THE SKIING

The Three Valleys is one of the Alps’ greatest ski areas, with nearly 200 lifts and 600km of pistes and much of the skiing is at high altitude, ensuring excellent snow cover throughout the season. From Le Praz, the lifts give access direct to Courchevel 1850 and the slopes above, thus neatly avoiding the queues facing holidaymakers there!

The lift also links directly to the Méribel valley, opening up a whole further area of wonderful skiing.

Snow cannons facilitate late season skiing back to Le Praz.

Our Esprit Ski Escort will be available for at least 2 days of the week to ski with you and introduce you to the area.

Resort Height

1,300m


Click for larger piste map

Skiing Range

1,300m - 3,230m

Pistes

600km

Green/Blue

176

Red

115

Black

37

Direction of slopes

N, S, E, W
Longest run

8km

Lifts

188

Gondolas/Cable Cars

43
Chairlifts

68

    

Drag Lifts

77

Mountain Restaurants

45

Snow Cannons

1,920

Cross Country Trails

125km

FAMILIES
Courchevel-Le Praz is an ideal place for families to stay, away from the hustle and bustle of the other resorts, with limited vehicle access to the charming village centre. This winning combination of a characterful, family-friendly resort with speedy direct lift access to the slopes of Courchevel 1850, makes this a deserved favourite with Esprit guests.

BEGINNERS
Most beginner lessons are held in Courchevel 1850, where there are extensive nursery slopes. They are wide and well cared for, providing ideal conditions for beginners to practise.

INTERMEDIATES
The Courchevel valley alone provides enough skiing to occupy most intermediates very happily for a week. You can also explore the whole region though, and the ‘grand tour’, taking in Méribel, Val Thorens, Les Menuires and St Martin in a day, is certainly taxing, but well worth the effort.

ADVANCED
Good skiers undoubtedly get the best from this region. There are steep black runs back into Le Praz, mogul fields on the top of the Suisses and steep terrain on the slopes of La Vizelle, and this is all before venturing off-piste, and exploring the myriad challenges beyond the Courchevel valley.

POWDER POTENTIAL
Traversing the arrête just to reach the famous Saulire couloirs is enough to satisfy most people’s appetite for thrills. Skiing them in deep powder is a milestone in most extreme skiers’ lives. Formal off-piste itineraries are limited for such a big area but some of the guided tours are extremely popular with better skiers.

SNOWBOARDING
There is a fun-park and half-pipe just below 1850, with another terrain park just above at Verdons. The well-groomed pistes also make this a great place to learn to board, especially with all the chairs and gondolas to make life easier.