Another Val Thorens Escapade in a Day – we believe you Leon, Klemen and Maxi

From Leon:
Hello La Tania!
My name is Leon and I am a 20 year old student from Switzerland. I’ve been visiting Les 3 Vallees together with my closest friends for the past 3 years now and this year we stumbled upon your “escapade in a day” hall of fame. 
We planned to make our try on a Saturday, the 4th of January, as there would be way less people on pistes because of standard hotel cycles. And luckily, we were right. Staying at Val Thorens, We used the provided route that we found on the latest escapade in a day (Chris, Katie and Matt) but decided to start at the “Funitel Peclet” lift in and have “col” as our end goal.
With our Backpacks full of food and drinks, and having checked out the “Point de La Masse” off-piste route the day before, we were ready for our first attempt. We started at the Funitel Peclet at 09:15 and actually arrived at col at around 15:50. We had actually made it on our first try and sure arrived at col packed with joy, happiness and sore legs. 

The Problem now lays in proving that we actually made it. As neither me nor my friends own a smart watch, we wanted to use the track function on the official 3 vallees app. To our disbelief we learned that the tracking instantly stops as you close the app. Thinking that the ticket office will be able to print out the evidence needed, we went on with the escapade without any worries. Arriving there at the evening though, we learned that they are not allowed to give out the information due to the french law. All we now got is the escapade diploma that the lady was able to give us.
Anyone know if they still have them in Courchevel?

I know that you normally acquire GPS data of some sort to insert people to the hall of fame but all I can give you is my word, the diploma and some photos we took before and during the escape.
Below you will find: All three Diplomas, The Victory picture from me and friends, The Map that we used for our Trip, and a hungry Klemen (name of my friend) eating french chestnut creme to gain power!

I am sure you have better things to do but if you’d call the funitel ticket office (the one located inside of the gondola station on the piste) and asked for three guys that did the escapade in a day, I’m pretty sure that they’ll remember us. We were in there for quite a long time talking to them, explaining them why we needed the proof etc. Not to mention that they were pretty astonished that we managed to do the whole escapade in a day. I really hope that this is enough proof.

The Name of us three: Leon, Klemen and Maxi. If we got into the hall of fame, our Team Name: Les Cremes de Marrons (we ate a whole tube during the trip as a sugar boost). I hope I’ll hear from you and I wish you a wonderful season, Leon

What’s all this about….

The 3 Valleys Escapade was the lift company promotion of visiting (originally in 2006) 14 points across the Three Valleys and gaining a certificate & badge over the period of your holiday – then we had the idea of doing it in a day…

It’s probably the toughest day skiing ever for a recreational skier but lots of people have got involved over the years so we feature them in our Escapade in a Day Hall of Fame

This is no longer being promoted by The 3 Valleys but we’ll still stick you in the Hall of Fame if you complete it – send a Ski Tracks or similar trace in plus a pic of your group.

What started out as a late night “is it possible?” discussion became a challenge the following week – the history and our original route are here

Originally punch cards had to be stamped at each check point until electronic passes arrived – they could then be checked by the lift company. The original Escapade was 30 lifts, 13000m vertical and 70km and 2016 peaked with 34 lifts, 17000m vertical (twice the height of Everest) and around 100km total distance. It became a little less for 2017 and 2018 sees the use of Roc de Tougne fast new lift instead of the drag – still a big, big day out though with all talking (and lunch) kept to the lifts…

PDF list of lifts here for downloading to a smart phone – this needs a 2019 update as Roc de Tougne chair is not a drag now, Legends replaces Roc de Fer and the drag in Les Menuirs, Montaulever is no longer there (which is a bonus!).