Saint-Martin-de-Belleville or Val Thorens: the old village or the high one
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Saint-Martin-de-Belleville and Val Thorens share a lift pass, the Three Valleys, so the skiing open to you is the same whichever one you book. What changes is the place you sleep in, and on that the two could hardly be further apart.
Val Thorens is the highest village of the 55 resorts we cover, a modern, purpose built place above the tree line with the party to match. Saint-Martin, 850 metres lower, is an old Savoyard village, traditional and quiet, and a place people choose for its food. So the real question is what snow at the door and noise in the evening are worth to your group. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Saint-Martin-de-Belleville | Val Thorens |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,450 m | 2,300 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,691 m | 3,154 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 | 75 km | 211 km |
| Green and blue | 50 km, 67% of the piste | 134 km, 64% of the piste |
| Black | 6 km | 16 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | None measured | 8 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 20% | 25% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 36% | 37% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 75% | 96% |
| Season | December to April | Late November to early May |
| Nearest airport | Geneva or Chambéry | Geneva or Chambéry |
Bear in mind that these are our measurements of the piste nearest each village. On a shared pass they overlap, so treat each column as the skiing on that village's doorstep, not as a ski area of its own, and do not add them up.
Altitude: Val Thorens has the snow at the door
Val Thorens's village sits at 2,300 metres, the highest of the 55 resorts we cover. The skiing goes higher too: 3,154 metres on our measurement above Val Thorens, against 2,691 above Saint-Martin, a gap of 463 metres.
Both are snow sure on our measure, and that is worth saying plainly, because a village at 1,450 metres makes people assume otherwise. Seventy five percent of the piste we measure near Saint-Martin is above 1,800 metres, up to 2,691 metres. Near Val Thorens it is 96 percent, up to 3,154 metres, the joint seventh biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover. Nobody can promise snow at either.
The difference is how far clear of that line the skiing sits. Half the piste near Val Thorens is above 2,409 metres, and three quarters of it above 2,200. Near Saint-Martin, half is above 2,040, and 30 percent above 2,200. The seasons follow: Val Thorens runs from late November to early May, Saint-Martin from December to April. For a week at either end of the winter, that matters more than any other row in the table.
Size: the same pass, far more near Val Thorens
Around Val Thorens we measure 211 kilometres of piste, the fourth most of the 55 resorts we cover. Around Saint-Martin we measure 75. Both sit on the Three Valleys, quoted at 600 kilometres and genuinely linked, though we have not measured the whole area ourselves. So the gap is not a smaller ski area. It is less skiing close to the village before you head off for the rest.
Val Thorens has more of every colour nearby: 134 kilometres of green and blue against 50, the third most of the 55 we cover, 61 of red against 19, and 16 of black against 6. Add 8 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, where we measure none near Saint-Martin. For a group that skis hard every day, that is time saved on every one of them.
The skiing: the same shape, at different heights
Take the colours away and the piste near the two villages is shaped in much the same way. Sixty seven percent of it is green or blue near Saint-Martin, and 64 percent near Val Thorens. Thirty six percent is gentler than 15 percent near Saint-Martin, 37 near Val Thorens. Both lean to the easy end, and both grade the French way, so those shares compare fairly.
50 km green and blue 67%19 km red 25%6 km black 8%
134 km green and blue 64%61 km red 29%16 km black 8%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Val Thorens 8 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 a week feels rather than a verdict on any one run. The blues are level, 16.6 percent near Saint-Martin and 16.5 near Val Thorens, both just above the French average of 16.2. The reds are both kinder than the French average of 24.3: 21.9 near Saint-Martin, the second gentlest of the 17 French resorts we cover, and 23.5 near Val Thorens.
Val Thorens has more at the steep end. A quarter of its piste is steeper than one in four, against a fifth near Saint-Martin and 26 percent at a typical resort we cover. Its blacks average 32.2 percent, the fifth steepest of the 17 French resorts we cover, against 30.9 near Saint-Martin. For a strong skier, the plain difference is quantity: 16 kilometres of black against 6.
Who each one actually suits
Val Thorens is for groups who ski hard and want the night to carry on where the day left off, and for anyone who puts snow ahead of everything else. The village is compact and stacked up the slope, so most beds are a short walk or a slide from a lift. Après is what it is known for, starting at La Folie Douce on the mountain and moving down to the village bars, late. It handles families and couples better than its name suggests: the beginner runs are wide, gentle and beside the village, at height, and staying a little away from the centre puts some distance between you and the noise. It is not pretty, and makes no claim to be.
Saint-Martin is the other way to do the Three Valleys. We file it under traditional, quiet, authentic and good for food, an old village inside the area rather than a resort built for it. That makes it a natural fit for food lovers and groups whose ideal evening is a long table rather than a dance floor. It is a poor fit if someone in the party wants a big night, or if snow outside the door matters more to you than the village around it.
The bit nobody tells you
The 850 metres between the villages is the gap people see. The gap in the skiing is smaller. Saint-Martin's measured top is 463 metres below Val Thorens's, and more than half its piste is still above 2,000 metres, 55 percent against 87. Its skiing is not low skiing. It is high skiing with a lower village under it.
Where the height really tells is at the bottom. The lowest piste we measure near Saint-Martin finishes at 1,140 metres, 310 below the village. Near Val Thorens, even the lowest finishes at 1,568 metres, 118 above Saint-Martin's village. The lowest runs are the first to lose their snow late in the season, so if you book Saint-Martin for April, expect the best of it to be well above your door.
So, which one
snow at the door comes first, you are booking the very start or end of the winter, you want the most skiing near the village, or the evenings are half the point. Also if your beginners would rather learn at altitude.
you want an old village rather than a modern one, the food matters, the evenings should be quiet, and you are content to set off a little earlier for the far corners of the Three Valleys. The skiing near the door has much the same shape either way.
You ski the same pass from both, but Val Thorens puts the snow under your door, the longer season in your diary and nearly three times the piste close by, and its noise is easy to keep at a distance. Saint-Martin is the right answer when the village is the holiday, and for some groups it will be.