Tag Archives: A to Z

Ski Schools in the Three Valleys

Ski Schools in the Three Valleys.

The French ski area of les Trois Vallées, or the Three Valleys as it’s known to its many British visitors, is quite simply one of the finest, largest and most varied ski areas in the world. With terrain suitable for all levels and some of the finest parks and off-piste in France, it can come as no surprise that it’s the destination of choice for so many skiers and snowboarders winter in, winter out.

The quality of the area’s ski schools, too, is no exception and visitors to the Three Valleys can count on expert tuition for beginners learning the basics right through to experts keen to sharpen their mogul, back country or big air skills. High volumes of skiers mean the demand for tuition is very high, and competition between the different schools is strong. For learners and improvers, this means only the good ski schools survive and the standard of tuition remains high.

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An international clientèle requires international tuition, and the instructors you’ll find across the Three Valleys generally have three or even four languages to conversation level under their belts. For learners of any age, understanding your instructor and knowing exactly what’s expected of you during the lessons brings enormous peace of mind.

When it comes to the terrain available to learners in the Three Valleys, visitors are spoiled for choice. In Val Thorens the nursery slopes sit below the town within easy reach of a good range of further gentle runs. In les Menuires it’s a similar story, and access to the ski school meeting points is also wonderfully easy. Meribel’s Altiport area is very popular amongst the resort’s different ski schools and for learners it couldn’t be more ideally suited! The undulating green-level piste enjoys shelter from the surrounding pines, and is well serviced by a swift chairlift able to handle a large volume of skier traffic. There’s also a great range of gentle terrain around the base of la Tania, and with Courchevel 1850 in such easy reach that part of the Three Valleys is also perfect for learners.

Whilst the ski schools in operation across the Three Valleys are many and varied, a few have been in operation for years now and have earned a reputation for really world class tuition.

In Meribel, for example, Parallel Lines is the resort’s largest ski school with no fewer than 14 instructors comprehensively covering all the ski and snowboard tuition of learners across the board. They pride themselves on providing fully qualified British instructors and all of their team members have spent many seasons in the area teaching and working. Adult and children ski and snowboard classes are Parallel Lines’ bread and butter, but their private clinics are also excellent.

The British Alpine Ski School is another large Meribel ski school. BASS are another ski school catering largely to Meribel’s many British visitors, and their sizeable team of instructors are perfectly geared to helping learners make the most of their time on the snow. From private lessons, group lessons and children’s courses to advanced off piste clinics and even corporate events, BASS have many bases covered and are an excellent ski school.

Meribel’s smaller and more compact neighbour, la Tania, these days packs more of a punch on the tuition front than ever before. Highlights in this part of the valley include Magic in Motion and New Generation, who also run out of other resorts in the area and provide a similarly exceptional level of tuition as Meribel’s Parallel Lines and BASS. Magic, as it’s known, has a pedigree going back to 1992 and employs staff from Europe and further afield for their enthusiasm, motivated attitude and of course advanced teaching experience.

Smaller schools operating in the la Tania valley worthy of note include The Development Centre, Snow Limits and Momentum Snowsports. These ski schools may not have the staff rota of the larger schools but when it comes to one-on-one tuition and groups of skiers and boarders keen to make serious progression, they are a hard act to follow.


La Tania by numbers

La Tania by numbers

Countdowns are all the rage on Channel Four and Infographics are popular sources of information. We live in a society dominated by facts and numbers. Let’s be honest there are very few of us that fit the cool bracket when it comes to skiing. Most of us just enjoy the riding but at the same time have a nerdy passion for the sport. From this geekery comes the need for stats and statistics. So here for all of us number crunching, info loving, fact drinking ski nerds is a guide to La Tania in numbers.

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2 – Great pubs- We can recommend drinking and eating in either the La Taiga or Le Pub de Ski Lodge

3 – La Tania is part of the massive Three Valleys skis area. It sits between the valleys of Courchevel and Meribel.

4 – Chalets that Alpine Action has in La Tania

5.50 – in euro that is the price of a pint

8 – The number of runs that La Tania has

14 – Number of beds in our largest chalet, Cote Coeur

42 – Is the cost in £ for return ski carriage

44.50 – Is the amount a one day lift pass will cost. This price is in €

120 – Minutes that it takes to get from our preferred airport, Grenoble, to get to La Tania

629 – Is the starting price of many of our La Tania Holidays

1400 – Meters that La Tania is above sea level

1176 – Kilometres from our head office to La Tania

1992 – The year La Tania opened as part of the winter Olympics held in the same year

1993 – Alpine Action was created

01273 466535 – The Number to call to book a holiday to La Tania

So there you are fact fans, lots of La Tania facts. This would be a great gift to print out and give to your dad so he can read it on the aeroplane. Then he can repeat them to you on the transfer coach and then at dinner to the other guests. Let’s just hope that he was the only person to have read this!


La Tania A to Z

La Tania A to Z

A is for Alpine Action – La Tania is our spiritual home. We have a great selection of chalets here, all with piste side access.

B is For Bear – Up to the early 1900’s bears roamed the woods surrounding the resort. Sadly they were driven out by us humans.

C is for Courchevel – Courchevel is La Tania’s big sister. This doesn’t mean that she is better. As Courchevel attracts more international Billionaires, prices for everything goes up. But La Tania remains more  affordable for those of us that aren’t billionaires.

D is for Deckchair – When the sun comes out La Tania is perfectly placed to catch it. So get yourself on one of the many deckchairs and work on those goggle marks.

E is for Euro – The standard British test of how expensive a place is the pint test. A pint in La Tania costs €5.50.

F is for Facebook – Keep up to date with the official La Tania Facebook page.

G is for Gatwick – All our holidays include flights from Gatwick. We can also get you to La Tania from Manchester too.

H is for Happy Hour -While we base our economic judgment on the cost of a pint. We also need to consider the Happy Hour price. In La Tania it is a very happy €3.

I is for Itinerary – Itinerary is a piste that isn’t groomed. Courchevel is home to one of the most popular, the Grand Couloir.

J is for Journalist – La Tania grew into the resorts it is today thanks to the Albertville Winter Olympics. The resort was expanded to accommodate reporters.

K is for KM – La Tania is part of the Three Valleys giving you over 600km of piste to choose from.

L is for Listen – When in resort tune into R’ Courchevel 93.2 fm they have weather forecasts and news in English during the morning.

M is for Magic in Motion – A growing independent ski school that comes highly recommended. The children’s lessons are particularly fun.

N is for Navette – Don’t feel that you need to miss out on the evening fun in nearby Courchevel. There is a free bus that runs between the two resorts until midnight.

O is for Olympic Legacy – The region won’t let you forget that it hosted the Winter Olympics, so why not check out the Olympic landmarks in nearby La Praz and Meribel.

P is for Poor Visibility – Flat light is not a problem for La Tania guest as many of the runs into resort are tree lined. Also if you do ski through the trees  you don’t need to be worried about bears.

Q is for Quaint – This is a word that regularly pops up when you ask someone to describe La Tania.

R is for Real Ale – Skiing is intrinsically a geeky sport and all geeks love Real Ale. So if you head to the hotel Telemark you will be able to bore each other with your ski knowledge over a pint of Real Ale, bliss.

S is for Sisters – ‘Bring Your Sisters’ is a popular apres ski band that you will be able to catch in La Tania. Sing, dance and enjoy.

T is for Traffic – Or lack of it. La Tania is a traffic free haven.

U is for Unbelievable – It is unbelievable how much fun you will have in La Tania.

V is for Vin Chaud – Le Bouc Blanc in La Tania  is a great place to get one.

W is for WiFi – It is free in all our chalets, so you can always read the Alpine Action Blog.

X is for X-ray – We hope you won’t need one.

Y is for Yummy – This is how we feel about the Gourmet Burgers at the Ski Lodge in La Tania.

Z is for Zoo – Back in 1967 La Tania was a zoo for alpine animals, it was bulldozed over when it started losing money as a result of its prized unicorn being murdered by a rouge Marmot.


A to Z of Meribel

A to Z of Meribel

A is for Après Ski – One of France’s finest destinations for after-skiing partying. Check out the Folie Douce and the mighty Ronnie for good times.

B is for British – Possibly the most British resort you can go to. There are numerous British-run bars and travel operators. You can even get a Full English if you get bored of the petit dejeuner. It was even founded by a Brit.

C is for Chalets – There are loads and loads of chalets in Meribel, which is one of the reasons that we have our chalets there.

D is for Dicks Tea Bar – If you like to drink and dance late into the night in a ski resort then you have probably been to Dicks. The name has no reflection on the sort of people who frequent the establishment.

E is for Ecureuil – One of our wonderful chalets that is located in Meribel Centre. The chalet comes complete with an outdoor hot tub as well as a sauna and steam room.

F is for Family – Meribel tries very hard to be a Family friendly resort and it succeeds very well.  It has excellent areas for all ages to learn to ski. It also holds regular free family events and offers free skiing for the under-fives.

G is for Golf – In the summer Meribel has a great high-altitude golf course and remains a buzzing alpine village. It also has two crazy golf courses open at the same time.

H is for Huge – Meribel is part of the Three Valleys which is probably the biggest ski area in the world.

I is for Independent – Meribel has one of the biggest collections of independent chalet companies, just like us.

J is for Jagerbombs – More Jagerbombs are sold in Meribel than in any other ski resort in France. This is a made up fact but is probably true.

K is for Knitted Beanie – If you aren’t wearing one then you aren’t cool.

L is for Long – The cable car from Brides Les Bain takes 25 minutes, this is a long time to spend on a cable car. You are better off staying in one of our chalets right in the centre.

M is for Moon Park – This is Méribel’s infamous freestyle park, there are jumps, rails, and boardercross areas for all abilities. You can have a go or watch the experts practice their stuff.

N is for Nightlife – I know we have mentioned après and nightclubs but one of the big attractions of Meribel is the great nightlife.

O is for Oligarch – Well, lack of them. Unlike neighboring Courchevel, Meribel has been left alone by the Russian billionaires. However, they do ski through from time to time.

P is for Patinoire – This is Meribel’s indoor ice rink that was built to host the 1992 Winter Olympic Ice Hockey Tournament. It is open every day from 5 pm to 7 pm for public skating and costs €7.5 per person

Q is for Queue – Meribel is often said to be full of lift queues, especially in the centre. We can’t deny that it can get quite busy in Meribel, but the rumours are much worse than the reality.

R is for Red Runs – In Meribel there are 93 miles of piste, and 30% of those runs are red. The other 70% is made up of 11% green, 12% black, and 47% blue.

S is for Seasonnaire – It could be said that Meribel is the spiritual home of the British Seasonnaire. It is defiantly in the top three favourite resorts to do a season in.

T is for Train – Meribel is one of the few major resorts easily accessed by train from the UK. You can get the Eurostar direct to Moutier and from there it is only a 20-minute transfer to the resort.

U is for Underground – That’s right Meribel has lots of underground parking. Which is great should you want to drive and then not have to dig your car out of all the snow at the end of the week.

V is for Vallon – Mont Vallon is Meribel’s highest ski area and opened 25 years ago.

W is for Women – This year Meribel is hosting a stage of the Audi FIS Women’s Downhill World Cup.

X is for X-Games – How great would it be if the X-Games came to Meribel?

Y is for Youtube – Not been to Meribel? Then check out its awesomeness by having a look on Youtube. Click here for videos.

Z is for zzz – All our chalets are so comfy and you will ski so hard that you will sleep like a chalet host on their day off.