Latest on the new lifts going in across The 3 Valleys during Summer 2018

In the 3 Valleys, lift infrastructure improvements never stop…

Until our comprehensive What’s New in La Tania & The 3 Valleys update in October here’s an update…

In Summary:
New Grangettes Gondola between Courchevel 1550-1850
New Le Praz Gondola (and complete base station, car park etc)
Bozel to St Bonn and Courchevel Village (1550) lift in (real) planning stages
New Plan de l’Homme “premium” chairlift in Meribel
Old Plan de l’Homme replaces the Cherferie drag
Replacement cabins on Mont Vallon & Bruyères
Additional capacity on Granges & Roc 1
Work rumoured to start on the Orelle side with a new gondola and then a stage 2 gondola to the top of Cime Caron.

Other major work started includes the extension to the Combes Reservoir while planning and debate goes on for the re-modelling and refurb of La Croisette in 1850, the link from Val Thorens to La Masse, the World Cup preparations for the Men’s downhill World Cup in 2023 (via top of the Bouc Blanc then Jockeys including the orignal start of Jockeys) and of course the La Tania Moretta Village/Extension project and Chairlift – no further news since this article last year.

It appears that a mid-station on Grangettes with a gondola to Aquamotion (and the new hotel/apartment complex l’Ecrin Blanc where earth work has started) is not going in just yet.

Courchevel

New Grangettes Gondola

Opening in December 2018 from Courchevel Village (1550) up to La Croisette in 1850 this replacement to the old Grangettes will have 10 seater cabins offering a faster and more comfortable ride up. More info in our What/s New / Future Stuff article from October 2017.

The original plans for a mid-station for a gondola link with Aquamotion and the new apartment residence down there appear to be on hold for now. A different (and cheaper and smaller capacity) lift up from there may now be used.

 
Le Praz Gondola and New Base Station Building
Work has already started on the new base station incorporating a Tourist Office, Ticket Sales, Underground Car Park etc. The new 10 seater gondola will now arrive near the top of Tovets chair – an easier walk up to La Croisette area and take only 5 minutes instead of the current 8 minutes. The gondola base station will integrate in to the new base building which will have sports facilities and a running track on the roof!


Work is expected to be completed by Dec 2019 and is now underway…

Photo Credit – Skifan

 
Bozel to Courchevel Lift
This has been talked about for as long as anyone can remember but seems to be gathering momentum now and will come to fruition. The Torchlit descent this Winter and the chance to ski down for a long period did give this quite a bit of publicity.

A study has already been carried out with a planned route from Bozel in the hamlet of Moulins, an intermediate station in St Bon (Jairaz bridge) and an arrival in Courchevel Village next to the Dou du Midi car park. The plan is to reduce traffic on RD91a road (Bozel to 1550 takes 16 minutes – a gondola would take just 6 apparently) and also link St Bon (the administration capital of the valley) in to the 3V system.

Meribel

New Plan de l’Homme Charlift
A very smart new lift is going in to the centre of the resort at La Chaudanne complete with bubble hood and heated seats! Although still a 6 seater it will have a higher throughput raising the capacity / skiers per hour figure.

Photo Credit – Skifan

Work started as soon as the lifts closed – progress on the base so far below from end of the season to now…



Photo Credit – Skifan

 
New Cherferie Charlift
The old Plan de l’Homme is getting move up the hill and replacing the dog leg exposed drag following the ridge for a much faster and comfortable route up here (although now more and more people will ski this area of course!).

 
New Gondola cabins are being installed on the Mont Vallon Gondola
These will be Sigma Diamond 8 Seater cabins made in Veyrins, France similar to the design below. Sigma is Poma’s oldest subsidiary, Poma and Leitner are owned by HTI Group – thanks to Bouctou for the clarification on this.

The new cabins will be a welcome change with a sitdown rest when doing circuits of this epic area.

Les Menuires

The Bruyères Gondola is also having new 8 seater cabins and it’s whole electrical system refurbed with increased speed next season too. It won’t be open for hikers and bikers this Summer as usual).


Photo Credits – Skifan

 
Also, extra chairs for the Granges lift and additional capacity on the Roc 1 gondola is planned (this won’t open this Summer either).

Orelle

New Orelle Gondola

Work is set to start on the replacement of the Orelle Gondola, The 3 Vallees Express and there are plans to put a mid station and continue the gondola up to the Cime Caron – exact dates aren’t know as yet for this major project which would include a blue piste from the top.

Further Future Developments

La Croisette Refurb
Artists impressions so far, but plans being drawn up to modernise the whole building.

 
Latest on the La Masse / Val Thorens link – Dame Blanche
No work yet on the new proposed Dame Blanche lift near the Plan de l’Eau chair (high enough to link across to access Masse 2) which includes a new piste down the Lac de Lou side. An artist impression video has been released of the proposal. Ultimately a single gondola to the top of La Masse is planned when Masse 1 & 2 need replacing.

2023 World Ski Championships – HERE!

As we revealed live, the rights to host the 2023 FIS World Ski Championships was recently won in a joint bid by Courchevel and Meribel.

This bi-annual event was last hosted in France by Val d’Isere in 2009.

Expect more improvements plus athletes and spectators facilities to be built leading up to the events when the area will be showcased to a TV audience of up to 600 million!

As can be seen from the video, Meribel will host the Women’s and Team events on the regularly used for competitions, Roc de Fer piste from the top of the Olympic Chair while Courchevel will host Men’s events primarily on the classic black Jockeys piste. Spectator access down the sides of Jockeys will be interesting!

The Men’s Downhill will start from near the top of the Bouc Blanc piste and cut across on to Jockeys (possibly using the original start of Jockeys Piste or via the bottom or Arolles) the final section uses the bottom of Murettes near to the bottom of the Ski Jump where no doubt extra grandstands etc will be situated.

Please don’t let them ruin Jockeys piste…!

The 2023 FIS Alpine World Skiing Championships take place between 9 and 23 February 2023 – yep smack in the middle of half term! As always, book early…

Thanks to the relevant Tourist Offices and kind permission from Skifan for the photographs.