Skiing and Boarding
Les 3 Vallées caters to all levels of expertise, offering a variety of well-groomed pistes and challenging off-piste terrain and for freestyle enthusiasts there are state-of-the-art snow parks and halfpipes.
The Skiing & Boarding
For Beginners
The often sunny, high, snow-sure Val Thorens and Les 3 Vallées are a great place to learn how to ski.
Val Thorens recently spent 1.5 million Euros on a 40 hectare ‘cocoon’ for beginners with state-of-the-art 'magic carpet lifts. It is in the middle of the resort, easy to access and has plenty of wide and gentle runs.
European Gay Ski Week operates a ski school exclusively for our clients and if this is your first time on the mountain we would recommend you join our Ski beginners classes.
Although you won't believe it on the first day, by the end of the week most of you will be sailing down the blue runs and some of you venturing cautiously onto your first reds.
For Intermediates
For intermediates there are endless possibilities to explore the entire domain. If you are have not quite ventured onto reds, you can ski from one side of the domain to the other without leaving a blue run. For the more adventurous, you can plan your day around the 129 blue runs and 125 red runs which take you from 3200 metres down to 1300 metres, a whopping 1900 m vertical drop!
As an intermediate skier or Boarder, to get the most out of Les 3 Vallées we would recommend you join our European Gay Ski Week Ski School. It is exclusively for European Gay Ski Week guests, with class 2 and class 3 being best for Intermediate skiers.
Also to remember.....NO MORE QUEUEING....the majority of lifts across Les 3 Vallées have a separate priority line for ski school participants.
For Advanced & Experts
By Advanced skiers and boarders, you have completed class 4 of ski school, can competently tackle steep pistes, moguls and experiment in the powder. By Expert skiers and boarders we mean those skilled and experienced enough to go it alone on a big off-piste descent.
For both groups there are is some epic terrain and eyepopping challenges to explore. Make your way to the top of the legendary Saulire and try out the Grand Couloir (Courchevel) and Couloir Tournier (Méribel), both part of the Les 3 Vallées’ Vertical Xperience.
To discover the best of Les 3 Vallées we recommend you join the European Gay Ski Week Hosted Groups
Or.......... if being knee deep in powder is your thing join one of our off piste guided groups. Les 3 Vallées off-piste is practically limitless, highlights include the Couloir Croix des Verdons and the Creux Noirs.
Snowparks
Val Thorens has a fantastic 70,000m² snowpark on the Plateaux Pistes. . This park has five zones; a boardercross (800m long), three freestyle zones which are classified according to their technical difficulty and a Jump'Air (a jump with arrival on a "stunt man's" mattress, airbag).
All the runs are colour coded depending on their difficulty: green (easy), blue (medium), red (difficult) and black (very difficult).
The park is also one of the 'freestylepark' locations so you can film yourself on the kickers here and try out the airbag.
Meribel has two snowparks, the long-running favourite Elements Park and the Plattières Park. The Elements park used to be called the Moon Park and is now dedicated to freestylers of every level.
Courchevel's Family Park is getting bigger and better as every winter rolls by
Ski or Snowboard in company
with other European Gay Ski Week guests
Whether you're a Skier or a Boarder, a beginner, an intermediate, advanced or an Expert, we have options for you to ski in company with other European Gay Ski Week guests of a similar ability.
A big bonus for everyone who joins one of the classes or groups, NO QUEUEING....... you get to use the ski lift priority lane when accompanied by an instructor / guide
- For beginners right through to intermediates progressing towards conquering blacks and off piste, our European Gay Ski Week Ski School is a great choice. With 9 people in each class, you will be matched to a class where the participants will be the same level as you. Not only will the instructor be be seeking to progress your skiing technique but also enabling you to take the best from the whole of Les 3 Vallées domain.
- For Advanced skiers with an ability above that of ski school class 4, we have our Hosted Groups. There are 14 participants in each group and each group skis differently, you are not obliged to race around the piste, whilst some groups do, others are more concerned with pit stops at the various mountain restaurants and a casual ski around the reds and blues.
- For advanced and expert powder hounds and those who have a yearning to be knee deep in powder we have various Off Piste guided groups and an Off Piste Masterclass.
European Gay Ski Week Ski & Snowboard School
Classes from 200€
Ski School is great fun especially the beginners classes.
It is an interesting sport, it forces you to do things which are instinctively all wrong, logic and reflexes make you lean away from the slope and into the hill. when you actually have to do the opposite.
Without proper instruction you can develop bad habits that will limit your progress. Learning proper technique is crucial to become the skier you can be.
Our Beginners classes run from Sunday through till Thursday. Classes 1,2,3 and 4 run from Monday to Friday.
The Off Piste Masterclass runs for three days during the week commencing on Monday
Hosted Ski & Board Groups
Our ever popular hosted groups from €50
Our Snow Hosts will be taking groups on tours of Les 3 Vallées from Sunday to Friday.
Joining the hosted groups is a great way to get to know and ski area with other EGSW guests. The groups are not all the same and cater for people with different preferences for how they ski or board - very fast, fast, or more leisurely - and how they like to lunch.
Off-piste Masterclass, Excursions and Hosted Group
With such a vast ski area at our feet, there are virtually unlimited Off Piste possibilities within Les 3 Vallées.
On this 3 day Off Piste Masterclass, you are a good on piste skier and want to venture out onto those virgin slopes, experience the magic silence of beautiful scenery away from the crowds.
We have a One Day and a Three Day Off Piste excursion accompanied by an instructor / guide and a Five Day Hosted Group with Arron Bart.
The itineraries will be decided at the start of each day by the Guide, based on the weather conditions and the best snow conditions.
