ESCAPADE 2023 – Doug, Brendan & Henry utilising the Zip Wire from the 4th Valley!

Escapade – Saturday 18 February 2023

Team: Doug (46); Brendan (47); Henry (16). 

Background: Doug (your narrator) and Henry have been coming to the 3Vs every year (bar Covid) since 2018 at the UK half term. From the off, I became obsessed with skiing as much of the 3Vs as possible before I even knew about the Escapade. In 2020, we attempted an official Escapade, but I stupidly stacked it on the bumps run shortcut from Loze Est to the Biollay chair after some 20km of downhill, tore my calf, and skied home in shame on one leg. Brendan joined the team in 2022, but terrible conditions (total whiteout on Geai and elsewhere) put us more than an hour behind schedule by the time we got to Val Thorens. Brendan never forgave me (I was by now was easily the weakest skier in the team), and vowed that 2023 would be our year. Conditions looked good (barring the lack of base that would have made the Vallon de Lou off piste shortcut more viable), so we planned it for Saturday, a changeover day on half term week, which from our experience meant the pistes and lifts would be relatively quiet. Wind conditions even made La Tyrolienne zip line a viable possibility. 

Equipment: Me on my trusty Black Crow Captis, a 90mm floppy “resort” ski that is superb in slush. Brendan on Elan Amphibio 14s, a narrow-waisted 78mm all mountain ski. Henry on Black Crows Vertis Birdie, an 85mm women’s ski (he weighs <50kg). One backpack containing 8 cans of Red Bull, 2 bottles of water, 24 chocolate granola bars, 2 pains au chocolate, 1 croissant, 2 packets of haribo, and 8 fun size Kit Kat bars.  One Courchevel Village ESF etoile d’or bib, sized for a 9-year old. Henry planned to use it to sneak through the ski school queues. 

Expected complications: The FIS World Championship was ongoing, which meant we needed to avoid closed pistes. This turned out to be no big deal, although we did ski the top part of Roc de Fer which still had the paint for the professionals. 

Several of the lifts were running s l o w l y. Probably as an energy conservation measure, but lots of the lift duration times below are nearly 2x the advertised times. Finally, La Tyrolienne is shut for an indeterminant time at 1245, which turned out to be around the time we got there.      

Lift timings and commentary:

We set out from our chalet in Morel at 0827 and waited around for first chair. I think the liftie took pity on us and started the Morel chair spinning early.

TS MOREL 08h45 (dur c. 6:00) 

We decided we’d prefer our last run to begin from on high, so we ticked off Méribel Village first. Not quite early enough to get first chair on Golf, but we were probably 4th chair.

TS GOLF 08h54 (dur 8:15)

Turning right off the chair, we hit the Rope Tow and skittered down to Chaudanne. There were maybe five chairs’ worth of people in front of us. 

TS LEGENDS 09h09 (dur 6:16)

Moving well, we skied down to Olympic Chair, ignoring a lot of signs we didn’t really read until we were on the chair.

TS OLYMPIC 09h19 (dur 6:04)

Oh yes, those signs would have told us that Verdet was closed. We argued for precious minutes about whether we should duck the rope. Verdet was one of our nemeses in 2022: rock hard frozen-over chop that was barely skiable in the prevailing whiteout conditions. Sanity prevails and we skied back down Roc de Fer to Cherferie.

TS CHERFERIE 09h31 (dur 4:42)

Afterburners on for Jerusalem/Biollay to St Martin. Henry and Brendan tapped their watches as I hockey stopped, panting, at the bottom. 

TC ST MARTIN 1/TS ST MARTIN 2 09h43 (dur 18:58)

Finally some terrain that challenges Henry. KM after KM of flat cat track. It was the first and last time I finished a run ahead of Henry. We skied down to Le Bettex, in parts a fun sheepish ski, but it had so many flocons and snowploughers. Le Bettex has some smart-looking new built chalets. 

TS BETTEX 10h16 (dur 3:55)

Skied down to PdlM basestation through the always lovely centre of Les M. There was a long queue at the basestation, c. 15m. Henry, using his ESF bib, went through the ski school line. At the bubble he was accosted by another ESF instructor who asked where Henry’s instructor was. Henry said “up ahead” and dove into a bubble before the instructor could follow him. Brendan and I waited in the civilian queue. 

TC POINTE DE LA MASSE 10h27 (dur 20:49)

In the bubble, Henry stripped off the bib, switched goggles for shades, and at the top, ran for the toilets and hid. Brendan and I found him and we had a fantastic ski down Fred Covili. 

TS REBERTY 11h00 (dur 3:55)

TC BRUYERES 1/2 11h05 (dur 16:15)

We realised that we didn’t really know Val T all that well and after several false starts and traverses across pistes, we eventually found Corniche. Warning to others: Val T is confusing for those who are normally based in Courchevel/La Tania, a recce is recommended. 

FUNITEL PECLET 11h36 (dur 11:45)

Our run of good snow ended, and we ski back down into Val Thorens on a steep and icy (with sugary moguls) Christine. 

TS PORTETTE/THORENS GONDOLA 11h57 (dur 19:40) 

Portette stopped for an alarming amount of time, twice. But eventually it got moving again and we were rewarded with the delightful Lory on the ski down into Plan Bouchet. 

TC ORELLE CARON 12h24 (dur 11:39)

Against my objections, we took the bubble up to Cime Caron as Henry thought it was critical to tick off the summit first if it turned out that the Zip Line scheme was viable. Alas there is only only one way back down to Plan Bouchet, Combe Rosaël. I lost the ability to deal with the large but soft moguls and traversed almost the entire face (skiing is primarily a mental sport), but we eventually made it down. 

TS PEYRON 12h52 (dur 4:54)

TS BOUCHET 12h59 (dur 9:00)

We waited for access to the La Tyrolienne zip line and it took about 30m of faff while the guys finished their lunch and got the kit back up from the other side. It was pretty scary and expensive (€56 pp), I won’t do it again—I never even approached 60kph as I was a little underweight for the grade of sliding mechanism I was given, which meant I spent a lot of time dangling 1000m above the ground—but it added some spice to our attempt. On landing and working out the shakes we skied back down into Val Thoren.

TS PIONNIERS 13h55 (dur 5:04)

TS 3 VALLÉES 14h00 (dur 5:38)

At this point, we were getting a little worried and rued the initial error with Verdet, my terrible bumps technique on Combe Rosaël and the time taken to deal with the Zip Line. I asked Brendan whether I was really *that* slow? Brendan didn’t answer. But we were at least an hour ahead of our attempt in 2022, so pressed on, skiing down to Mt Vallon. 

TC MONT VALLON 14h14 (dur 12:24)

We then skied down to Mottaret, following the dreadful Ours having concluded that popping up Plan de Mains wouldn’t save enough time. Henry built up enough speed on Combe Vallon to take Ours without polling. 

TC PAS DU LAC 1/2 14h43 (dur 15:30)

The lift took twice as long as it should, bloody energy crisis. So it was time to speed up, we skied down Creux and on our way to Moriond. 

TS CHANROSSA 15h04 (dur 7:17)

Afterburners on again. Skied all the way into Moriond 1650 with Henry catching serious air. 

TC ARIONDAZ 15h21 (dur 11:51)

Quick, needed to close out Moriond! Blast down Bel Air. 

TS CHAPELETS 15h36 (dur 7:36)

Back to Courchevel proper, an hour left, we could taste victory. Brendan warned us not to get complacent just because we were back on “home” territory. 

TS AIGUILLE DU FRUIT 15h48 (dur 6:27)

And then it started to go pear shaped. I was on a different chair to Brendan and Henry (there was a queue and I hate not filling chairs), we hadn’t really discussed the route to Courchevel Village, and frankly everyone was getting nervous. Unfortunately, Brendan and Henry are considerably quicker than me and tore off (they had planned the route, but didn’t realise that I was a bit sketchy about this bit). Pretty lost, I headed vaguely in the direction I knew we were supposed to go, but ended up at Grangettes rather than Tovets. I took the bubble, figuring it still counted. Passive agressive WhatsApp messages ensued: “no you guys go ahead, I’ll call an audible on whether to ditch <sniff> La Tania”. Subsequent timings are mine.  

TC GRANGETTES 16h07 (dur 7:03)

It was time for me to dash to La Praz to catch up.

TS FORÊT 16h19 (dur 8:03)

With little more than half an hour before Dou des Lanches closed, I started feeling better. I raced down Folyéres, but was still at least a stubborn 5 minutes behind.

TC LA TANIA 16h32 (dur 10:42) 

The La Tania bubble stopped several times. In the WhatsApp chat, the breakaway group agreed to wait for me at Dou des Lanches, but I was not entirely convinced they would as they sent me minute by minute countdowns to last lift. But they waited in the end and I finally arrived at 1643. No apologies they said, because they knew I would have wanted the team to finish even if it meant I was left behind in the wrong valley. 

TS DOU DES LANCHES 16h44 (dur 5:52) 

But the last joke was on Brendan. He dropped his phone as he got on the chair. We got to the top of Loze in triumph but had to wait for the liftie to send up his phone. Phone retrieved, we saw that Boulevard de la loze was shut, so it was Pic Blue and the rope tow back to the Ronnie, arriving bang on at 1715.  

Fin

ESCAPADE 2023 – What’s this all about…

The 3 Valleys Escapade was the lift company promotion of visiting (originally in 2006) 14 points across the Three Valleys and gaining a certificate & badge over the period of your holiday – doing it in a day was a bit tricky though!

It all started out as a late night “is it possible?” discussion – the history and our original route from 2006 are here

Originally punch cards had to be stamped at each check point until electronic passes arrived and then the use of a lift was recorded – now we use Apps such as Ski Tracks or Relive to prove our route.

Note that the Escapade is no longer officially promoted by Les 3 Vallees from Winter 2017 but we still record successful tracks for anyone who is interested in being in the sought after La Tania Escapade Hall of Fame

The original Escapade took 30 lifts, around 13000m vertical with 70km length and by 2016 reached 34 lifts, 17000m vertical (twice the height of Everest) and around 100km.

This is NOT a race

ALWAYS CONTROL YOUR SPEED. You do this entirely at your own risk, act responsibly, take full ownership for your own actions and all of those with you, respect other people (& the mountain), ski & ride within your limits, always obey the skiers & snowboarders code, observe all signs, pay attention to all notices, advice & instructions from Pisteurs, only ski off piste if fully equipped & knowledgeable, it’s not a race (you won’t be insured), think about the safety of others as well as yourself but above all, think of other people, take care, don’t wreck things for others & don’t even think of blaming anyone else if it all goes wrong…..

Changes through the years
2006 – First year and cards with hole punches stationed at lifties huts are used.
2008 – Electronic lift analysis is now used – no use hiking out the 4th Valley now!
2010 – The piste map did not include the top of the 4th Valley and the Col lift in Val Thorens.
2011 – The X-Wing Discovery was launched but only had 10 check points and doesn’t count!
2012 – Peclet included and Biollay / Vizelle used for Saulire access.
2015 – Foret used instead of La Tania gondola.
2016 – Mont Vallon is included for the first time plus the Montaulever drag lift.
2017 – Chapelets replaced by Petite Boss drag and La Tania’s Bouc Blanc chair replaces Tovets.
2018 – The new Roc de Tougne chair replaces the drag lift of the same name.
2019 – Legends replaces Roc de Fer and the Montaulever drag in Les Menuires has been removed.
2020 – Cime Caron now back in use.
2022 – New Pointe de la Masse and Orelle-Caron Gondolas (for example) could be used.
2023 – Using the new lifts, we ski all the resorts, all the perimeters and classic peaks – ESCAPADE 2023

ESCAPADE 2023: Congratulations to Josh and Charlie

First proven completion of the ESCAPADE 2023 we’ve seen. La Tania apartment owner Josh and his son Charlie aged 14 completed the new 2023 route on 19 February 2023. Welcome to the La Tania Escapade Hall of Fame

Their route below (and below that more about the ESCAPADE 2023).

La Tania – Bubble
Dou Des Lanches – Chair
⛷️ Pic Bleu (Blue)
⛷️ Blanchot (Green)
⛷️ Lapin (Blue)
Golf – Chair
⛷️ Forêt (Green)
⛷️ Doron (Blue)
Legends – Chair
⛷️ Caves (Green)
⛷️ Gélinottes (Blue)
Olympic – Chair
⛷️ Roc de fer (Blue)
Cherferie – Chair
⛷️Jerusalem (Blue)
⛷️ Biolley (Blue)
St Martin 1 – Bubble
St Martin 2 – Chair
⛷️ Gross Tougne (Blue)
⛷️ La Violette (Green)
⛷️ Bettex (Blue)
Bettex – Chair
⛷️ La Violette (Green)
Pointe De la Masse – Bubble
⛷️ Bouquetin (Blue)
⛷️ Vallons (Blue)
⛷️ Les Enverses (Blue)
Ruberty – Chair
Bruyers 1 & 2 – Bubble
⛷️ Pluviomètre (Blue)
VT13 Funitel Peclet – Bubble
⛷️ Tete Ronde (Blue)
⛷️ Christine (Red)
VT23 Portette – Chair
VT24 Thornes – Bubble
⛷️ Lory (Blue)
OR4 Peyron – Chair
OR5 Bouchet – Chair
⛷️ Bouchet (Red)
⛷️ Peyron (Blue)
Orelle Caron – Bubble
⛷️ Chime (Red)
⛷️ Fond (Blue)
⛷️ Combe de Thorens (Green)
Pionniers – Chair
3 Vallées VT5 – Chair
⛷️ Lac de Chambre (Blue)
Mont Vallon – Bubble
⛷️ Combe du Vallon (Red)
⛷️ Ours (Blue)
Pas du Lac 1 & 2 – Bubble
⛷️ Creux (Blue)
Chanrossa – Chair
⛷️ Roc Merlet (Red)
⛷️ Pyramides (Blue)
⛷️ Lac Ariondaz (Blue)
⛷️ Bel Air (Red)
Chaplets – Chair
⛷️ Ariondaz (Blue)
⛷️ Marquis (Blue)
Ariondaz – Bubble
⛷️ Petites Bosses (Green)
Aiguille Du Fruit – Chair
⛷️ Altiport (Blue)
⛷️ Bellecote (Green)
⛷️ Tovets (Blue)
Tovets – Chair
⛷️ Amoureux (Red)
Foret – Chair
⛷️ Folyeres (Blue)

ESCAPADE 2023 – What’s this all about…

The 3 Valleys Escapade was the lift company promotion of visiting (originally in 2006) 14 points across the Three Valleys and gaining a certificate & badge over the period of your holiday – doing it in a day was a bit tricky though!

It all started out as a late night “is it possible?” discussion – the history and our original route from 2006 are here

Originally punch cards had to be stamped at each check point until electronic passes arrived and then the use of a lift was recorded – now we use Apps such as Ski Tracks or Relive to prove our route.

Note that the Escapade is no longer officially promoted by Les 3 Vallees from Winter 2017 but we still record successful tracks for anyone who is interested in being in the sought after La Tania Escapade Hall of Fame

The original Escapade took 30 lifts, around 13000m vertical with 70km length and by 2016 reached 34 lifts, 17000m vertical (twice the height of Everest) and around 100km.

This is NOT a race

ALWAYS CONTROL YOUR SPEED. You do this entirely at your own risk, act responsibly, take full ownership for your own actions and all of those with you, respect other people (& the mountain), ski & ride within your limits, always obey the skiers & snowboarders code, observe all signs, pay attention to all notices, advice & instructions from Pisteurs, only ski off piste if fully equipped & knowledgeable, it’s not a race (you won’t be insured), think about the safety of others as well as yourself but above all, think of other people, take care, don’t wreck things for others & don’t even think of blaming anyone else if it all goes wrong…..

Changes through the years
2006 – First year and cards with hole punches stationed at lifties huts are used.
2008 – Electronic lift analysis is now used – no use hiking out the 4th Valley now!
2010 – The piste map did not include the top of the 4th Valley and the Col lift in Val Thorens.
2011 – The X-Wing Discovery was launched but only had 10 check points and doesn’t count!
2012 – Peclet included and Biollay / Vizelle used for Saulire access.
2015 – Foret used instead of La Tania gondola.
2016 – Mont Vallon is included for the first time plus the Montaulever drag lift.
2017 – Chapelets replaced by Petite Boss drag and La Tania’s Bouc Blanc chair replaces Tovets.
2018 – The new Roc de Tougne chair replaces the drag lift of the same name.
2019 – Legends replaces Roc de Fer and the Montaulever drag in Les Menuires has been removed.
2020 – Cime Caron now back in use.
2022 – New Pointe de la Masse and Orelle-Caron Gondolas (for example) could be used.
2023 – Using the new lifts, we ski all the resorts, all the perimeters and classic peaks – ESCAPADE 2023

3 Valleys Escapade – Congratulations to Jon, Adam and Seb

Catching up on some Escapaders – if you don’t know what this is, see below.

For 2023 we’re checking out a new challenge with 12 villages and 12 peaks/perimeters to tick off – probably 30 lifts in a day required (tough in these energy saving slower lift days). More here on the new ESCAPADE 2023

From Jon, Seb & Adam

“Hi team La Tania (Toffa),

We’ve been out today and wonder if we’ve  made it ?

We used the 2020 route, as the most recent we could find, with a couple of alterations that were required. 

Roc de Tougne was shut due to strikes so we went to Tougnete 2 instead (big queue!).

Aside from that we did Vizelle instead of Saulire and Col (as you know) is closed, so we put in an extra run at the end (Plan Fontaine) then took La Tania bubble again for a beer in Bouc Blanc to celebrate!

Oh, we started (and are staying in) La Tania and kept the clock running to include our extra runs and beers!

Cheers, 

Jon, Seb (Jon’s son  & Adam (our mate).

PS for what it’s worth, you gave me an honourable failure in 2020 Jonathan on 29th Jan from Morel

PPS. And would you believe that we were sharing our chalet with a couple who did it the real way several years back, and they even had the badge with them!

What’s this all about?

The 3 Valleys Escapade was the lift company promotion of visiting (originally in 2006) 14 points across the Three Valleys and gaining a certificate & badge over the period of your holiday – then we had the idea of doing it in a day…

It’s probably the toughest day skiing ever for a recreational skier but lots of people have got involved over the years so we feature them in our Escapade in a Day Hall of Fame

This is no longer being promoted by The 3 Valleys but we’ll still stick you in the Hall of Fame if you complete it – send a Ski Tracks or similar trace in plus a pic of your group.

What started out as a late night “is it possible?” discussion became a challenge the following week – the history and our original route are here

Originally punch cards had to be stamped at each check point until electronic passes arrived – they could then be checked by the lift company. The original Escapade was 30 lifts, 13000m vertical and 70km and 2016 peaked with 34 lifts, 17000m vertical (twice the height of Everest) and around 100km total distance. It became a little less for 2017 and 2018 saw the use of the Roc de Tougne fast new chair instead of the drag plus we lost the Montaulever drag altogether. In 2019 we gained the new faster Legends chair out of Méribel and then an improvement in speed on the Mont Vallon lift too. 

It’s certainly getting easier with the improvement in lift infrastructure and we should make it harder for 2023 – there’s now the new Pointe de La Masse and Orelle-Caron Gondolas too! However, it’s still a big, big day out with every run top to bottom and all the planning, chatting, moaning (and lunch) kept for the time on the lifts…

The 2020 PDF route with the 19 “Escapade Lifts” in bold

REMEMBER: You do this entirely at your own risk, act responsibly, take full ownership for your own actions and all of those with you, respect other people (& the mountain), ski & ride within your limits, always obey the skiers & snowboarders code, observe all signs, pay attention to all notices, advice & instructions from Pisteurs, only ski off piste if fully equipped & knowledgeable, it’s not a race (and you won’t be insured), think about the safety of others as well as yourself but above all, take care, don’t wreck things for others & don’t even think of blaming anyone else if it all goes horribly wrong…..

2023 Alpine Skiing World Cup Info – limited impact on recreational skiing

The FIS Alpine Skiing 2023 World Championships are being held in Courchevel La Tania / Le Praz and Méribel from the 6th to 19th February 2023.

Although (unbelievably!) this is right in the middle of the main half term holidays the ski area management company and the organisers are keen to point out the limited effect on recreational skiing during the event – in fact with 15% of all accommodation being taken up by competitors, support staff, organisers, sponsors, media etc there will be more room on the slopes!

In Courchevel where the men’s events are held on the new L’Eclipse piste there is access through a new tunnel from the Forêt Chairlift and Les Arolles piste to allow access to Folyères, Plan Fontaine & Moretta Blanche down to La Tania.

S3V state that only L’Eclipse and Granges pistes in Courchevel will be closed. Granges over in 1650 is reserved for ski testing and working out the best wax apparently!

However, it’s hard to see how Lanches and Bouc Blanc will remain open during the Downhill and for preparation work (other events are further down L’Eclipse) and also the Murettes piste down to Le Praz.

Last winter during the World Cup events the top of the old Jockeys was resurrected – turned out to be not very pleasant and Arolles was obviously heavily skied with being the main route back to La Tania.

The areas closed amount to less than 1% of the 3 Valleys ski area and with amazing skiing to view (L’Eclipe downhill is something else!) and with lots of entertainment and other events on it will be a great time to visit.

Winter Olympics usually cause regular visitors to stay away from the resorts involved and organisers do not want this to happen for this 2023 event which is by far the biggest skiing event outside of the Olympics.

Unfortunately there are no Skier-cross, Half Pipe, Big Air or Freeride events (and no snowboards) which are becoming more and more popular than traditional ski racing and have more appeal to the next generation of Winter sports enthusiasts.

Meanwhile in Méribel the Roc de Fer, Choucas and Eterlou pistes will close but these are at the edge of the ski area so have little impact and again a new tunnel is in place to allow access under the race piste.

Be aware that Saturday & Sunday 11/12 Feb see the ladies and men’s downhills so traffic will be even worse than a usual half term transfer weekend! There are loads of additional traffic management, car parking and shuttle buses being put in place but please plan ahead…..

Tickets: Are on sale now from www.courchevelmeribel2023.com

For example – Prices for the Men’s downhill from €30 at the finish, €60 in the grandstands, €708 on the terrace with lunch and an open bar or €180,000 plus VAT for a private box seating 25 for the whole 2 weeks!

Nick, Lorna and Cormac nail the Escapade in a Day

Despite some queues they were back for 4pm!

 I wanted to get in touch to let you know that my team completed the 3 Valleys escapade last week and would love to be added to the Hall of Fame on the website.

Nick Spearing, Lorna Simmonds and Cormac Shine completed the escapade on Tuesday 8 March, a very sunny day on the mountain that led to the perfect conditions for blasting around the mountain.

Despite some queues at La Masse and Cime Caron, the team went through the gates at La Forêt at 3:57pm… after a victory beer at Bouc Blanc restaurant, we went back up for a couple of laps of the Dou des lanches chairlift and black run.

What’s this all about?

The 3 Valleys Escapade was the lift company promotion of visiting (originally in 2006) 14 points across the Three Valleys and gaining a certificate & badge over the period of your holiday – then we had the idea of doing it in a day…

It’s probably the toughest day skiing ever for a recreational skier but lots of people have got involved over the years so we feature them in our Escapade in a Day Hall of Fame

This is no longer being promoted by The 3 Valleys but we’ll still stick you in the Hall of Fame if you complete it – send a Ski Tracks or similar trace in plus a pic of your group.

What started out as a late night “is it possible?” discussion became a challenge the following week – the history and our original route are here

Originally punch cards had to be stamped at each check point until electronic passes arrived – they could then be checked by the lift company. The original Escapade was 30 lifts, 13000m vertical and 70km and 2016 peaked with 34 lifts, 17000m vertical (twice the height of Everest) and around 100km total distance. It became a little less for 2017 and 2018 saw the use of the Roc de Tougne fast new chair instead of the drag plus we lost the Montaulever drag altogether. In 2019 we gained the new faster Legends chair out of Méribel and then an improvement in speed on the Mont Vallon lift too. 

It’s certainly getting easier with the improvement in lift infrastructure and we should make it harder for 2023 – there’s now the new Pointe de La Masse and Orelle-Caron Gondolas too! However, it’s still a big, big day out with every run top to bottom and all the planning, chatting, moaning (and lunch) kept for the time on the lifts…

The 2020 PDF route with the 19 “Escapade Lifts” in bold

REMEMBER: You do this entirely at your own risk, act responsibly, take full ownership for your own actions and all of those with you, respect other people (& the mountain), ski & ride within your limits, always obey the skiers & snowboarders code, observe all signs, pay attention to all notices, advice & instructions from Pisteurs, only ski off piste if fully equipped & knowledgeable, it’s not a race (and you won’t be insured), think about the safety of others as well as yourself but above all, take care, don’t wreck things for others & don’t even think of blaming anyone else if it all goes horribly wrong…..

What to look forward to on the Ski Area for Winter 2022…

As this strangest of Winters draws to a close it’s time to turn our attention to Winter 2022. With many holiday bookings rolling over from this Winter plus the pent up demand of skiers & snowboarders across the globe for once you really do have to book up early to get the holiday you want.

Christmas, New Year and Half Term options are already limited and many other dates are booking up fast. Check Accommodation, Special Offers and Private Apartment Availability here. Our Transfers, Flights, Driving and other Travel Pages are being updated as things start to become clearer for next Winter.

New Pistes & Lifts This Year – will be new for most people in 2022!

In our annual What’s New Guide that comes out around the end of September we detail all the changes across the 3 Valleys from new lifts, pistes, buildings, bars to road improvements and new cash machines, even new flower beds! For now here’s a preview of the ski area developments we’ve to look forward to…

The What’s New for 2021 included near La Tania the new L’Eclipse World Cup 2023 downhill piste (using the top section of the Bouc Blanc and widening Jockeys considerably), new shaping of pistes and a tunnel for recreational skier to use plus the relocation of the beginners area near the top La Tania gondola station. Loads of new snow cannons plus a huge new reservoir at the top of Cold de la Loze to feed them was built too.

Over in Courchevel 1850 the Stade area was reshaped and a huge new Club des Sports and race HQ was built.

Above Mottaret, the new Bouquetin chairlift replaced the old Plattières bubbles (which were sold off in 3 minutes in April) with a bottom to top time of only 2 minutes 20 seconds giving direct access to Les Menuires / St Martin.

New tunnels to allow skiers access around the Méribel World Cup Pistes (for the Women’s events) were completed too.

Val Thorens opened a new snow cannon reservoir near Les Deux Lacs chair – this chair lift itself is due to be replaced and upgraded to a new 10 seater gondola.

Winter 2022 – Really New Stuff…

La Tania sees a complete overhaul of the beginners Troika area with 2 new travelator (magic carpet) lifts replacing the current drag lift, a re-profiling & re-shaping of the slope, more new snow cannons and a full separation of the Folyeres Pistes and the beginners area making it an excellent spot for first time skiers.

Work begins this Summer but the Swimming Pool will be retained and work completed higher up the piste during July and August. Note that the lifts will be free and open to all with a reserved ESF training to skiers right (red arrows on the diagram below).

Over in Les Menuires, La Masse will have a brand new top to bottom gondola opening in December 2022. The current configuration is of two gondolas with a ski in between them, so it will be much quicker to get to the top and have a photo with the Ibex (or ski the off piste route down to the the Plan de L’eau chair). It is expected that the Masse 2 Gondola and the two old chair lifts will be removed although timescales are not clear.

Meanwhile in Orelle in the 4th Valley the replacement gondola from the base station and the new gondola up to the Cime Caron summit are also set to open this December. This will give an alternative exit out of the 4th Valley as an alternative to the Rosael Chairlift which can be a bottleneck after lunch on sunny days.

Finally we were sent this link to a consultation project on public transport links across La Vanoise linking up all the resorts via much more regular bus links and gondola transportation systems. Note the “Tovets Gondola” link from Bozel to 1850 via St Bon & 1550 plus a bus service link from La Tania to Méribel too – remember when we had that!

While the Bozel lift story has gone on for well over 20 years it does seem to be picking up some momentum again although in reality the pandemic must surely have an impact on the financing of this project for at least a couple of more years.

No further news on the possible link from Grandes Combes / Aqua Motion to 1650, the upgrade of the La Tania Gondola and/or Lanches chair, the promised replacement of Creux Noirs chair, a new lift around Plan de L’eau towards La Masse, timescales for the new Rhodos Gondola in Méribel or details on the new La Tania green run through the Forest to the skiers left of Folyères.

As always there’s a huge amount of maintenance, drainage improvements, anti-erosion work, new snow cannons, signage, fencing, safety measures and protection of the environment that goes on every Summer – no doubt we’ll have some pics on our Mountain Biking and Hiking adventures this Summer – Don’t forget about Summer in La Tania where the Summer lifts are open 7 days a week for the first time!

But more importantly if you are planning on skiing or snowboarding next Winter – Book Now!

Fantastic April Skiing for those hiking up and the new World Cup L’Eclipse Piste skied

Private Ski Instructor Martin Hemsley based in Méribel has been ski touring around some of our favourite pistes and sharing his efforts in his blog at: www.mh2ski.co.uk/ski-blog

Last week he made his way up to Col de la Loze and skied fresh untouched powder on Dou des Lanches just above La Tania…

At the end of March, Martin was one of the first to ski the new World Cup Piste named L’Eclipse after it was prepared for inspection by the various racing committees. Next Winter will see international events prior to the Alpine World Cup Finals in February 2023 with the Men’s Downhill, Super G, GS and Slalom events held on L’Eclipse. The women’s events are held on the Roc de Fer piste in Méribel.

Set to be one of the most challenging, fastest and steepest race pistes in the World with no respite for racers in any “gliding” areas – this will be full on, flat out lunacy… A detailed view by Martin of the new piste made up of the top section of the Bouc Blanc (with an S shaped curve) and the old, black Jockeys piste (regraded, widened and straightened) is available in his blog here

One of Méribel’s most respected Private Ski Instructors. Martin enjoys sharing his passion for the sport and mountains. Instruction is delivered whilst being patient, safe and considerate. Martin always respects the needs and requirements of his clients. More at: www.mh2ski.co.uk