What’s New in La Tania & The 3 Valleys 2020 – The Definitive Guide (Part 2 of 2)

 

PART 2 – New Building Work, Developments, Facilities, Accommodation, Bars & Restaurants,  Non skiing activities etc.

The 19th Annual What’s New Guide to the Biggest Ski Area In The World
PART 1 – New Lifts, Pistes, Snow Cannons, Ski Area Improvements

October 2019

Courchevel Valley

Following on from Part 1 reporting on the new lifts at Le Praz and Aquamotion there’s also been a lot of building work over there.

The Alpinium As we’ve been reporting on since last season, the new €27m Alpinium complex in Le Praz is an 18,000m² multi-purpose building with lift pass counter, tourist office, toilets, ski lockers, a multimedia library with games room & art workshop, ESF ski school office, kids area, tourist reception area and lift company offices with a multi-storey car park below for 500 cars and a sports ground on the roof.

The Lake was completely drained and re-lined plus a walk way is to be added too. Sadly this means no more wake boarding as the focus is on strolling around the lake and fishing – even though it’s right next to a sports ground and the finish of the 2023 World Cup Men’s Downhill.

We do hear there are plans for electric go karts in the car park in Summer – that should be fun! Car parking can be booked at €400 for the season (or €690 for a dedicated reserved space).

The Écrin Blanc Hotel The new 4 star accommodation residence connected via underground tunnel to the Aquamotion complex between Courchevel 1550 & 1650 which is set to open on 20 December 2019.

There are 127 rooms and suites sleeping up to 500 guests with 3 restaurants, a 200m² terrace at the bottom of the slopes, ski shop, 7 meeting rooms, 800m² reception area and kids club – but the cheapest price we could find for a room was €297 in mid-April so not sure how full that terrace will be at Aprés Ski… You do get free basic access to Aquamotion however.

The new 4 seater fixed grip chair Grandes Combes and new piste of the same name originate from near the new building. It could be an alternative free car parking area to use from this December.

Meanwhile the other big development work in Courchevel has been on the Stade area, huge land works and re-profiling the slope has taken place and a new 3,000 square metre club house is to be built financed by Multi-national Chemicals Company INEOS boss Jim Ratcliffe (Britain’s richest man) who’s daughter is in the Courchevel Club des Sports. 

Jockeys – Currently the “destruction” of the Jockeys piste is continuing with it being made much, much wider, straighter (a new piste cuts the corner off at the bottom where it joins Murettes) and a more consistent gradient, all for the 2023 World Cup Men’s Downhill but also to be used as a competition / training slope going forward. The work at the top near the Bouc Blanc can be seen below – at least there’ll be less polling across there on a powder day but it feel like rain forest deforestation when you look down there… More on the new race piste in Part 1

Meanwhile the top of the Bouc Blanc piste near the Dou des Lanches chair has been re-profiled too – possibly to aid access to the green Plan Fontaine piste.

Work on the redevelopment of La Croisette building is due to start in the Summer of 2020 which will see a complete refurb of the main gondola building in Courchevel 1850.

Courchevel 1850 ESF will have new uniforms this Winter that the instructors helped design and test. They are manufactured by CEPOVETT, a leading French corporate clothing brand for uniforms and protective gear.

The Chabichou Hotel & Restaurant plus La Chabotté restaurant under the piste are seeing some big changes for this Winter. Maryse and Michel Rochedy, the owners since 1963 have sold up and refurb work on the hotel has started plus La Chabotté is nor more – it was a decent value set menu lunch place for the quality on offer plus the takeaway baguettes were excellent value too for 1850 – And it opened in Summer!

Now all modern deco and to be called “Katz” with DJs from 23:00 – and judging by the comments we’ve heard will be just another overpriced place in 1850 catering for one type of clientele – let’s hope they prove us wrong…

Canyon Lodge – Three exceptional chalets at the foot of the slopes in Courchevel 1650 Moriond’s Belvédere area are opening this winter, complete with balcony Jacuzzi, private spa and ski room.

Manali Lodge formerly the Manali Hotel is transforming into 18 apartments and also has spa, swimming pool, sports hall, ski room, and two restaurants.

Le Phoenix In Courchevel 1550, the former Maeva Club Hotel is now Le Phoenix with 27 apartments ranging from 51m² to 245m²

New Apartments in Courchevel 1650 more or less above Le Funky Fox.

Fahrenheit Seven In 1650 the 24 apartments in the former Les Cimes Blanches residence have been updated and turned into the F7 Apartments.

Hotel de La Loze in Courchevel 1850 across from La Croisette has been refurbed and re-classified as a 4 start hotel.

Aquamotion Restaurant – The restaurant accessible from the Aquamotion swimming pools is changing its name to Le Cellier Bis with new decor and an updated menu. Also at Aquamoton the Ludiboo Club (for 3 to 6 year olds) allows parents a well-deserved break at the aquawellness area or on the slopes whilst their little ones enjoy fun child-friendly supervised activities.

The ESF Children’s Village in 1850 has been revamped for this Winter. The land of Knights and Princesses welcome children in the mornings and has ski lessons for a maximum of 6 kids.

Frozen 2 There’s a big tie up between The 3 Valleys and the new Disney movie Frozen 2 (released in the UK on 22 November). Areas marked on the Piste Map “La Reine des Neiges 2” including Jardin Alpin in Courchevel plus the Altiport area & Olympic chair in Méribel and will from part of a treasure hunt adventure with kids mini slalom runs and prizes to be won.

Le Cortona in 1550 – a popular pizza place that has seen some major birthday drinks in its time is now under new ownership. Only set menus at lunch in the Summer with Pizza in the evening but Pizza at lunch in Winter too.

Fitness and Well Being – Every morning, guests at the Aman Le Mélézin can enjoy 30 minute yoga sessions and guests at Le Cheval Blanc can climb Saulire with a supervised group before the lifts open and enjoy a detox breakfast following their first tracks decent. There’ll also be an Escape Room in Courchevel this winter with Courchevel Adventures bringing this current fad to a yurt from December.

The Courchevel Altiport has a brand new comfortable departure lounge in the heart of the control tower opening for this Winter.

La Boulotte in Courchevel 1650 is definitely still open this Winter no matter what rumours Katie seems to generate…

La Tania News

La Tania Moretta Village looks like it has been given the go ahead for the complex of 600 beds plus commercial outlets including ski shop, bar & restaurant. The development is on the gondola car park and no new chairlift is now planned, but an upgrade of the current gondola to give a higher uplift capacity is promised – this is in line with the current thinking of less lifts / pylons across the ski area but more modern, comfortable, higher capacity infrastructure.

An underground car park will be built but during constructions it looks likely that this area below will be used. This is the right hand bend as you approach La Tania – it used to be a straight drop off down the valley but has now incredibly been filled in with the earth from the Le Praz underground car park being moved here in several thousands of lorry loads.

Another new Chalet in La Tania approaching completion near to the gondola, quite a biggie this…

Chalet / Accommodation News
Alpine Escape are offering 2 days free instructor / guiding days on some of their self-catering properties this Winter.
Snow Retreat have added the 8-11 bed Chalet Sebastien to their portfolio for Winter 2020.
Ski Mania have taken over the contract for the Grand Bois self-catered apartments that were so popular (and very competitively priced) in the packages with flights & transfers that Crystal put together. This French company seems to concentrate on long weekends and coach trips from Lyon as far as we can tell. Click here for more self-catered apartments
Mountain Heaven are no longer operating in La Tania.
Ski Amis with 7 chalets in La Tania are now part of Time of Your Life Travel Ltd and continue to be fully bonded with ABTOT.
Check out the Special Offers page for the latest deals including Christmas with The Freeride Republic, First Tracks week with Ski Magic and package deals with flights from Alpine Action.

Saboia B Apartments to reopen
The latest info we have is that the La Tania Saboia B apartment block is scheduled to re-open between 11 & 15 December once some further cleaning, painting and electricity checks have taken place.

The block was closed following landslip / erosion issues but extensive work and safety checks have now been completed and the re-opening has been approved by the local council.

New La Tania Green Run and Snow Front / Beginners Area
This has been put on hold, probably due to all the work going on in Le Praz but we do expect work to start next Summer. More on this here

La Taiga restaurant has a new terrace being constructed which will host a closed-in giant heated parasol to provide shelter in poor weather.

Pub Le Ski Lodge is getting a brand new giant parasol roof over the terrace this Winter too and returning staff include the return of Steve (aka Dada Chef) along with a recognisable ex-Méribel character and a new manager from Poland to the international team. No Beth or Heidi next Winter – they will be missed – but hopefully Strannie & Slovak come back if they’ve recovered from the after effects of the England match in Prague a couple of weeks ago…

Hotel Telemark is finally re-opening as we reported a few weeks ago but sadly it’s just for staff accommodation for the local Mairee and lift company.

Three Vallee Transfers celebrates it’s 20th birthday this Winter (as does latania.co.uk) and has a shiny new mobile friendly website with on-line bookings and immediate confirmation for both shared and private transfers. Further Transfer information here

New Roundabouts… The La Tania roundabout is being re-modelled (seriously!) with maybe a new lit up sculpture and it looks like a new one is going in below the Drop Inn in Le Praz as part of a traffic calming measures.

Meribel Valley

L’Hévana Apartments on the approach to the Méribel Chaudanne area are approaching completion – another 5 star Pierre and Vacances development complete with pool, spa, bar and restaurant.

Le Coucou – Across the piste from the Rond Point, the new Coucou 5-star hotel is also approaching completion. This ski in/out complex has 55 rooms with 39 suites and two large independent chalets connected to the main building with two swimming pools, a spa, fitness area and sauna. A large sunny terrace promises “The Beefbar” at lunch including Black Angus from Argentina and the USA, Australian Wagyu and Japanese Kobe.

Jack’s Bar returns to Méribel after a year off taking over the site of the Meribar, a great location next the the Chaudanne.

We hear that owners European Pubs (who also run Copiña in Méribel and Courchevel 1650) plan to make this area on the left (below) as you walk in the restaurant and the right hand side will host the stage for Après Ski bands. All will be revealed in December…

Lodge du Village over in Méribel Village is also having a refurb this Autumn. The upstairs area has been gutted but it looks like the bar will be in the same place – we await the results this Winter…

Refuge de la Traye about 3.5km above Les Allues is a refuge that was built in 1982 but has now been completely re-invented as the first top-end “refuge” in the French Alps and set to open in December 2019. Part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World collection it will be a very special place to visit by ski touring, snow shoe, snow-mobile or dog sledding.

Les Menuires / St Martin

Caseblanche is a brand new collection of 34 luxurious chalets at the foot of the slopes in Saint Martin de Belleville.

René and Maxime Meilleur famous for the 3 Star Michelin Restaurant La Bouitte near St Martin have a new establishment in this complex called Simple & Meilleur with a Tapas style area on the lower floor of the chalet and a warm bar & lounge with a very fine selection of wines.

A further two new chalets with hotel services, Chalets Pure Black & Pure White Crystal complete with indoor swimming pool are also new this Winter.

New LYS SPA Space
A new relaxation area of 50m² will be installed outdoors in the heart of the village of Saint-Martin with 3 whirlpools to drink herbal tea in to enjoy an invigorating break after skiing.

New Ski Lockers in the centre of St Martin with storage for up to 300 pairs of skis complete with changing rooms and toilets have been installed. Reservations can be made online when purchasing your ski pass.

Chalet 2000 in Reberty will open at the end of January. There are 31 beds across 5 apartments all with balconies just a few steps away from the shops and restaurants.

Aqua Cross Training is a new high intensity cross fit training programme combining aquafitness, aqua gym and aquaboxing available at Les Menuires Sports Centre this Winter.

Drone Workshops will be held in Les Menuires this Winter in order to learn the basic of drone flight and aerial photography in a safe environment.

Other Snow News (not included in Part 1) includes further widening of the Jerusalem piste, the improvement of snow cover on La Chasse piste between Les Menuires and Val Thorens and the refurb of the Rocher Noir chairlift. The new top to bottom La Masse Express gondola is now expected to be in place for Winter 2021. Finally Les Combes piste from the top of the Becca chairlift down to the top of Sunny Express chairlift is now called Boulevard du Sunny!

Val Thorens

Crêpes – A new Breakfast Crêperie Restaurant in the Galerie Péclet shopping centre opens this Winter for pancakes and brunch or a snack after a good days skiing.

A New Igloo Village in Val Thorens it to be built with Ice Bar and Restaurant in a “magical frozen world”. There’s even some frozen hotel rooms so you can spend the night there too!
It will also be used for hosting events and seminars and can be accessed on skis, by foot, snow-mobile or snowshoes.

The Val Thorens Sports Centre has been refurbed and the new Club Val Thorens now has a chillout zone with DJs playing.

Technology
Val Thorens seems to be leading the way on embracing new technology with new GPS equipped piste bashers using GPS (rather than radar) to measure snow depths across the ski area and further use of the first autonomous (driverless), electric shuttle buses. Impressive to get batteries to last at 2300m during Winter!

Val Thorens are also experimenting with electric buggies this season to help people with disabilities get around the resort and using AI to show how busy particular slopes are in real time.

Deux Lacs restraining wall
A huge amount of work at the top of the Deux Lacs chairlift where the restraining wall has been elongated and strengthened. Or is it a new reservoir in the future?

Travel

New flights / routes to look out for this Winter include:

• East Midlands to Grenoble from Jet2 on Saturdays from 15 Feb 2020.
• Luton to Grenoble from Wizzair on Saturdays starting at £8.99.
• Bristol to Grenoble from Ryanair on Saturdays from 11 Jan 2020.

All the route, all the operators in the La Tania Flight Guide

New scanners a Geneva Airport mean you do not have to take toiletries out of your hand luggage anymore.

The free Ski Bus service to all the Courchevel Villages and La Tania now has live tracking on the TV screens at the bus stops and can also be accessed on your mobile phone. Further information at latania.co.uk/resort/skibus.htm the Winter 2020 timetables will be posted as soon as we get them.

With the Thomas Cook debacle and Crystal (part of TUI) having a lot less options in La Tania this Winter it could be that flight prices will increase so get booked up as soon as possible.

In the ever changing travel industry carve up, Hotel Plan is now the owner of Flexiski (which used to be part of TUI when they had Hotel St Louis – which is the Ski Lodge in Courchevel 1850). Hotel Plan is the parent company of Inghams, Ski Total, Esprit and the Explore! adventure travel brand.

Events – Key Dates

All will be updated during the season in the La Tania & 3 Valleys What’s On?

Val Thorens Opening – Scheduled for 23 November 2019.

Courchevel 1850 Opening – Scheduled for 7 December 2019.

La Tania opening is Saturday 14 December 2019 with music at the Tourist Office during the afternoon.

Ladies Alpine Ski World Cup – Giant Slalom on the Courchevel 1850 Émile-Allais Stade on 17 December 2019.

New Year’s Eve in La Tania will have fireworks and entertainment this year after last year’s crazy decision to cart everyone up to 1850 at midnight in the middle of Winter…

The Roc Merlet Derby has been changed and is now invite only. It used to be a mass race open to everyone with a Le Mans type start all the way from the top of 1650 down to the resort. Looks like Health and Safety caught up with it and it’s now Le Roc Merlet Individual Time Trial taking place on 24/25 January 2020.

The 3 Valleys Enduro right across the whole ski area and open to everyone takes place on 5 April 2020.

3 Valleys Charity Day in Méribel Village is confirmed as Wed 8 April 2020.

Le Winter Legacy by Alexis Pinturault
This new event combines skiing, music and a party atmosphere! A 4 person or individual start for a brand-new ski race comprising a series of several disciplines over the Combe de la Saulire (moguls, giant slalom, skicross, and water slide), plus entertainment and live music on 11 April 2020.

And of course…
Le Tour de France comes to La Tania with a stage finish at the top of Col de la Loze on Wed 15 July 2020.

Many thanks for all the contributions. Photo Credits to Ski Fan, Courchevel Tourist Office, Meribel Tourist Office, Val Thorens Tourist Office, The Freeride Republic and Charlie Gorman.

PART 1 – New Lifts, Pistes, Snow Cannons & Ski Area Improvements

What’s New in La Tania & The 3 Valleys 2020 – The Definitive Guide (Part 1 of 2)

 

PART 1 – New Lifts, Pistes, Snow Cannons, Reservoirs & Ski Area Improvements

The 19th Annual What’s New Guide to the Biggest Ski Area In The World
Part 2 – Everything Else

October 2019

Courchevel Valley

Praz Gondola – Le Praz to Courchevel 1850
Even with a week to go of the 2018 / 2019 Winter Season, work began on removing the old gondola station and lift which dates back from 1982. Work continued apace throughout the Summer on the new gondola which has its bottom station inside the new Alpinium Building on which work started in April 2018 (more on that in part 2).

The new lift built by Poma will once again use Sigma Diamond Evo cabins similar to the Grangettes gondola that was new last season.
Stats
Capacity: 58 x 10 person cabins, 2,400 skier per hour
Speed: 6 m/s
Length: 2084m
Vertical: 501m
Time: 5 mins 45 secs
Cost: €16.5m

The new gondola top station is located just below the Croisette building much nearer to the centre of Courchevel 1850 than the previous station. The Tovets chairlift from 1550 has had its top station moved downhill to accommodate the new gondola station.

The top section of the toboggan track has also been modified and it’ll be interesting to see if the Tovets top station is high enough to get momentum to Plantrey in soft / sticky snow conditions…

The French ESF Ski School will have an office in the new Alpinium Building along with Lift Pass office and Tourist Information Centre.

Grand Combes Chairlift and New Piste
With the new accommodation L’Ecrin Blanc next to Aquamotion approaching completion a new piste down and chairlift up has been built this Summer.

Interestingly its a 4 seater fixed grip chairlift from Poma – not a detachable which is the norm nowadays. Future plans for a link to 1650 from here are still unconfirmed but this could become a popular route (an extension to Plan du Vah through the forest is also rumoured – currently finishes at a bus stop below 1850, top left of piste map above).
Stats
Capacity: 2,400 skier per hour
Speed: 5 m/s
Length: 700m
Vertical: 180m
Time: 2 mins 30 secs
Cost: €3.5m

The top station will give access down to the Tovets piste in 1550 for access up to Courchevel 1850. Originally we thought it would be high enough to at least get to Plantrey chair but the new Praz gondola and shortening of Tovets has put paid to that and it comes out just below where Cospillot joins the main 1550 pistes of Tovets and the Stade.

The new blue piste is 1km in length – not sure if it will be worthwhile skiing down for lunch at L’Ecrin Blanc though if the room rates are a judge of the prices, cheapest room we found was for a Sunday night in mid January at €344.

The Freeride Lab Area and the Creux Noirs lift
We were promised a new 350m drag lift (with 18 fewer pylons!) to replace the old chair which was closed at the end of the 2017 / 2018 season after pylon foundations were seen to be deteriorating.

A reported contractual issue has held this up for now and they are now showing where to hike up on the 2020 piste map to access this ungroomed area (near to where the drag lift will hopefully end up being).

From the Tourist Office spiel “Welcome to Freeride LAB, Courchevel’s powder snow laboratory, the perfect place to become an unparalleled all-terrain skier! This demanding high-altitude sector leading to renowned off-piste areas and unique panoramic views is adopting a new look: reachable on foot or ski touring skis (100m difference in height) to the 2 red runs and the black run, which will be left ungroomed but made safe throughout the winter”.

Courchevel Stade
The Émile-Allais Stade Courchevel Competition Piste has seen some massive earth works this Summer – resembling an open cast quarry for much of the time with huge earth moving equipment re-profiling the slope to make a more interesting finish area for the slalom competitions they hold here including the Ladies Alpine Ski World Cup Giant Slalom on 17 December 2019.

The old club house has gone and a new 3,000 square metre one is being financed by Multi-national Chemicals Company INEOS boss Jim Ratcliffe who’s daughter is in the Courchevel Club des Sports. He also owns the Portetta hotel in 1650, now sponsors the very successful Sky cycling team, finances the British boat in the next America’s Cup race, owns Swiss football club Lausanne-Sport and French football club OGC Nice.

The new club house will comprise the administrative offices, a function room, sports hall, changing rooms plus car parking for 20 cars. Ratcliffe (the richest man in Britain) is reportedly contributing €17m to the project.

Indiens Piste
This winter, the Native Americans are returning to their territory in the wild canyon of Courchevel Moriond (aka Indiens Piste) after not getting on with the cowboys in The Western Park above 1650 Ariondaz lift!

Great fun for kids with face painting, games, mini-slalom course and you can get your photo taken with the Chief’s giant headdress on. They used to shoot bow & arrows at painted animal targets – maybe the PC brigade have stopped that?

Jockeys Piste – Big Changes
As soon as the award of the 2023 World Cup Finals hosts was made and the Jockeys Piste (along with the top section of the Bouc Blanc) was chosen for the men’s events we wondered how some of those steep pitches followed by flat areas would cope with skiers travelling up to 150km/h… For recreational skiers those flatter spots were a welcome respite from the steeper sections and a change to get your breath back!

There is a lot of work now going on re-shaping and re-profiling Jockeys.

Lots of widening, huge earthworks smoothing steep spots, tree removal etc has taken place with work to come on a tunnel (for access for skiers from Forêt chairlift to enable recreational skiing to continue while races are in progress) plus a new section of piste towards the bottom to avoid the sharp skiers left hand bend and flatter section where Jockeys joins the red Murettes piste.

With the new piste set to be a training area for the Courchevel Sports Club along with other regional and national teams there will obviously be some restrictions on its use in future years. Of course on bad weather days with loads of fresh snow this is one of the best spots in the 3 Valleys (and they wont be able to race on bad weather days!).

The 2023 Alpine Skiing World Cup Finals take place from 6 February to 19 February 2023 (yes, over half term!) and is seen as a very prestigious coup for a hosting resort in promoting their image worldwide. The Ladies events, parallel races and medal ceremonies will take place in Méribel while the Men’s events plus the opening and closing ceremonies will take place in Courchevel.

No idea how many people choose there skiing holiday destination based on ski racing but we all prefer watching Skier Cross and Boarder Cross don’t we?

New La Tania Green Run and Snow Front / Beginners Area

Work on this didn’t get started this Summer due to other priorities and hopefully a re-think around raising the piste to the height of Ski Set and building a tunnel to the new beginners area (complete with magic carpet style lift) can take place. Surely it’s better for all businesses if people ski down near to the village rather than been separated and straight down to the gondola

Plans to put in a removable swimming pool in place of the current one have also been revealed – impossible to tell how this will look compared to the great Summer situation we have now.

The new green run down to La Tania will still go ahead with work next Summer to link up some current forestry tracks minimising the need for tree removal. The current green run is not shown but we still expect it to be maintained – the new piste is guaranteed to be easy for all beginners!

We noticed a problem with a pylon foundation on the La Tania drag lift Gros Murget that had sunk in a flooded area this Summer (see below) – we hear this will be repaired for this Winter.

Ski Touring / Itineraries / Mountain Guides
Courchevel has two marked, groomed itineraries, one from Le Praz to Courchevel 1850 which is 3.2km / 500m vertical and another to Col de la Loze above La Tania 5km / 100m vertical.

A new itinerary for Winter 2020 has been created near Courchevel 1650 Moriond. La Trace is a signposted but ungroomed itinerary setting off from Le Belvédère, it goes up into the forest, by the side of Les Chapelets piste, arriving at the top of Le Signal chairlift.

The Mountain Guides Office has 4 new products:
MOUNTAIN COACHING Skiing and sharing tips: adapting to different snow types, managing your exertion levels, nutrition, packing your bag, learning to get your bearings, getting the best from your equipment and carrying out a rescue.
SKI N’FLY A ski touring climb with a paragliding descent as your reward!
SKI FITNESS NATURE Combining fitness and ski touring at the heart of nature.
EVEN HIGHER In a roped party with a guide, climb an ice waterfall on a route along a wild mountain ridge.

Meribel Valley

Two New Pistes
Work has continued around the 2023 World Cup area this Summer with the completion of two new red pistes set to open this December.

The new Gypaète piste is accessible via the Cherferie chairlift, offering a more challenging variation of the Choucas piste. With the terrain left as natural as possible, this piste will have a more playful characteristic with numerous bumps and banks leading to a series of hairpins before joining the blue Roc de Fer piste.

The new Daguet piste is reached by taking a left turn off La Face at the end of the first big wall which then cruises down a wide slope before meeting the edge of the forest. At the end of the run, a crossroads allows you to ski down to Le Raffort via the piste of the same name to take the Olympe gondola or to head to Les Allues by the red Villages piste.

A New Tunnel for 2020
A new tunnel is planned under the Roc de Fer piste to allow skiers full access to the ski area even while international ski competitions are taking place. It will replace the existing straight tunnel and will be open for the entire winter season, not only on race days as previously.

More Snow Cannons
Méribel is continuing to invest in snow making across all sectors of the valley. After having recently doubled snow making capacity thanks to the increased capacity in the reservoirs at Altiport and Combes, 5 new pistes will benefit this year from new cannons: Bouvreuil Rouge, Mûres Rouge, the base of Combe du Vallon and the Choucas piste, accessible via the recently added Cherferie lift.

Themed Areas Improved
The Family Cool area near the Altiport will have increased free activities during the school holidays with the programme including meeting birds of prey, Biathlon experiences, ice sculptures, giant inflatables and more suprises are promised.

The Elements Park improves the four zones with Air on the “whoops” run, Fire in your knees on the bumps of the blue fun slope then Water on the boarder cross for the thrill of surfing waves. New for the Earth element is the Mini-Zone, which allows budding freestylers to find their feet in total safety. There’s also a tour around the edge of the Tougnète lake at the top of the Legends chairlift too.

The Yeti Park has a “no skis” area this Winter on the lower part of the park where youngsters can blow Himalayan horns, run around the temple bedecked with flags or simply relax on a deck chair and enjoy a snack.

Finally the Back to the Wild area around the Mont de la Challe sector has more log cabins and rest areas for picnics including the new “Refuge” at the bottom of the Lagopède piste.

Saulire by Night
A magical torchlit descent from the Saulire summit down to Mèribel will once again be available to small groups to be guided down by the local pisteurs on freshly groomed pistes. Special late running of lifts and an aperitif while watching the sun set are included.

Also of note, the Méribel Mottaret Ski Pass Office has been refurbed offering a more relaxed open plan office style with all the real time information on hand and the chance to discuss ski pass options with the staff there.

Les Menuires / St Martin

St Martin Gondola
New cabins on the St Martin gondola have been fitted this Summer – same Poma type as Bruyeres. Renovations and 25% more cabins (from 48 to 72) have increased capacity to 2400 skiers per hour and modification to the stations are being made to remove steps too.

Les Menuires Snow Park
Friendly Natural Park A new snow park area completely reinvented with bumps, rails, kicks for those who wish to get airborne. There is something for everyone, catering for all tastes with an enlarged area at the bottom of the course laid out as a fun track. There are 3 zones for different levels of skiers / boarders.

New Facilities in St Martin
A new “Premium Ski” location has been created in Saint-Martin-de-Bellevile with storage facilities for 300 pairs of skis in lockers for 2 or 4 people complete with changing rooms, toilets, hair dryers etc.

A new Relaxation / Spa area of 50 m2 will be installed outdoors, in the heart of the village of St Martin including 3 whirlpools to enjoy at après ski.

Oxygene Ski School are now operating in Saint-Martin-de-Bellevile for Winter 2020 as they increase their presence across The Three Valleys.

Electric Snow Scooters
Easy Trott offers the chance to escape on an easy to use electric snow scooter on the snowy paths of Les Menuires, in the heart of the beautiful, natural area of the Plan de l’Eau.

More Les Menuires Snow News
10 new automated video cameras have been installed on Les Menuires Stade course to provide video coverage and aid in coaching.

More dedicated ski touring routes in Les Menuires have been added including the L’Étoilée night hike to Refuge du Lac du Lou (272m of vertical).

This is an organised trip to discover ski touring at night with all safety equipment provided and an apéritif on arrival at the refuge, followed by a mountaineer meal! The descent is on perfectly freshly groomed snow!

Further new snow cannons and additional Gasex avalanche safety units have been installed across the domain.

A new webcam has installed at Reberty and can be viewed at :
https: //lesmenuires…./webcam-reberty

The planned new Masse Express, a top to bottom gondola replacing the 2 current gondolas (and probably the old chairlifts) is now planned for an opening in December 2021.

The  Echauds snowmaking reservoir is having its capacity increase by 60%.

Val Thorens / Orelle

New Cable on Cime Caron
The Cime Caron Cable Car went out of service during last Winter due to damage to the main cable caused by an unexpected icing up the cable infrastructure. The new cable has now been fitted and it is expected to be fully operational for this Winter.

New Orelle Gondolas
Work has begun on the replacement of the existing gondola from Orelle up to Plan Bouchet – plus big improvements to both bottom and top stations including car parking and new restaurant facilities.

The completely new second gondola is to go from the Plan Bouchet gonndola station straight up to Cime Caron to give an alternate route over in to Val Thorens. This is due to be completed for Winter 2021.

New Ski Cross Track
The brand new Funslope is a beginners Ski Cross (blue piste level) track to allow less experienced riders the chance to ride a ski cross course. It’s accessible down from the Peyron chairlift in the Orelle sector – see piste map above.

New Cross Country Trail
The highest one in The 3 Valleys at 2350m called the Braiz has been created at Plan Bouchet in the Orelle sector – A 1km loop ideal for practicing with just a pedestrian pass required.

New Mountain Guides Office
Situated at Intersport – Place Péclet) – gives you the opportunity to discover the sensations of ski touring or skiing on the highest glaciers in Europe in the company of experienced guides who like to share their passion for the mountains. They will share their secrets of The Glacier de Péclet, the Cime de Caron or Pointe du Bouchet.

Another New Snow Park
A Family Park near to the pros area in the Grand Fond sector promising additional fun and jumps for the less experienced.

Funitel Peclet Late Opening
From February the lift will open until 18:30 for access to the Cosmojet Luge run – seen on the 2020 3V Piste Map below…

Many thanks for all the contributions. Photo Credits to Ski Fan, Courchevel Tourist Office, Meribel Tourist Office, Val Thorens Tourist Office and The Freeride Republic

More in Part 2 with everything else (coming soon) – including new accommodation, new bars and restaurants, new terraces, future ski area developments & future new lifts, new websites, the demise of Hotel Telemark, the re-opening of Sabioa B, the 2020 Piste Map downloads, new ice bar, airport upgrades, transfer options and returning staff (or not)...

What’s New in La Tania & The 3 Valleys 2019 – The Definitive Guide (Part 2 of 2)

 

PART 2 – New Accommodation, Bars & Restaurants, Tourist Office changes,  non skiing activities, the demise of Hotel Telemark and 25 Years of Pub Le Ski Lodge…

The 18th Annual What’s New Guide to the Biggest Ski Area In The World
Part 1 – New Lifts, Pistes & Ski Area Improvement

October 2018

Courchevel Valley

La Tania Building Work
Construction of the new Chalets “Steamboat Lodge” next to the Grand Bois building has continued this Summer. What appeared to be a slow start gradually picked up momentum but surely it will be tight if they’re ready for the start of this Winter season (on the right of our webcam GIF).

Steamboat Lodge will be a four bedroom “traditional but with a contemporary twist” Chalet. Yours for €2.05m

Another view across the new La Tania putting green (not really sure why a small triangle of grass was laid in the centre of the village – some lovely new neat tarmac put down here in front of the Chrome Bar but the whole village needs doing really).

 

Meanwhile Yellowstone Lodge next to the Gros Murger drag lift near the Gondola Station is going up… A snip at €1.455m

And another new chalet development going up on the other side of the Gondola too…

The roof on Ski Set is finally getting relaid and the balcony railings on the apartments above the Ski Lodge are getting repaired.

The cinema roof was also repaired this Summer after the fire at the end of last season…

And in search of something else new… Oxygene Ski School have a brand new shiny sign for their meeting point!

 

Hotel Telemark will not be operating this season as far as we know – unless someone comes in at the last minute – quite a loss to La Tania, it’s been there since 2005 as Hotel Telemark and Chalet du Sud prior to that. As well as the flexible accommodation it provided it’s always been a nice alternative for food & drink up in the Chalets area – it will be missed.

The administration costs of operating a full “Hotel” type licence in France along with new disabled access requirements are believed to be behind the closure.

 

On a brighter note it’s the 25th Birthday of Pub Le Ski Lodge – the heart and soul of La Tania since the beginning. A big birthday bash is being planned and a new fresh logo celebrating 25 years is promised. There’ll be a few other promotions during the season too!

Plenty of returning staff this season, a few coats of varnish on the terrace and a big outing to the London Ski Show (also known as The Telegraph Ski & Snowboard Festival in Batterseas Park) on 27 October to see Sunset Sons (amongst the other entertainments) is in the pipeline…

 

Other News from La Tania

The Freeride Republic have added Chalet Aurelia to their portfoli for this Winter – a 6 bedroom spacious chalet with large South facing terrace and built just 5 years ago. They’ve a new website for this season too!

Alpine Generation now run Chalet Jonquille, a traditionally built, wooden clad chalet with 7 bedrooms, outdoor hot tub, open fire and an enviable position close to the slopes.

Ski Progression have a new website for Winter 2019, they’re a small ski school specialising in private lessons with a flexible and high quality service.

The La Tania Medical Centre (also know as Courchevel Medical Centre on social media etc) is now open all year round (via appointment in inter-season). Dr Aude Joncquiert-Latarjet will be assisted by Dr Arthur Andre this Winter and they both speak English. Tel: +33 (0)479 08 29 60

The La Tania to Méribel Road is under repair again. The D98 road from La Tania to Méribel Village is closed until 16 November 2018 for essential repair work. Closed to all vehicles in both directions and access to La Tania from Le Praz only.

Only a couple of years ago this road was closed for 2 consecutive Summers as major reconstruction work went ahead. We were told that a “bridge” solution pulling the road away from the side of the mountain was being looked at so landslides could still occur without effecting the road. This didn’t happen however. Hope they got a guarantee from the architects / contractors!

A new Bouc Blanc Terrace – most of the original terrace has been replaced and a large extension placed at the front of the building.

Only the extreme right hand-side has been left (which used to be seperated by a railing that was really useful to work out new snow depths!)

A new cycle / running track on Col de la Loze above #LaTania has been built up from Courchevel 1850. The Méribel side is to be completed in time for Summer 2019. At 2,300m it will be the 11th highest paved Col in France.

This Summer also saw mountain bike tracks down from this area being built despite there being no lift access to Loze or Chenus areas (Chenus used to operate in the Summer with a terrific bike track down to 1850).

This was not a mistake and apparently was for the electric assisted mountain bikes (e-bikes) that were available to hire in Courchevel 1850 this Summer.

Some huge earthworks on the right hand side of the road as you approach La Tania from Le Praz. Below the final right hand bend used to be drop off down the valley – it’s now completely filled in! 

Using the earth removed from Le Praz for the construction of the underground multi storey car park this area looks like it will also be a future car / coach park. If you look at the scale of this (a couple of walkers to the right of the picture) and the lorry in the photo – how many truck loads did it take??? More earth from Le Praz is being used to enhance the snow chain fitting area (Aire de Chaînage) near St Bon on the road up.

Additional car parking will be a necessity when the Moretta Village development (see future plans) takes place as this will be constructed on the Gondola Car Park (underground parking will be provided but obviously during construction won’t be available).

 

Courchevel

Construction continues around the whole area as usual throughout the Summer.  Across the road from Aquamotion between 1550 and 1650 the new Residence L’Ecrin Blanc is now well under construction. 

This development consists of 50 apartments (luxury 5* of course) with an underground link to Aquamotion and eventually a piste and lift via Courchevel 1850.

Meanwhile the demolition of Hotel Courcheneige appears to be getting closer, with further planing reviews and environmental impacts being signed off this Summer – this has been rumoured for forever though and of course anouther ridiculously expensive 5 star place is just what Courchevel needs…

Just above Courchevel 1850 a Snow Farming experiment has taken place since the end of last Winter. Some 20,000 cubic metres (that’s about 50 football pitches covered in snow 10cm deep) were stored under a special tarpaulin with blocks of insulation panels placed on top. Below is a pic from April

And this was the view from 1850 in August…

With record breaking temperatures across The Alps this Summer (the La Tania Weather Station at 1400m recorded 31.4ºC on 03/08/2018) it’s looking highly unlikely that the expected 15,000 cubic metres has remained there if any.

Copiña, the Tapas cocktail bar in Méribel Centre that opened last year is coming to Courchevel 1650. Situated across the road from Le Bubble Bar and La Boulotte (aka Katie’s) and just around the corner from the Fire & Ice terrace at Hotel Portetta this will make for a decent après spot and only 10 minutes on the bus from (the dead) 1850.

Copiña is part of the European Pubs group which lost both Jack’s Bar and Evolution at the end of last Winter to the hotel above. Both were massive apres venues and will be a big miss to the Méribel scene this Winter. Rumours of a new Jack’s location never came to fruition and the live music scene is losing 2 popular venues.

The new premises is the former L’arc en Ciel restaurant (which was L’Eterlou before that) which did excellent Pizzas – they will be sorely missed but we’re looking forward to the Tapas this Winter.

 

Méribel

More major construction work in Méribel this Summer including 2 major accommodation developments.

A new five star hotel is being constructed just above the Rond Point in the Belvedere area by the Euripar Group. Again top of the range with swimming pool, spa, fitness centre etc and scheduled to be ready for December 2019.

More massive earth works and the piste is in a right state at the moment but sure to be ok by the start of the season – this was the situation in August with the Rhodos mid-station visible to the top left…

Groupe Euripar have an interest in the top end L’Apogee Hotel in Courchevel 1850 (it’s worth a google on the mysterious finances, the ownership of Naf Naf and the purchase of that hotel!).

Meanwhile down towards the Chaudanne next to the Olympic Centre the construction of L’Hevana continues….

L’Hevana is another 5* luxury apartment complex complete with pool, spa, cocktail bar & restaurant. Prices from €380,000 to €1,051,000. It’s another addition to Le Groupe Pierre & Vacances – Center Parc properties.

At the other end of the scale Refuge de la Traye above Les Allues at 1650m which closed permanently in Autumn 2017 is rumoured to have been refurbed for Winter 2019 – not confirmed from any reliable sources yet though.

 

Brides-les-Bains

The Grand Spa Thermal in Brides-les-Bains has reopened after 16 months and €15 million of renovations. The new 2,700 m2 spa boasts indoor/outdoor Jacuzzis, swimming pools, steam rooms, relaxing areas, treatment rooms.

 

Belleville Valley

St Martin de Belleville has a new 122,776 gallons skating rink – primarily for ice hockey with special equipment for children.

Also in St Martin is a new refuge called Le Trait d’Union, an authentic Savoyard chalet with 3 rooms, located at 1,725m, Casablanche, a new development of 34 luxurious ski-in ski-out apartments and 2 new top-end chalets Pure Black Crystal Chalet and Pure White Crystal Chalet complete with swimming pool, sauna, personal chef, instructor, driver etc.

In Val Thorens, in Les Balcons area, a new residence of 10 large apartments will be opening for December 2018. The Chalet Cocoon brand was originally from St Martin and has expanded in to Val Thorens with these luxury apartments complete with sauna, jacuzzi, wellness area and hotel type services.

The 5 star Koh-i Nor Hotel in Val Thorens has opened 3 new private cottage type apartments for up to 12 people – again right at the top end of the market, these ones even have a cinema room…

 

Round Up of other News

Geneva Airport has installed the latest security scanners meaning you no longer have to take your liquids bag out of your carry on luggage – should improve the security queues a little.

Chambery Airport has completed its €16m improvement program including upgrades to the passenger flow around the baggage, security and check-in areas. 

Les Menuires is holding a new challange on the opening on 8th December 2018 – The Les Menuires 24 Hours (geddit?). 24 hours of fun for everyone apparently and they are also another resort adding piste basher rides to their list of non-skiing activities this Winter.

Also in Les Menuires the ESF have another automated video system for sharing on social media – this one on the Les Menuires Stade with 10 cameras and there’s a new snow maze going in at the top of the Roc 1 gondola named L’Arène des Neiges.

A re-hash of the Webcams across the Courchevel Valley has been made with a brand new webcam looking across the Le Praz Ski Jump.

We’ll get our 3 Valleys Webcam Page at latania.co.uk/webcam updated fairly soon.

The Oxygène Ski School in Val Thorens are offering a hire service for ski clothes for the first time and Residence MMV is opening a new nursery complex open to all visitors children. Val Thorens seems to be having more and more “Wellness” projects on the go this season including Yoga, Massage, The Dynafit program and Spa treatments.

Also in Val Thorens the main P0 car park on Rue de la Boucle continues it’s street art display started in 2013 – there are now 15 murals across the car park!

Travel

On the travel front easyJet are still leading the way of the low cost operators with up to 76 flights per day from 15 airports across the UK to Geneva, Lyon & Grenoble through the season. Changes for their Winter programme as follow:
Geneva – No Leeds/Bradford Flights.
Lyon – No Southend Flights but Stansted is a new route with flights on Sundays plus Thursday at peak times.
Grenoble – No Birmingham flights. New Sunday flights from Bristol, Luton & Stansted plus Gatwick has added some Firday & Monday flights.

Geneva Airport has installed the latest high tech security scanners meaning you no longer have to take your liquids bag out of your carry on luggage – should improve the security queues a little. 

Chambery Airport has completed its €16m improvement program including upgrades to the passenger flow around the baggage, security and check-in areas.

In the UK travellers from Luton Airport will see futher changes from last Winter – a temporary road bridge to allow passengers underneath traffic to get to the taxi and drop off area. Meanwhile the Meet & Greet is still on level 3 of the multi-story – comple madness as every car will be driven 4 times around 3 level of car park, it’s not even on the same level as the bridge to the terminal (level 2)!

Manchester Airport are the latest airport to start ripping people off charging for a drop off with a £3 charge being introduced. Most UK Airports now do charge, the only free drop offs left that we know of are: Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Southend, Belfast City, Cardiff, Inverness, Norwich, Newquay, Jersey & Guernsey.

No Eurostar direct from London to Lyon for Winter 2019 and just the one additional half term service on Saturday Night and Sunday Day over half term (16/2 and 24/2).

Eurostar Ski Train 2018/2019 tickets went on sale at 8am on Wed 18 July 2018 with prices from £75 each-way. Half Term prices were £270 each-way by the end of the day. More on the train and coach services for Winter 2019 here

Mandatory Winter Tyres in moutainous areas of France may become law for Winter 2020. The idea is that all vehicles driving in certain geographic areas from the start of November to the end of March must have these fitted – while similar to other European countries (all Swiss hire cars must have tyres or chains supplied in Winter for example) and of course sensible from a road safety point of view it will be interesting to see how this is enforced. The actual chances of needing equipment to get to La Tania for the once a year skier is very small – of course you could be regularly unlucky (well lucky really) but it’s probably less than a 10% chance on average.

Further consultation and studies regarding All Season, M&S and Snow tyres are now on-going and it will be up to individual local councils if they wish to enforce the law in their area. In addition the articles we’ve seen, they mention snow chains and socks being an alternative – so that would be no change as you really should be carrying those in Winter anyway.  The cost of a set of Winter tyres will put a few people off driving across to The Alps for sure – but let’s see what happens first…

To take any worry away there are more and more shared transfer options becoming available which is great news for those picking up cheap flights. There’s a few changes to private transfer operators in La Tania this Winter as some chalet companies concentrate on their catered chalet product.

Le Van Rouge from Three Vallee Transfers put 6,400 shared seats to/from Geneva with their daily scheduled service on sale last month and Snowbound Transfers also are running a daily schedule this season too along with their Last Minute options.

The coach service from  Geneva to La Tania has quite a reduced service to La Tania for Winter 2019 (many services just going to Courchevel resorts). There is now just one a day mid-week (was 3), two on a Sunday (was 4) & seven on a Saturday (was 8) and the rip-off cost is €90 one-way – it’s much better value and convenient on a shared transfer with one of the local transfer companies from around €65.

All the Transfer options on the La Tania Transfers Page

As for renting cars from the airport we noticed some huge differences in renting from the French or the Swiss sides at  Geneva Airport this Summer (a Fri-Mon long weekend was £62 on the French side and £214 on the Swiss side). Always check both with Carrentals.co.uk

All the info you need on airport car rental for La Tania including which side and why, driving directions, tolls, parking, the Swiss Vignette and fuel prices at latania.co.uk/resort/transfers.htm

 

Live Music

Without Bring Your Sisters in full effect (although we’re bound to see a bit of them somewhere this season surely) there’ll certainly be a gap in the Apres Ski scene this Winter but a chance for new bands to fill the void…

We hear that regular band favourites The Dominos and The Marivaux will be returning to The Alps for a few stints of several weeks and we expect to see the likes of Albert Jones and Freddie Fingers return for their resident spots plus a few new artists and some big surprises too!

The Rond Point will once again be hosting the Ronnie Loves Music Festival in March 2019 (dates TBC) – now in its 7th year. This year included Norman Jay, Craig Charles and Sunset Sons.

The 2019 Piste Bash Music & Comedy Festival is being held in Méribel from 11-15 March 2019. This year included Newton Faulkner, DJ Yoda and Marcus Brigstocke.

Fahrenheit 7 in Val Thorens and Courchevel Moriond will continue to host (mainly French) Live Music and some nationally renowned DJs in the Zinc Bar from Après Ski until late.

Expect a surprise gig or two from Courchevel Tourist Office this season – TBC

Finally, The 3 Valleys Charity Day 2019 takes place on Wednesday 10 April 2019 in Meribel Village. This years joint headliners were The Dub Pistols and Jaguar Skills.

 

Tourist Office Changes & Lift Passes

Tourist Office politics seems to have been playing out over the past few months with the bosses of Val Thorens and Courchevel both reportedly resigning this Summer.

The former Director of Tourism at Val Thorens, Grégory Guzzo has joined Compagnie des Alpes as a Marketing Director. CDA own the lift companies of Méribel, Les Menuires, Espace Killy, Paradiski, Chamonix and Les Deux Alpes plus Theme Parks across Europe.

Meanwhile in Courchevel (which of course now includes La Tania) there was a sudden announcement on 4th October 2018 of the immediate resignation of the Director of Tourism Sébastien Merignargues who’d only been in the job about a year. Amongst other achievements and with his experience of working in Tignes he did try and increase interest in the Summer season including the free lifts promotion. There was obviously some falling out with the Mairee and/or old school establishment in Courchevel who seemed to get very defensive in their response to his resignation.

The new Courchevel Director of Tourism is Yvan Petit, the former Director of Aquamotion. The addition of Aquamotion admittance on the Courchevel lift pass for the first time this season was announced well before this by the way…

More on the Winter 2019 lift passes including all the prices, options and discounts on the La Tania & 3 Valleys Lift Pass Page.  The Courchevel 6-day pass is now €272 and the standard 3 Valleys 6-day pass €306 (a €34 difference with a day extension now costing €37) so if you’re not going to Aquamotion and will ski another valley just once it’s now cheaper to get a 3 Valley Pass (you used to have to visit a second time to make a 3V pass worthwhile).

The Winter 2019 Piste maps are at latania.co.uk/skiing/pistemaps.htm

 

Future Developments

Not a great deal to report that wasn’t included a year ago in the What’s New 2018 – Future Plans report. 

The Grangettes mid-station didn’t happen (a new direct lift to 1850 planned from Aquamotion instead), no update on the Moretta Village developement and new chair in La Tania and the chance of a piste and lift near Lac de Lou off La Masse seem to be getting smaller.

The Bozel lift story is gathering traction now and the Mairee have stated that this is a when, not if project now. Detailed reviews of the impact of traffic, coach parking, environmental concerns etc are still on-going but a gondola is planned from Bozel near the hamlet of Moulins via a mid-station at St Bon next to the Jairaz Bridge then arriving in Courchevel Village 1550 next to the Dou du Midi car park.

A big driver for the project is to reduce traffic and a gondola would reduce the current journey time from 16 minutes to 6 minutes. In addition a maintained piste would be created down from St Bon to Bozel.

The replacement Praz gondola (10 seater & 20% quicker) from Le Praz for December 2019 is to be extended up the Tovets chair top station next to La Croisette which is also being completely refurbed and modernised. However work on La Croisette (previewed below) which includes an underground bus station is not expected to begin until 2020.

Over in Orelle the new Gondola work will continue and for Winter 2020 we should see this arriving up at the top of Cime de Caron.

Finally the Creux Noirs chairlift will be repaired or replaced after being temporarily closed this Winter – more on that in Part 1 of the What’s New with all the new Ski Area lifts, pistes, snow cannons and improvements.

 

Many thanks for all the contributions. Photo Credits to Ski Fan, Courchevel Tourist Office, Meribel Tourist Office, Val Thorens Tourist Office, The Freeride Republic, Charlie Gorman & Natalie Earl.