Val Thorens, Les 3 Vallées

For security and comfort Val Thorens is a car free ski resort. There is a free bus service that runs throughout the resort.

In the heart of the Val Thorens is Place de Caron, where most of the shops, bars and restaurants can be found.

Val Thorens has earned the P’tits Montagnards label, which guarantees quality facilities and activities for children and their parents.

Activities in Val Thorens for children include a torch-light decent every Thursday.

The classic and jazz music association organises a concert each week at the church in Val Thorens for music lovers to enjoy.

Skiing in Val Thorens, Les 3 Vallées

The ski resort of Val Thorens has recently invested €1.5 million into creating a special ski area for beginners. It streches over 10 hectares and allows skiers to access this zone for free, in order to get comfortable on their skis before spending money on a ski lift-pass.

Four high-speed magic carpets have been installed. They lead to special areas just for beginners, not only making it convenient and easy for beginners to get to the slopes, but also allowing them to progress and gain confidence away from the more experienced, high-speed skiers.

The Castor and Pollux lifts are two twinned carpets inside a single 240m long tunnel. Both can move up to 3000 skiers per hour, which is a new record in France.

The Musaraigne and Campagnols carpets measure 200m in length. They are located in the Grenouillère de Péclet zone and each runs towards its own beginner ski area.

These four new magic carpets also allow skiers to easily travel to the upper parts of the resort, where the first green and blue runs are located.

Val Thorens offers 10 green slopes and 27 blue slopes for beginner and low-level skiers. Beginners will find the slopes at the foot of the resort are gentle and are good for building confidence. A beginner’s ski lift-pass is also available.

Val Thorens has some of the best intermediate terrain in the whole of the 3 valleys.

Intermediates can take the big Péclet gondola to the Péclet glacier or the head to the Pointe de Thorens, both of which have a good selection of red runs.

From the Col de Rosaël you can take red and blue runs down to the Maurienne valley known as the ‘fourth valley’, where you can ride the chair lifts up to the Pointe du Boucher at 3230m the highest lift served point in the 3 valleys.

Experts can also find some good runs by taking the Cimes de Caron cable car - queues to be expected - which leads to some great black runs down the front of the mountain or down into the Maurienne valley.

For those who want to try off piste skiing for the first time the Pierre Lory run is the best.

For more adventurous off piste skiers there is the famous Lac du Lou run which has a 1400m vertical drop.

Val Thorens also has great access to the rest of the 3 Valleys with blue and red runs that will take you down to Les Menuires or Meribel.

  Select to view 3 Vallées website

Snowboarding in Val Thorens, Les 3 Vallées

There is a terrain park just above Val Thorens served by a fast chair lift.

It has a half pipe, jumps, tables, hips, handrails, a boardercross course and a sound system.

The slopes of Val Thorens are suitable for all abilities of boarders and the good snow is great for beginners and cavers.

For free riders there are plenty of off-piste opportunities.

Cross-country Skiing in Val Thorens, Les 3 Vallées

There is only 4km of cross-country ski trails in Val Thorens.

However, there is 130km of cross-country ski trai ls in the whole of Les 3 Vallées ski area.

Ski School in Val Thorens, Les 3 Vallées

The ESF ski school in Val Thorens offers skiing and snowboarding for adults or children in group or private lessons.

They also offer a selection of services for children under 4, these include:

A babysitting service for children aged 3-7 months

A nursery service for children aged 18 months to 3 years old

A children’s club for children aged 3-4

For more information about pre-booking Ski School in Val Thorens please select here  

Lift Passes in Val Thorens, Les 3 Vallées

Lift passes give you access to Val Thorens and the whole of the Les 3 Vallées ski area.

For more information about Val Thorens and Les 3 Vallees lift passes please select here

Photos provided by the Val Thorens tourist office and taken by A.Peirer, G.Mirande and Agence Basile, F.Oddoux, Y.Bontoux