Why the 3 Valleys lift pass is good value for money

Posted on October 15, 2018 by Jim Duncombe

Why the 3 Valleys lift pass is good value for money.

Next winter the 3 Valleys lift pass will cost €306 for an adult for 6 days and is outstanding value for money. There are are a reported 4.5 million skiers that visit The 3 Valleys each year giving the area plenty of funds to reinvest.

The constant investment ensures it remains great value for money and the best place to ski in the world.Find our how The 3 Valleys spend their money and give skiers the best possible experience.

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The 3 Valleys Ski Area

why the 3 valleys lift pass is good value for money

For your money you get 600km of piste to play on and to put that into perspective all of the ski areas in Canada could fit into the 3 Valleys. If you then break that down into Euros per kilometre you get 2.1 km for every Euro you spend on your lift pass. The next best value for money resort is neighbouring La Plagne where you get just 1.5 km per euro.

Despite the vast area, 85% of runs are above the magic 1800m with the highest peak of 3230m in Val Thorens. This impressive altitude guarantees snow and there is an average base of 80cm and annual snowfall of 155cm. All these stats are the reason that the 3 Valleys features in all snow-sure ski area lists.

Snow Making in the Three Valleys

why the 3 valleys lift pass is good value for money.

Being British we know the weather can be unpredictable and maybe this has rubbed off on our colleagues in charge of The 3 Valleys ski area and help them come to the decision to invest heavily in snowmaking. There are currently 2200 snow cannons that can make 5,280,000 cubic meters of snow per day across the area.

The cannons are located on a third of all the runs and there is a fleet of 70 piste bashers to attend to the snow. The resorts source water from a nearby dam for the snowmaking and the water bill is estimated to be around a €1m per valley.

Snow Parks in the Three Valleys

why the 3 valleys lift pass is good value for money. As the sport has changed and the attention is not all on Alpine skiers more people become interested in freestyle. The 3 Valleys has continued to keep up and has some of the best snow parks in Europe that have recently attracted the likes of James “Woodsy” Woods to play.

In Méribel, there is the DC Area park that features big kickers, a half pipe and is flanked by a boarder cross course. You can also find the slightly tamer Moon park in the same valley. Courchevel has a family park that is suitable for all and has an air bag to help you improve your tricks.

Val Thorens has invested in an expert and beginner slopestyle park that is popular with local riders and there is also FIS standard ski cross course. And finally, there is the BK Park in Les Menuires full of rail and bumps for all abilities.

Three Valleys staff

why the 3 valleys lift pass is good value for money.

For many business one of the biggest outgoings is the wage bill and the 3 Valleys is no different. The area employs 1200 people just to operate the lifts on top of this there are security staff, pisteurs, resort staff, bus drivers and maintenance teams. If they were on minimum wages the monthly bill just for lifties would be €1,740,000.

How much does The Three Valleys Invest

why the 3 valleys lift pass is good value for money.

We often speak to the management directly responsible for the infrastructure and they always talk in big numbers and they know that it is the continual reinvestment and development that keeps people coming back year after year.

Before last season started at least €50m was spent on improvements and new infrastructure. This included 3 new chairs in Val Thorens, a new chair and multiple piste improvements in Courchevel & Méribel, across the board snowpark improvements, indoor picnic areas, family entertainment, night skiing, wifi and selfie machines.

The Three Valleys is environmentally friendly

why the 3 valleys lift pass is good value for money. There is also investment in what you can’t see such as drainage, waste and reducing environmental impact. The resorts of The 3 Valleys come in the top 20 of environmentally friendly ski resorts in Europe and that is down to its investment in renewable energy to power the lifts.

All the resorts are committed to minimising the traffic and reliance of cars in resort which is combated by providing free bus services at an estimated cost of €5m per season.

What else can you get for the money

why the 3 valleys lift pass is good value for money.

For €306 euros you can get a weeks lift pass and go skiing in The 3 Valleys or you could get…

1 day at Alton Towers for a family of 4 plus £50 spending money.

9 hours indoor skiing.

8 hours Wakeboarding.

68 bottle of alcohol free red wine.

685 All Butter Croissants from Lidl

So there you have it The 3 Valleys lift pass is great value unless you like croissants more.

Oh and one last thing..

Is it cheaper to do 6 half day passes?

why the 3 valleys lift pass is good value for money. We get asked if there is a cheaper way to buy a 3 valleys lift passes, such as 6 half day passes. If you were to buy 6 half day passes you would, in fact, spend €42 more. A day pass can be bought for €62 and would get you 4.5 ski days for the same cost as a 6 day.

If you want more information an skiing in the 3 Valleys or want to find out about our catered ski chalets then please give us a call on 01273 466 535 or check out our website alpineaction.co.uk.

Posted in La Tania, Meribel, Ski, Tips | Tagged 3 Valleys, lift pass

New lift pass to cover 3 Valleys, Paradiski and the Espace Killy

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Jim Duncombe

The Alpine Legends Ski Area – One Pass to Rule Them All

Have you ever thought to yourself “there just isn’t enough skiing in the 3 Valleys”? If you have then you will be please to know that there is now going to be a new mega pass. This new pass, called the Alpine Legends pass, will cover some of the worlds legendary and iconic ski resorts and areas. The 6 day ski ticket will allow you unlimited skiing in all of the 3 Valleys areas, Méribel, La Tania, Courchevel and Val Thorens which are all impressive ski areas in there own right. The pass will also include Les Arcs and La Plagne which form the amazing Paradiski and if that isn’t enough Val d’Isere and Tignes are both included, which combined makes 1325 km of pistes to explore.

The Alpine Legends lift pass is expected to cost around €340 which is only €51 more than a 3 Valleys pass, so that means you get an extra 725 km for less than the price of day pass.

How to get about

If you are considering buying an Alpine Legends Ski Pass you will need to think about how you are going to commute around the areas as they are not all linked by lifts and runs.

Car: Probably the easiest of all the options is to do a self drive holiday or hire a car either at the airport or in resort, then you can just drive yourself around from resort to resort each day. All resorts have car parks close to the slops and many have free parking if you are on a budget.

Bus: All these resorts are linked by a bus service of sorts. You can get from the Three Valleys to the Paradiski via a bus from Le Praz in Courchevel to Bozel at the bottom of the valley where you will have to change and catch a second bus to the small resort of Champagny that is linked to La Plagne. We have done this route many times and you can read our experience here. If you wanted to catch public transport to and from one of the resorts in the Espace Killy you will have to make your way down to Bourg St Maurice, which you can do via the funicular in Les Arcs. From Bourg St Maurice you can get on the daily service to Val d’Isere or Tignes and will cost about €18 for a one way trip, timetables can be found at www.altibus.com.

Ski: It is possible to ski from Tignes to Les Arcs, but this is a serious mountain route and you would need to take an experienced guide with you.

Where to stay: Naturally we recommend staying in one of our ski chalet in La Tania or Méribel and either would make a great base for exploring the Alpine Legends ski area. Take a look at what have to offer.

Posted in La Tania, Meribel, Tips | Tagged alpine legends, Courchevel, lift pass, tignes, val disere, Val Thorens

The Morris Family Holiday – Part Four, The Lift Pass Office

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Jim Duncombe

The Morris Family Holiday – Part Four, The Lift Pass Office

Regular readers of this adventure may be aware that at the end of part one there was a literary cliff-hanger. You may also be aware that it has not been resolved for 3 months now. Well good news readers this is the part where it gets resolved.

For the benefit of those too lazy to here is a quick recap. I pre order lift passes online. I put them in my ski coat pocket. I have a disagreement about fashion with my son. He repacks my old ski jacket for revenge. We get to resort. I discover the jacket switch. And that brings you up to where we are about to pick up from.

It is hard to have the usual shouting match about something this momentous in chalet with people you don’t know. So I decide to keep my rage for a later date. I explain the situation to my wife and how much the passes cost. She has no qualms about anyone overhearing our situation and precedes to give my son a very loud piece of her mind.

I make my way down for breakfast.
“I hear you have lost your ski passes” the chalet host says.
“Who told you that?” I ask.
“No one”.
I am the first at the table and I start eating quickly in the hope that I miss everyone else.
“Good Morning, I hear you are having a spot of bother with your pre booked lift pass” says the man staying in the room two floors up from us.
“Did my wife tell you that?”
“Sort of”.

As the chalet host delivers my cooked breakfast she tells me that she has called the Rep and she is on her way to help deal with my issue. This is very kind of her but really ads to the embarrassment. For me a resort Rep is there to help with simple things such as showing me where the coach is or booking a restaurant. Or help with extreme problems such as medical emergencies or server weather affecting our flight. Not a family prank that has escalated. I thank the chalet host and wait for the Rep.

I retire to the lounge with a mug of coffee and a newspaper that was dropped off by another member of the resort staff. I expect that on his application for the position he pit that he was looking to work in the news industry, as the paper was delivered with some resort news that a family had booked there lift passes online and left them back in the UK. “That’s €800 down the toilet” was probably the comment in the editorial comments.

I was joined in the lounge by a ski instructor who had turned up to collect some guest. He looked at me and said “never have I witnessed this happening before. When I heard I called my girlfriend up and told her all about it. She works in the Lift Pass office”
“Can she offer any advice?” I ask.
“Yes, she said that you should always double check your packing”. I was starting to feel as if I was in a sitcom. Enter stage right the resort rep.
“This hasn’t happened before”.

When I was informed that the Resort Manager had been called I hoped that the sitcom I was in wasn’t about to turn into a holiday to a hotel in Torquay. Fortunately the manager had been employed based on his experience and knowledge and not on his likeness to John Cleese. Somehow the rest of my family had carried on as if there was nothing wrong and that no one had heard the yelling earlier.

It was decided that we would go to the lift pass office to straighten out the situation. That is all of us. The manager was coming to sort it out, the Rep was coming to learn how to sort it out, the host came to collect as she needed some more piste maps anyway, my wife came to see how badly I got on and to remind me not to do this next year, the children came as they were hoping to see me get shouted at by their mother and the ski instructor came too. I assume the instructor was keen to see his girlfriend and in no way planned on finding amusement in our misfortune.

We all squeezed in to a small office and waited for a person of authority on lift passes to appear. I was preparing to lose “€800 down the toilet” as well as this public humiliation continuing. The authority appears and to my delight utters the words “this happens all the time”. I left the lift pass office feeling slightly less stupid than when I went in and temporally €800 worse off, until I get back to the UK and prove that we didn’t use the lift passes. I think the ski instructor was more disappointed than me.

We thanked all involved, which was similar to an Oscars speech with less crying, and get ready to go skiing. We had a great day on the slopes and I forgot all about the morning. At the end of the day as we headed to a bar for a beer I was handed a leaflet.
“Save Time, Pre book your lift pass on line”

Posted in Funny | Tagged lift pass, ski hire, ski lessons, Ski Sunday, skiing

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