Work on the Jockeys Black Piste begins – Big changes to this iconic run

A notice preventing access to the whole area around the Jockeys Piste is now in force until 10th December 2019 while earthworks take place around “improving” the Jockeys piste for the 2023 World Cup Finals being held in Courchevel & Méribel.

As soon as the award of the 2023 World Cup Finals hosts was made and the Jockeys Piste (along with the top section of the Bouc Blanc) was chosen for the men’s events we wondered how some of those steep pitches followed by flat areas would cope with skiers travelling up to 150km/h…

As well as work on a tunnel and access for skiers to enable recreational skiing to continue while races are in progress there is a new section of piste towards the bottom to avoid the sharp left had bend and flatter section where Jockeys joins the red Murettes piste.

The other earthworks involves widening and re-grading sections of the slope – we imagine this is to prevent flat landing areas for racers and improve safety. For recreational skiers those flatter spots were a welcome respite from the steeper sections and a change to get your breath back!

With the new piste set to be a training area for the Courchevel Sports Club along with other regional and national teams there will obviously be some restrictions on its use in future years. Of course on bad weather days with loads of fresh snow this is one of the best spots in the 3 Valleys (and they wont be able to race on bad weather days!).

The 2023 Alpine Skiing World Cup Finals take place from 6 February to 19 February 2023 (yes, over half term!) and is seen as a very prestigious coup for a hosting resort in promoting their image worldwide. The Ladies events, parallel races and medal ceremonies will take place in Méribel while the Men’s events plus the opening and closing ceremonies will take place in Courchevel.

No idea how many people choose there skiing holiday destination based on ski racing but we all prefer watching Skier Cross and Boarder Cross don’t we?