the perfect holiday. This vacation was also just before Corona struck Europe, so it was good to get away and get a chance to ski before the entire year's vacations got cancelled.


Getting there

We took a chartered plane from Gatwick to the town of Grenoble (in France), to get to Meribel. And it felt that the whole plane was filled with people going skiing. Grenoble was a small airport but we were surprised that everyone there spoke very good English, definitely much better than I've seen before in France. Apparently this resort is very popular with British people, so everyone around has learnt to speak in good English.

We were then driven in a bus to Meribel where we were staying for the next one week. The initial part of the route was through plains but surrounding us were high mountains, some had table tops, some had high pointy peaks and some were low. And almost all of them had no snow on top. Towards the end, we had a bit of drive in the mountains. Even then all around there was barely any snow and most of the mountains looked green. It wasn't surprising as we had already heard that this year the snow hadn't been good. But still it felt surreal, to stay at a ski resort with barely any snow. And even when we reached Meribel, it was devoid of any snow, which felt unnatural.

Across the chalet

We reached our chalet in the afternoon, but were not skiing on that day. So once we had settled in, we walked a bit into the village to get our skis and explore the place. There was no snow there and very few people around too. But we heard that the snow on the peaks wasn't too bad and were raring to go skiing as soon as possible.


About the resort

Crossing the peaks

Les Trois Vallees is a huge resort, where you can keep on skiing and getting onto a ski lift and so on, for many days without landing at the same place! As the three valleys are linked through some of the peaks, you can get from one to the next and explore those too (given good weather though). You just have to make sure, you get out from those valleys to your own valley in time before the lifts stop. You can also very easily get lost as the maps are very complicated given the amount of slopes there are, so always carry one with you. We were staying in the middle valley of Meribel, so it was definitely easier for us to come back in time and not get lost.

There are 4 levels of slopes marked here - green, blue, red and black - which was surprising, as most of Europe does not have greens. And I didn't find a lot of difference between the blues and the greens, and sometimes even the reds. As all of them were quite wide and comfortable to ski. All the slopes here had names rather than numbers, which was not helpful as French names are not easy to pronounce or remember. Also some of the slopes's names were repeated across the different valleys, which added to the confusion sometimes.

Otherwise there were loads of markings on the slopes, of the next ski lift or village you would reach if you ski in that direction, which sometimes made it possible to ski without looking at the map. Also on every slope, there were regular boards after every 100-200 meters, highlighting how many 100s of meters of slope was remaining. And that was a real life-saver especially on some of the tough black and red slopes, to know how much longer did I still have to go 😊.

I saw a much bigger variety of lifts here, there were chair lifts, gondolas, rope lifts, button lifts and bubble lifts; literally all kinds of transport were available. The rope and bubble lifts were a first for me. They also had a few gondolas which would stop at two places on the slope, and people could get off and get on at either of the stops.

There were lot of children parks on the way to try different kind of skiing, like Yeti park with narrow turns and so on. There were also a lot of other activities like sled riding, husky riding, paragliding and so on, all around, to keep the non-skiers busy. I was quite impressed by the amount of infrastructure at this resort and it is definitely one of the best.

Even though we thought we had timed it well, there were loads of crowds on the slopes as well as in the lift queues. And the size of the queues were not helped by the fact that we had to scan our ski passes even when getting up on lifts much above on the mountains. Most resorts I have been to, check passes only on the lower gondolas where people come in directly from the villages. Once you are on top, there are no more checks. And that helps move queues faster, but not here. Also the staff here was not very insistent on filling the chair lifts, gondolas etc.. I saw so many times, on a 6 person chair lift, they would let even 2-3 people get on all the time which felt quite an inefficient way to clear the long queues.

People were also ruder here. Or maybe it was because of the long queues. It felt like a different experience to me than other places I have been skiing. Everyone was trying to get ahead in queues. So many would block your way, push ahead, try to be all macho and take up all the space to get ahead. It was not a good experience.

In fact on one of my lifts, there was a couple who had come from Canada and were talking among themselves. They had been warned about the rude people here and were discussing how they would ski as they weren't used to people being rude on the slopes before. My response was, welcome to the club. You will soon have to be like them to sustain yourself.

The first 2 days of our week there, the weather was hot and sunny, so we skied a lot farther, going from Meribel to Les Menuires and Val Thorens. The next two days there was a massive snow storm and visibility was low. So most of the lifts on the higher slopes were shut down and we skied in the lower reaches of Meribel itself. The last two days were again clear and sunny, though still cold. And we mostly skied in the Courchevel valley. And we could easily see how the skiing was different in the different valleys, in terms of level of difficulty as well as type of tourists.


Skiing in Val Thorens and Les Menuires

On our first two days of skiing, the weather was awesome. It was sunny and warm, sometimes more than 13 degrees even on the slopes! So we decided to use the day and get far as the 3 valley peaks were all open. To get to Val Thorens you have to take a couple of lifts and ski down a bit. It took us an hour or so to get anywhere to start skiing too as there were huge crowds on every lift. It turned out that even though we had avoided the UK half-term rush, we had turned up there during the French one. So the waiting times were huge. And we decided to stop in Les Menuires itself and ski there to avoid the crowds.

But the skiing was amazing. We would time our skiing such that we were skiing on the side of the mountain which was getting sun at that time of the day. It was perfect. All the slopes were very wide and had much better snow than expected given it was so sunny. There was some powder too and not a lot of moguls. There were also tons of people skiing in fancy dress which provided some lightness and entertainment. And we would just go swooshing down the blues and reds all the way down in the sun. It was perfect to spend the whole day like this.

Sometimes we got some brilliant views of the mountain ranges till far, especially when crossing the peaks to the other valleys. Val Thorens and Les Menuires looked like charming villages from the top, extending in to the valleys. They were lined with rows after rows of wooden ski chalets, full of tourists. I really felt there were very few local huts, as most looked like identical ski chalets.

View of top of the world

The food on the slopes wasn't as great though. And it was bloody expensive. We ate at one of the simpler restaurants which was ok. And then next day at Chalet de Sunny which was nicer. There was a restaurant on the slopes in Val Thorens that I passed one day - Folie Douce - which was playing live jazz music outside. It looked like a really amazing place to stop and have a nice time. This was on the second day when snow had started falling, and it made sense to get back to Meribel as soon as possible. As I was already late in getting back to my valley, I didn't stop, but otherwise I would have loved to stop here and enjoy the music in that ambience. It had felt like the perfect place to end two days of perfect summer skiing.


Skiing in Meribel

Meribel valley

We were staying in the village of Meribel and two days were stuck skiing within the valley as there was a huge snowstorm. And all the lifts to the top of the mountains were shut down because of extreme winds. So we couldn't cross over to the valleys on the other sides, and skied within Meribel. Which was still fun except the crowds. The first day, it was crazy at the bottom with 100s of people waiting to get up. In fact, once we took a lift up, come what may, we would not come down to the base for a long time. We would just keep going up and down the slopes above, to avoid the massive queues at the bottom. In fact, one of the days I skied around the Altiport area continuously as they were above the base and had lot of trees around which stopped the wind a bit.

The skiing during these days was amazing in some ways but crazy in others. When the snowfall was slower, the powder snow felt awesome to ski on. But couple of times during the two days, we also got stuck in really bad weather. We would go up a chair lift and then see nothing after that! No slopes, no mountains and no people to follow either! And the snow would be blowing directly into our faces. It was scary, as you just had to trust your gut and go down. And sometimes it would get so windy and snowy, I could barely see a couple of feet ahead. It was a test of strength and courage to ski down like that.

I did have a very crazy experience on one of those days. I skied down a slope which was an extremely steep red, full of powder, with zero visibility, heavy snowfall and winds, tons of moguls and fogged goggles (the Coombe 2 slope). It was one of the toughest and longest (it felt so) ski slope I have gone down. I was actually helping one of my friends try the slope as it was tough. But I kept thinking all the way down, I should never have offered to go down with her 😆.

The whole time, I couldn't see anything, including the ground! And just somehow I had to come down without falling too much  At one point I flew and fell on my face, but given all the fresh snow, did not hurt myself 😁. It did take me some 10 mins after that to get up and a further 15-20 mins after that to clear out all the snow which had got inside my clothes and bags. What an experience that was. Though I went back up the slope again, so I could come down more gracefully this time. Well, I did but lets just call it 'more' gracefully than the previous run 😁.

But I learnt a lot during these two days. I also went to a few of the parks on the slopes - the Elements Park which had a series of about 10-15 jumps on skis, and the yeti park with narrow turn slopes. They were fun to try especially now with less people. In fact, the second half of the days were perfect for skiing. By that time, the crowds would have thinned as everyone would have given up and gone back home. And that is the time, I got some of the most empty slopes to ski as I pleased. And go up the lifts as much as I wanted. As long as I could avoid getting stuck in the heavy snowfall area. There were a lot more people falling today definitely than usual. Also there were lot of off piste skiing happening during these days because of the wonderful snow. But I stayed on the snow mostly, trying to do what I do, without falling 'too much' 😊.


Skiing in Courchevel

The last two days of the skiing were spent in the third valley of Courchevel and it felt like a completely different experience. It was sunny again and quite hot too, which was great for skiing especially as we still had fresh snow. The Courchevel valley was relatively easier to get to, and was very open and expansive, with much wider slopes than the other two valleys. I explored many different mountains here and found them all different.

Courchevel slopes

There were shorter queues here but the slopes were somehow still full of people. I did a few reds the first day and once got stuck in a really bad one. After that, I've decided that I don't like the powdery reds with lot of moguls. If any of the three things is missing (steepness, lot of powder, lot of moguls), I can still ski, but with all three, I hate it. There were many very long blue runs here too, which were not too steep, on which you could ski leisurely. With the wide slopes below and the sun above. The blues here felt like a good break from the tough red runs around.

I came back to Courchevel the next day too and did a few blacks that day. They were not too long thankfully, and I was just happy to have come down in one piece. And left feeling happy and content. There was a lot of powder snow still and it was fun to go off piste for a bit, though I would fall very soon as you need different types of skis to ski in the powder. So maybe I can try that the next time. I also realised if you fall in fresh snow, you hurt yourself less. So its a good time to push yourself a lot more and take the risk. I definitely did, and improved my skiing. Thankfully without hurting myself 😊.

Courchevel restaurants

On the first day, Friday, I was trying to find a place to eat lunch and found some amazing restaurants with live music and breathtaking views. The first one was the La Cave des Creux but they said they were all booked. I hadn't heard that on the slopes ever before. The second one I came to, the Le Cap Horn also said the same but the neighbouring Italian restaurant, Les Mille Sabords had a place free and allowed me to have lunch there. And it took me time to figure out why the restaurants here were so full.

These restaurants were not the typical ski slope fast food places but really posh. They were huge, had a lot of outside sitting, the views were lovely and the food was gourmet food. The guests here were more interested in dressing up for skiing than actual skiing. They all looked really rich, and I felt like too rustic a skier in the midst of a fancy party going on. It looked like they stopped skiing by lunch time and spent the rest of their evening eating and partying. Even at my restaurant, by 2pm, the loud music had started and the mood changed to a party mood, with no more skiing after.

And then I realised that the Courchevel resort by itself was more expensive than usual,and the guests here came to relax rather than ski. The second day though, all these fancy restaurants were empty and closed, so I ate at a normal place, with a great view but normal prices. I realised later that there were less people skiing on Saturday, as turns out that is the day the new set of package skiers comes in, and the old ones leave, making it a low rush day. As much as I enjoyed skiing in Courchevel, I realised also that this resort had easier slopes. This place was for the richer, fancier and more dressed up people rather than serious skiers.

GoPro slope

Leaving Courchevel, you need to take a huge Sauliere gondola all the way to the peak and from the top you can get a view of Mont Blanc very far off. I couldn't see much though either of the days as the clouds were always there. There is also an extremely steep slope at this peak called the GoPro where you literally drop off a cliff to ski. The slope was officially closed but skiers were still going down. And it was very scary even to see other people go down that slope. I just chose not to.


Meribel village and restaurants

Meribel village is located in a huge long valley, which we could see from the ski slopes. The first two day, the valley had limited snow and was greener. It felt like the valley was filled with ski chalets on every slope all around. I don't know how many people are local and actually stay here as lot of the accommodation looked like it was available only for tourists.

Meribel village

The village was small, but had lot of pubs. Most people knew English and there were a lot of English skiers around. Apparently a lot of the properties around here is also owned by British people. The buildings were all made of wood and looked cute. And at night, all the winter lights on the streets were switched on which gave it a very nice Christmas-ey feel.

We didn't eat out much in the village as we had dinner prepared for us daily in our chalet. Though one day we called for Indian food from Tsaretta Spice and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. The food was really yum. And the highlight was the gobi manchurian which was a hit with the mostly non-Indian gang. One other evening, we went to the Lizzi restaurant, walking all the way from our chalet. The christmas lights were all lit and it felt nice to walk in the snow finally, with no skiing boots on. The food there was good and it was fun to be out.

There are lot of Apres skiing places around, a popular one is Folie Douce where I didn't go. There was one in Meribel too, sister restaurant of the one in Val Thorens with the open jazz performance I had seen during one of the skiing places. The last day, we went to Rond point which closes by 5pm and is on the slope itself. And it looked like it was a good party place. I am sure there are a lot more but I didn't get to go anywhere as I was too tired by the time I came back all day after skiing.

Driving was tough in the village, especially on the day it was all snowed in. Apparently there were a few accidents too. Our drivers (who picked and dropped us from the slopes) had put snow chains on their cars but they were still very scared of driving. I think its because they were not local but just 'some English lads there for the season, who weren't very comfortable driving in the mountains in the snow...' (as someone said).


Our chalet

We had booked a chalet through one of the ski package companies for 14 of us and it was amazing. The whole trip was very well organised and the chalet was the icing on the cake. It was located very close to the village centre. The local buses stopped in front of out chalet to drop us to the lifts. Though we never used the bus as we had drivers who would pick us up and drop us every day at the lifts.

Stepping out from the chalet

The chalet had an amazing location, on a mountain face, with a view of the opposite side of the valley across. It always felt lovely to come back to. There were games to keep us busy, a pool table, a sauna and a hot tub outside. We used the hot tube everyday, to get over the tiredness of the day. You could stare into the snow covered mountains, while sitting in hot vaporous water in the open. It was pure bliss. In fact, one of the days it was snowing while we were in the hot water. And the mix of hot and cold was interesting. And one day we also saw some clouds slowly come into the valley and cover everything behind us. While we sat in the tub. It felt quite a surreal experience.

We had all our meals in the chalet as our breakfast, evening snacks and dinner were included. There were two guys managing the chalet and they were English (as expected) and came here every season. They used to cook us our meals daily. The food quality and presentation was comparable to what you would get in a fine dining restaurant. And the tables were decorated with candles every night. Living there was pure luxury, and was definitely the high point of the trip for us. We loved the chalet. Except one day when the internet was down all day!

Winter Wonderland

The last day it had snowed all night, again. And when we got out in the morning, the view that greeted us was even more charming, with snow on top of trees, all the house roofs and the mountains. It looked like winter wonderland all of a sudden. Also because we weren't carrying a lot of heavy ski gear with us. And then we drove back to Grenoble, where there was a lot more snow than usual. The villages in the French Alps here did not seem as pretty as the Austrian or the Swiss ones though.


And just like that the vacation ended. It was also an end to vacations for a long time, as by the time we came back, Corona was starting to pick up speed. And within a week, Italy was in lock-down, then France and then UK. So all we are left with are memories from this trip, for a long time to come. It was a fun vacation. And I can see myself going back, there is so much to explore still...