The French Alps are as popular as ever. Skiers flock from far and wide to ski some of the best connected ski areas in the world.
Each year resorts focus on providing the best experience for their holidaymakers, sometimes this includes developing areas of the resort such as new slopes, replacing chairlifts, building new areas for children or even new experiences. Here are the latest ski resort developments happening across the French Alps, ready for the winter 2018/19 ski season!
New in the 3 Vallees ski area for winter 2018/19
New in Courchevel for 2018/19
- NEW GRANGETTES GONDOLA
A new lift between Courchevel village and Courchevel (1850) will replace the old 4-seater cabins. The new lift takes 10 people and can carry 2,400 people per hour. - NEW MULTI-SERVICE BUILDING
A new station for the gondola lift and tourist office, also has a playroom for children, a medical centre, ski lockers and a sports ground on the roof! - NEW LUGE
A new luge piste spanning 1.9 miles features 4 tunnels and now links the top of the Ariondaz gondola lift to the foot of the slopes. - L'ART AU SOMMET - DALI
For the 10th edition of this exhibition, works of art by Salvador Dali will be exhibited across Courchevel.
New in Les Menuires for 2018/19
- NEW TRICKS
The snowpark is being expanded with new tricks, rails and tables. It's also been graded so that there are clear areas for beginners, intermediates and experts. - IMPROVING THE SLOPES
The beginner slopes in Des Boyes, Du Bouquetin and Do Bouquet are being widened. - NEW LIFTS
New 8-seater cabins are being added to the Bruyeres gondola, which links the resort to the wider 3 Vallees area, and the departure area is being extended. The Les Granges chairlift is being updated to improve its capacity from 1800 skiers per hour to 2600. And the Roc 1 gondola is being upgrade to increase capacity from 2800 to 3200 people per hour.
New in Meribel for 2018/19
- NEW LIFTS
The Cherferie draglift is being replaced by a new chairlift increasing capacity to 2824 people per hour and cutting time down to 4 minutes. A new premium chairlift will replace the Plan de l'Homme and the Roc de Fer lifts, increasing capacity to 3600 people per hour. - FUN FOR CHILDREN
With the success of last season, the 'Mission Black Forest' luge will now be open 7 days a week. It's a 3.4km forest run with 278 bends and a vertical drop of 470m! Also, the Inuit and Elements Park fun zones are being expanded with different themes and race challenges, aimed at families and beginners.
New in Val Thorens for 2018/19
- NEW HIGH SPEED FUN
The local lift company, SETAM, are building a new double zip-line. It'll be 1600m and divided into 3 sections offering a stunning way to arrive at the heart of the resort in Place Caron. - NEW RUNS
Two new runs are being added to Val Thorens ski area. One, a 3.2km run running from La Cime Caron, is described as suitable for all. The second is a new black in the Boismint sector. - SKI TOURING
Four new ski touring itineraries are being added to the Val Thorens programme. They vary in length from 2 - 6km.
New in the Tarentaise Valley for winter 2018/19
New in La Rosière for 2018/19
- EXCITING NEW SKI AREA DEVELOPMENTS FOR LA ROSIÈRE IN 2018/19
La Rosière, a favourite with families, is expanding the Espace San Bernardo ski area for December 2018! The exciting 15 million Euro plans include building five new red graded pistes (increasing the total runs to 198km) and adding two new 6-seater lifts. The addition of the new Mont-Valaisan peak will raise the altitude to 2800m and create lots of secured new free-riding opportunities. Discover our new accommodation in La Rosière below, and be one of the first to ski the new slopes!
New in the Tignes Val d'Isere for winter 2018/19
New in Tignes for 2018/19
- NEW LIFTS
In 2018, the Sache cable car and the Brévières chairlift will be replaced by an 8 person cable car in order to connect Brévières with Tignes 1800. Also, the capacity of the Boisses gondola will continue to be improved to 3,000 passengers per hour with 47 cabins.
We will continue to update this page throughout the season, so pop back for more new developments as we get closer to the ski season!
