Courchevel | Ski Resort Review

Courchevel ski resort is widely regarded as one of the world's most fashionable winter-sports destinations. It boasts the greatest concentration of deluxe hotels and chalets, Michelin-starred restaurants and designer fashion boutiques in the French Alps, and offers direct access to one of the world's greatest linked ski areas, the Three Valleys.

While it has a reputation for attracting the nouveau-riche—particularly oligarchs from the former Soviet Union—Courchevel isn't just St Tropez on Snow. It's also home to much of the best skiable terrain in the Trois Vallées—the vast domain that also includes the resorts of Val Thorens and Méribel. Courchevel isn't an individual resort though, it's actually a grouping of four separate resort villages, each with its own personality and each appealing to a different character of clientele. The generally accepted notion is that the higher the village, the higher the prestige—and the prices.

"Courchevel isn't just St Tropez on Snow. It's also home to much of the best skiable terrain in the Trois Vallées"

Each of the villages in Courchevel, France, are commonly referred to by its approximate corresponding altitude, prefixed with the adopted collective resort name (e.g. Courchevel 1850). The lower-altitude villages have reintroduced their original local names, however: Courchevel Le Praz (aka 1300); Courchevel Village (aka 1550), site of the original hamlet of Courchevel; and Courchevel Moriond (aka 1650). The prime resort of Courchevel 1850 is often simply referred to as just 'Courchevel'.

Despite being best-known for its bling factor, Courchevel is actually not quite as exclusive as it might seem. It has many deluxe hotels, sumptuous chalets, opulent boutiques, swanky bars & clubs, and one of the highest concentrations of Michelin-starred restaurants outside Paris, sure. But the central quarter of the main resort still reveals much of its unpolished and dated purpose-built roots.

There's also more than enough choice of accommodation, services, and venues across all four villages to cover all categories and budgets; just remember to glance at their price list first—if it's available! The one truly egalitarian feature of Courchevel is its great ski area, offering a diverse range of terrain covering a full gamut of slope classifications to suit everyone. And thankfully, unlike the most exclusive resorts in the USA, liftpass prices in Courchevel are not astronomical—remaining competitive with those of neighbouring resorts. 

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Courchevel - Ski Map & Pistes:

There are beginners' zones at all four village bases. The most extensive ones are located at Courchevel Moriond and in the Pralong area above Jardin Alpin; these two sectors also offer the best selection of gentle progression pistes out on the main slopes, although those from Jardin Alpin and Verdons to central Courchevel often get uncomfortably busy.

Progressive novices and intermediates will find some of the best slopes in the Alps to play with, both here in the Courchevel sectors and further afield throughout the immense 600km Three Valleys domain. Many visitors, however, are content to remain in the Courchevel valley for the duration of their stay, such is the extent and quality of the local ski area.

Particularly noteworthy are the great selection of cruise-able long blues and fast wide reds in the upper reaches of the core Saulire-Creux sectors and in the Chanrossa sector above Moriond, and, when snow conditions are good, the thigh-burning long red runs on the wooded slopes down to Le Praz and La Tania.

There's currently just the one snowpark at Courchevel, but it is fairly well-equipped. It's situated in the Verdons area just above central Courchevel. Keen freestylers are best advised to head for the much bigger Le Park and Moon Park over on the far side of the next valley, above Méribel.

Courchevel - Off-Piste, Backcountry & Ski Touring:

Advanced ability skiers and snowboarders have the additional choice of lots of inter-piste powder slopes and steep mogulled black pistes, as well as seemingly limitless off-piste possibilities in the Trois Vallées as a whole. The highest-profile in-bounds challenges in the core Courchevel area are the seriously steep couloirs down the rugged flank of La Croix des Verdons to the looker's right of the Saulire cable car, only one of which—the Grand Couloir—is marked as a black run on the Courchevel piste map. The others are narrower and tougher off-piste descents.

The easiest off-piste is in the Bel Aire area above Moriond, either side of Pyramide/Signal/Chapelets lifts. Also popular are the slopes of Col du Fruit and Vallee des Avals. They take you into the backcountry, so don't go exploring there without a guide! 

Courchevel - Restaurants, Bars & The Town:

Courchevel 1850 offers the greatest range of off-slope attractions. With dozens of shops, including many ritzy fashion boutiques, jewellers, and art galleries; plus a weekly street market; a host of stylish cafés, bars and restaurants; and a good range of alternative activities and sports facilities, you'll always find something to do.

Courchevel Moriond has a fair selection of shops, bars and restaurants, but they are nowhere near as numerous or as glitzy as those in the main resort hub. Courchevel Village and Courchevel Le Praz are much quieter and contain just an adequate selection of local shops and a few friendly bars, although Le Praz does also have a handful of nice restaurants.

The Forum Centre in Courchevel is the largest shopping and sports complex in the resort, housing a good selection of shops and a large supermarket, a couple of bars, cafés and restaurants. You can also enjoy various sports facilities, including an Olympic-standard ice rink (dating from the Albertville 1992 Winter Games), a ten-pin bowling alley, a fitness suite, and a climbing wall/ropes installation.

"Après ski is again focused on the main village and very much reflects the polarised demographic of Courchevel's clientele"

A new aquatic leisure and spa complex, Aquamotion has enough pools, slides and spa facilities to keep everyone happy. Alternative activities available locally include snowshoe trekking, snowmobiling, ice-circuit karting, quad-biking, and various forms of airborne adventure sports and sightseeing trips. One of the most easily accessible daytime & evening activities is the 2 km long tobogganing/sledging run that starts near the Forum and snakes down to the village of Courchevel.

Après ski is again focused on the main village and very much reflects the polarised demographic of Courchevel's clientele. There are some very upmarket slope-side venues around the Altiport, Jardin Alpin and La Croisette that focus on a cool style-bar ambience, whilst a good number of more informal music bars and pubs dotted around the centre of the resort draw a more diverse crowd. Le Tremplin waylays most skiers as they hit 1850.

The primary focus for Courchevel's leading socialites is on the resort's great range of excellent restaurants (some of which are very swish indeed), followed by drinks in chic lounge bars and rounded off in an uber-stylish nightclub such as Les Caves.

For a slightly less cash-vaporising alternative, explore the pubs and music bars dotted around the resort villages: Moriond offers a good selection and is popular with Courchevel's seasonaire population. Noteworthy venues here include The Seven Kings (previously known as Le Bubble) and The Funky Fox; Courchevel Village and Le Praz are both very low-key, but La Descente in Le Praz is worth a visit.

Courchevel - Ski Hire:

With so many reliable ski hire chains in Courchevel, it's best to choose the sports shop which is closest to where you are staying to make your holiday easier. All the familiar names are listed on the Courchevel website.

Courchevel - Ski School:

If you want to learn to ski in Courchevel, and book ski lessons for groups or individuals, the ESF is here in strength, both in 1850 and 1650. Other outfits include New Generation and Oxygene.