Greetings everyone! The hotly anticipated conclusion to my ski trip is here! This time, it was to Les Trois Vallées (The Three Valleys), which just so happens to be not only the largest ski station in France, but the entire world! You may read that and say: “Well, I’m sure it’s big, but there must be a limit to how large ski stations can get!” Trust me when I tell you that the name “Three Valleys” is not just for show.
The day actually started off sub-optimally. The ski was covered by clouds, and the higher parts of the mountain were actually inside the clouds, which effectively acted as fog. Thus, the first half of the day was spent only being able to see 10 feet in front of me, which was kind of a bummer for such a big station. Me and my dad started off in the first and biggest valley, Val Thorens. It was chock-full of chairlifts and gondolas, as is to be expected, which were all built around a picturesque ski town. The town was so built around skiing that there were paths made of snow to allow skiers to traverse the town without taking off their skis, and chairlifts located in the middle of the town to allow for quick access to the slopes. Val Thorens also possessed the tallest peaks, with the highest skiable peak being around 3200 meters high (10,500 feet).
The second valley we visited, Méribel, was a bit better. The weather had started to clear up a bit, and since it was a bit lower, the snow wasn’t as icy as Val Thorens. The slopes were easier than at Val Thorens, but I was still able to get a challenge by going onto the off-slope, especially since there was a layer of fresh snow. Me and my dad even decided to eat our lunch right on the slope! Unfortunately, we weren’t able to explore the third valley, Courchevel, since that would have taken way too much time and we wouldn’t have been able to get back to our car before the station closed.
Now, you may wonder if the size of the station made it better than the smaller ones in New England. To that, I say that there are some pros and cons. Starting off with the pros, the amount of slopes and the size of the slopes is definitely nice. Ski stations in places like Vermont or New Hampshire are small enough to fully discover in a day, and repeated visits force you to do the same slopes over and over, which can get repetitive. The vue afforded by such a huge station is also incomparable to that seen in New England. The prices are also great. A day pass for two people at Trois Vallées costs around 160 euros (80 per person). Meanwhile, ticket prices for the stations I have visited can cost nearly double that. However, the sheer amount of slopes also acts as a double-edged sword, as it prevents one from truly mastering a certain slope. There is also the problem of transportation. Due to how far the bottom of the slopes are from the top, or how far apart one side of the valley is from the other, you will need to take multiple different lifts to get to the top, or will need to ski down connecting slopes, which are flat and very boring since their purpose is to connect parts of the station. Both these things will take up a lot of time, which takes away from your total time skiing, unlike in smaller stations where going back up takes less time and the entire mountain is within sight.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed my ski trip! Despite my criticisms, it was an incredible experience to be able to ski somewhere I have always wanted to. The views were gorgeous, the food was good, and being with my family is always nice. I sincerely hope I get to do this again in the future.
