Courchevel or Val Thorens: same lift pass, which end of it to wake up in
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Courchevel and Val Thorens are on the same lift pass. Both are in the Three Valleys, quoted at 600 kilometres and genuinely linked, so whichever you book, you can ski to the other and back in a day. This is not a choice of ski area.
It is a choice of which end of it to wake up in. Val Thorens is the highest village we cover, compact and loud, with the snow outside the door. Courchevel is four villages stepped down a forested valley, polished at the top and quieter lower down, with more skiing within easy reach than anywhere else we measure. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Courchevel | Val Thorens |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,747 m at Courchevel 1850, with lower villages down the valley | 2,300 m, the highest we cover |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,697 m | 3,154 m |
| Linked ski area | The Three Valleys, quoted at 600 km, not yet measured by us | The same |
| Piste we measure around the village | 295.5 km | 211 km |
| Green and blue | 178.5 km, 60% of the piste | 134 km, 64% of the piste |
| Black | 32 km, 11% of the piste | 16 km, 8% of the piste |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 4.5 km | 7.6 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 26% | 25% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 35% | 37% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 71% | 96% |
| Season | December to April | Late November to early May |
| Nearest airport | Geneva or Chambéry | Geneva or Chambéry |
Two rows decide it. Val Thorens wins the height row by a distance. Courchevel wins the piste row just as clearly. The steep rows, for once, are a draw.
Altitude: Val Thorens has the height, Courchevel has the trees
Val Thorens sits at 2,300 metres, the highest village of the 55 resorts we cover and 553 metres above the centre of Courchevel 1850. Its skiing reaches 3,154 metres by our measure, 457 higher than Courchevel's 2,697, with Cime Caron and the glaciers above the resort. Ninety six percent of the piste we measure around Val Thorens is above 1,800 metres, and half of it is above 2,409.
Courchevel counts as snow sure too on our measure: 71 percent of its piste is above 1,800 metres, up to 2,697. Val Thorens is snow sure with 96 percent, up to 3,154. Nobody can promise snow, but if your dates are at the very start or the very end of the winter, Val Thorens is the safer bet, and its season starts in late November and runs into May.
The trade comes on a bad weather day. Val Thorens sits high above the tree line, and in flat light there is little to hide in. Courchevel's skiing comes down through the forest to 1,118 metres, and the tree runs towards Le Praz are where you want to be on a whiteout day. From Val Thorens, they are two valleys away.
Size: Courchevel has more at the door, in every colour
Both villages open onto the same 600 kilometres, so this is about what is close to home. We measure 295.5 kilometres of piste around Courchevel, the most of the 55 resorts we cover, against 211 around Val Thorens, itself fourth of the 55. That is about 85 kilometres more on Courchevel's side before you cross a single ridge. The figures overlap at the edges, since it is one linked area, but the gap is real.
It holds in every colour. Courchevel has 178.5 kilometres of green and blue, the most of any resort we cover and 44 more than Val Thorens's 134. Its black is 11 percent of the piste, which sounds thin until you see that it is 32 kilometres, the second most of the 55 and 16 more than Val Thorens. A small share of a very big resort is still a lot of black run.
Courchevel also has the long cruising run. Its longest piste is the Levasset, a blue of 4.7 kilometres with 748 metres of vertical, the sort of run that makes an intermediate's week. Val Thorens's longest is the Combe du Vallon, a red of 3.1 kilometres that drops 947 metres.
The skiing: one mountain, measured twice
On the measures we trust most, the two are almost the same mountain. At Courchevel, 26 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, at Val Thorens 25, against 26 at a typical resort we cover. Courchevel has 35 percent gentler than 15 percent, Val Thorens 37. Both grade the French way, so the shares compare fairly: 60 percent easy at Courchevel, 64 at Val Thorens.
179 km green and blue 60%85 km red 29%32 km black 11%
134 km green and blue 64%61 km red 29%16 km black 8%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Courchevel 4.5 km, Val Thorens 8 km.
The 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. Reds average 24.0 percent at Courchevel and 23.5 at Val Thorens. Blacks average 31.3 and 32.2. Neither has much marked off piste itinerary, 4.5 and 7.6 kilometres, though Courchevel's couloirs off the Saulire are well known to strong skiers with a guide.
So the skiing is not the decider. The amount of it near your bed, the height of it, and what happens after the lifts close are.
Who each one actually suits
Courchevel suits mixed groups, families and anyone who cares about lunch and dinner. Its four villages let you choose the mood: 1850 is the glossy one, with the boutiques, the fine dining and the altiport above it; 1650, known as Moriond, is sunny, family friendly and calmer in the evening; 1550 sits just below 1850 with a lift up; Le Praz is the old village, with Savoyard character, a frozen lake and the trees on its doorstep. A free bus links them. Beginners learn on wide, gentle runs above 1850, and the aquatic centre at 1650 rescues a rest day.
Val Thorens suits groups of friends who want to ski hard and go out harder, and anyone whose first worry is the snow. Almost everything is ski in ski out. La Folie Douce turns lunch into dancing in ski boots, and the village bars carry on long after. It is purpose built rather than pretty, but it now does families and couples better than its name suggests, provided you book away from the middle of the noise.
The bit nobody tells you
Courchevel has more green and blue piste than any resort we cover, which makes it sound like the gentle choice. Its blues are not gentle. They average 17.5 percent, the third steepest blues of the 17 French resorts we cover, against 16.5 at Val Thorens and 16.2 for a typical French blue.
A strong skier will never notice. Someone just off the nursery slopes will, and a blue that is steeper than they expected on the first afternoon can set the tone for their whole week. Courchevel has the kilometres for improvers, and Val Thorens has the kinder blues. If your group has a nervous member, the gentle greens above 1850 and a careful choice of blue matter more than the total.
So, which one
you want the most skiing at your door in every colour, trees for the bad days, a village to suit your mood and the food, and your dates sit in the heart of the season.
snow is your first worry or your dates are at either end of the season, you want the highest village we cover and the lifts on your doorstep, and you want the evenings loud.
You get the same 600 kilometres either way, and Courchevel puts more of it within easy reach for everyone in the group, the improver and the black run skier, with trees when the weather turns. Val Thorens is the right answer when the snow or the party is the point, and for plenty of groups one of them is.