Les Trois Vallées
Nestled in the southeast corner of France, the Alps offer an intriguing ski and snowboard experience combining cultural charm with world-class terrain. Think croissants for breakfast, long lingering lunches in quaint slope-side eateries, aprés-ski with french wines and dinners featuring the region’s melted cheese. With almost 200 ski resorts to chose from in the French Alps, it can be overwhelming trying to decide where you’ll hit the slopes… so for once, I was glad that decision was made for me.
Les Trois Vallées is the largest ski area in the world, with an extensive network of lifts and slopes combining eight different resorts… One of the resorts being Val Thorens, the highest ski resort in Europe standing at an altitude of 2,300 meters. With 166 lifts and 105 square kilometers of skiable terrain, you can spend a week here and never see the same slope twice. But in addition to high altitudes, guaranteed snow conditions and an overwhelming number of trails, Les 3 Vallées is also known for its culinary delights, with 21 Michelin star restaurants and 12 gastronomic eateries.
So when one of my friends was invited on a ski club trip to The 3 Valley’s and asked me if I wanted to join, it was an easy oui oui! Growing up an avid skier, I’ve always wanted to do a group ski trip, but unfortunately I never had an interested group of friends to make that happen. The ski club based the group at a ski in/ski out hotel in Les Menuires, which lies in the middle of the Belleville valley and is home to 48 restaurants, 39 ski lifts and 62 slopes. This resort also hosted the Men’s Slalom Alpine Skiing competition at the 1992 Olympic Games.
We couldn’t wait to get out and explore the mountain! A group of us decided to hire a guide who could take us all over the 3 Vallées without us having to worry about getting lost or not getting back to our side of the mountain before the lifts closed at 4:30pm. We lucked out with a beautiful, sunny day, so our guide took us to the furthest point from where we were based, Courchevel. As we made our way across mountain peaks, down through the valleys and back up to the top again, the views got more and more breathtaking. A picture just doesn’t capture the vastness spread out before you in every direction. It was fun being with a group and getting to know everyone as we made our way up and down the mountain and friendships were instantly formed that would end up making our trip that much more enjoyable.
We had heard about a chalet up on the mountain that hosts the ultimate aprés-ski… although it’s really not aprés-ski because after a few drinks, you still have to ski or board down the mountain safely back to your hotel. Whatever… we knew we’d figure out the details later. We had to experience La Folie Douce at the base of Mont Du Borgne. This is when staying in Val Thorens would have come in handy… a quick trip down one slope and your skies are locked up before it even gets dark. Staying in Les Menuires makes things a little more complicated. Luckily we could get all the way back to our village without having to take a lift, so we didn’t have to worry about a 4:30pm cutoff… but it’s an 8 km trek, which is a long way to go as nightfall is closing in. Let’s just say… it was worth it!!
I’ve lived in Vegas, partied in Ibiza… and many other hotspots all over the world for that matter, and I’ve never seen anything like this. At 2:30 in the afternoon, the outside patio started filling up with skiers and boarders as the DJ and MC interacted with the partygoers from a balcony hanging over the crowd. By 3:15pm the place was packed and there was a huge line to get in. People were sitting in the snow on the hill above the venue watching the craziness unfold and others surrounded the outside of the deck watching with envy as the MC sprayed champagne on the crowd in 22 degree weather. We danced on tables in our ski boots (an interesting experience), fist pumped our ski gloves and partied until they kicked us out at 4:45pm. I felt like I was in an alternate universe… it was an unreal experience!! And to think, all of those people threw down money to get themselves to The 3 Vallées, to buy a lift ticket and maybe to rent equipment only to park them and spend the afternoon partying at the top of the mountain. Epic, right?!?
We were lucky enough to have a storm come through during our six days in town, which meant fresh powder!! However, it also meant terrible visibility, high winds and avalanche warnings, which unfortunately kept the higher altitude lifts and gondolas from being able to operate. So even though we weren’t able to leave our valley to venture to other parts of the mountain our last three days, we still had plenty of faces to explore. Our group was in constant search of the perfect powder and we had a blast watching each other try to navigate off piste (off slope).
The worst day of the storm, winds whipped at 50 mph, but we decided to venture out anyway. In Europe, multi-day lift ticket packages have to be used consecutively… so unfortunately if you skip a day in the middle of your pass, you lose it. However, I’ll also add that lift tickets are much more affordable in Europe than they are in the US, especially out west. We paid $310 for a 5-day pass with insurance. That amount of money will only buy you a two day lift ticket at Vail. So we decided to brave the elements since it was already paid for. Only 3 chair lifts were open in Les Menuires and the winds were so severe, they actually stopped me in my tracks as I was skiing straight down the mountain. I couldn’t see more than 10 feet in front of me… it was quite an experience.
We decided this was the perfect day for a nice lunch on the mountain. Ok, who am I kidding… we made time for a nice lunch on the mountain every day! It was so fun to take a break and warm up, all sit down together and enjoy some delicious french cuisine. French onion soup (well actually in France, just onion soup), French fries (ok, here, just fries… well technically pommes frites) a good local brew, a nice hamburger… we indulged, daily!!! I have to mention that food was a lot more expensive than I was anticipating, but I guess I should have known better being up in the alps. And everything we ate was so good, I wouldn’t have done it any differently, if I did it all over again. Just be prepared… if you’re going to sit down for lunch at a slope-side eatery, it’s going to cost you. Although many of the hotels offer half and/or full board, so most of your meals will be included. I didn’t love the breakfast or dinner options that were included with our hotel, so I really looked forward to lunch every day, which justified splurging.
The nice thing about having dinner included on the half board plan was that everyone gathered together in the dining room after a full day on the mountain. This went a long way in bonding with fellow ski club members and getting to know everyone in the group. After dinner, the circle of friends we had developed would sit together in the lobby and play Uno. We took turns supplying bottles of locally produced wine we had picked up in town and would spend hours laughing over the competitive but friendly banter back and forth. We were always the last people left downstairs and continued to be surprised each time we realized we weren’t going to get much sleep if we wanted to be up and on the mountain when it opened the next morning. But we had a blast… so much so, that we only ventured out of our hotel one night.
We really wanted the Raclette experience, which is local to the Savoie region of France and is similar to fondue. Raclette is a semi-hard cow’s milk cheese that’s fashioned into a wheel and then melted. Wedges of the cheese wheel are placed on a table-top grill and as the top layer melts, you scrape it off onto your plate to enjoy with potatoes, pickles and dried meats. This meal is typically enjoyed with local wines, a dry white or a sweet red. The emphasis is on having a relaxed and sociable dining experience and that’s exactly what the Fromagerie des Belleville delivered… an authentic and delicious dinner!
The adorable village of Les Menuires has plenty of boutique shops, selling everything from ski gear to local wines and cheeses. The restaurants have outside patios with tables surrounded by snow and tons of skiers and boarders braving the elements to bask in the sun and enjoy a break from the slopes with a local beer. And in addition to plenty of aprés-ski options, this village also offers a handful of nightlife options for those who like to get the party started a little later. On our last night, we bundled up and trekked into town to party at Le Challenge. Being a popular British hangout, we could easily communicate and had a great time meeting locals and seasonal expats.
We were sad when it was time to pack up our ski gear, load the bus and leave the Alps… we all said, we could have easily skied or boarded another couple days. But we’re off to Lyon and after five athletic days on the mountain, we’re ready to indulge in the culinary delights the city is known for.