Courchevel or Saint-Martin-de-Belleville: the polished heart or the old village, on one pass
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Courchevel and Saint-Martin-de-Belleville are on the same lift pass. Both sit in the Three Valleys, quoted at 600 kilometres and genuinely linked, both run from December to April, and you fly to Geneva or Chambéry for either. Book one and you can ski to the other and back in a day. This is not a choice of ski area.
It is a choice of front door. Courchevel is the glossy, upmarket heart of the area: four villages spread down one mountainside, with more piste around them than anywhere else we measure. Saint-Martin is an old Savoyard village that happens to be inside the Three Valleys, traditional and quiet, where the food is part of the reason to go. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Courchevel | Saint-Martin-de-Belleville |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,747 m at Courchevel 1850, with lower villages below | 1,450 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,697 m | 2,691 m |
| Linked ski area | The Three Valleys, quoted at 600 km, not yet measured by us | The same Three Valleys pass |
| Piste we measure around the village | 295.5 km | 75 km |
| Green and blue | 178.5 km, 60% of the piste | 50 km, 67% of the piste |
| Black | 32 km, 11% of the piste | 6 km, 8% of the piste |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 4.5 km | None measured |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 26% | 20% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 35% | 36% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 71% | 75% |
| Season | December to April | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Geneva or Chambéry | Geneva or Chambéry |
The tops are six metres apart and the season is the same, so skip those rows. The piste row is the one that matters, and it needs reading with care. Because the two share an area, our measurements around each village overlap. Read each column as the skiing closest to that door, never as two separate ski areas, and never add them together.
Size: one pass, nearly four times the skiing at Courchevel's door
We measure 295.5 kilometres of piste around Courchevel, the most of the 55 resorts we cover. Around Saint-Martin we measure 75. Nearly four times as much, on the same lift pass. From either village the whole of the Three Valleys is yours; what the gap measures is how much of it sits close by before you start travelling.
179 km green and blue 60%85 km red 29%32 km black 11%
50 km green and blue 67%19 km red 25%6 km black 8%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Courchevel 4.5 km.
At Courchevel, that is a lot in every colour. It has 178.5 kilometres of green and blue, the most of any resort we cover, and 32 kilometres of black, the second most. Black is only 11 percent of its piste, which sounds thin, until you see what 11 percent of the biggest resort we measure comes to: more than five times Saint-Martin's 6 kilometres. Courchevel also has the long cruise, the Levasset, a blue of 4.7 kilometres with 748 metres of vertical. The longest piste we measure near Saint-Martin is a red of 2.6 kilometres.
How much that matters depends on the group. If you want to cover ground every day, Courchevel saves you travelling time on every one of them. If you are happy to ski near home and make one or two big days of it, the gap shrinks, because everything on Courchevel's doorstep is on Saint-Martin's pass as well.
Altitude: level at the top, and both snow sure
The centre of Courchevel 1850 sits at 1,747 metres, 297 above Saint-Martin's 1,450. That is a real difference at the door. On the hill it more or less disappears. Our measurement puts the top of the skiing at 2,697 metres above Courchevel and 2,691 above Saint-Martin, and the lowest piste we measure finishes at 1,118 and 1,140.
Both count as snow sure on our measure. At Courchevel, 71 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 2,697 metres. At Saint-Martin it is 75 percent, up to 2,691 metres. Nobody can promise snow, and on these figures it is no reason to choose one over the other.
Where Courchevel earns something extra is on the bad days. Its lower skiing runs through forest, and when the top is lost in cloud, the trees down towards Le Praz are where you want to be.
The skiing: Saint-Martin is the gentler mix
Saint-Martin's piste is the kinder of the two. Twenty percent of what we measure near it is steeper than one in four, against 26 percent at Courchevel, which is exactly the figure at a typical resort we cover. Thirty six percent is gentler than 15 percent, a point more than Courchevel's 35. Both grade the French way, so the shares compare fairly: 67 percent green and blue near Saint-Martin, 60 at Courchevel.
179 km green and blue 60%85 km red 29%32 km black 11%
50 km green and blue 67%19 km red 25%6 km black 8%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Courchevel 4.5 km.
The measured gradients agree. They are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as how the week feels rather than a verdict on any one run. Saint-Martin's reds average 21.9 percent, against 24.0 at Courchevel and 24.3 for a typical French red. The blacks are close, 30.9 and 31.3, both a little steeper than the French average of 29.6.
The serious end belongs to Courchevel, in quantity rather than pitch. As well as the black, it has 4.5 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, where we measure none near Saint-Martin, and the couloirs off the Saulire for strong skiers who take a guide.
Who each one actually suits
Courchevel suits mixed groups, families and anyone who cares about dinner as much as the skiing. The four villages let you choose your week. Courchevel 1850 is the glamorous one, with the boutiques, the Michelin kitchens and the altiport above. Moriond, also called 1650, is sunny, easygoing in the evening and home to the aquatic centre. Courchevel 1550 sits just below 1850 with a lift up to it, and Le Praz is the old village at the bottom. A free bus runs between them, and first timers start on wide, gentle runs at Pralong and Bellecôte.
Saint-Martin suits people who want the village to be part of the holiday, not just a bed. It is old, traditional and quiet, and what it does best is feel authentic, feed you well and put the Three Valleys on your pass. Food lovers and confident skiers who like a calm evening do well there. It suits a group less well if there are first timers who need green near the door: we measure 4 kilometres of green around Saint-Martin and 56 around Courchevel.
One more thing for anyone torn. If it is the old village that draws you to Saint-Martin, Courchevel has one of its own. Le Praz is slow paced and properly Savoyard, with larch chalets, a frozen lake and the forest on its doorstep.
The bit nobody tells you
Saint-Martin's village is 297 metres lower than Courchevel 1850, so most people assume its skiing is lower too. Measured, it is the other way round. Fifty five percent of the piste we measure near Saint-Martin is above 2,000 metres, against 45 percent at Courchevel. Half of it sits above 2,040 metres; at Courchevel, half sits above 1,961.
That is not a big gap, both are snow sure on our measure, and because Courchevel is so much bigger it still has more high piste in kilometres. But it means you should not book Courchevel for the height of the skiing alone. Courchevel 1850 gives you the higher bed. Saint-Martin's piste sits at least as high, from a village nobody would call high.
So, which one
your group has first timers, a spread of levels, or strong skiers who want black and itinerary close by. Also if you want a choice of four villages, serious restaurants, and trees for the days the top is in cloud.
the village matters as much as the mountain: somewhere old, quiet and good to eat in, with the whole Three Valleys on the same pass. It suits confident skiers who would rather travel for the big days than sleep next to them.
You get the same pass and the same top either way, and Courchevel puts nearly four times the piste near your door, in every colour and for every level in the group. Saint-Martin wins when the quiet and the old Savoyard village are the point of the trip, and for some groups they are.