ESCAPADE 2025: The Belgium Seven!

11 March 2025

We (Andreas P., Joran C., Liesbet D., Joris N., Rani G., Geoffrey D. and Ken L.), a friend group from Belgium, Aalter finished the “Escapade in a day” challenge today. 

Our day started at Le Bettex in the early morning. Six skiers and one snowboarder stood in front of the lift, ready to start their journey. A clear plan was set: a fixed navigator at the front and a red lantern at the back.

We set off at a good pace under a nice morning sun, quickly tackling La Masse and Val Thorens. Upon reaching the top of Les 3 Vallées in Orelle, the first hopeful thoughts popped up: “Would it really be possible?”

Leaving Orelle, we ate lunch in the lift and proceeded through Val Thorens, heading for Mont Vallon. Surprisingly, there was almost no queue at Mont Vallon, which gave us even more hope of completing this challenge. We quickly closed in on Mottaret via the long, flat Ours piste (which our snowboarder didn’t particularly enjoy). Again, we were happily surprised by the lack of people at Pas du Lac. The vibes in the lift were good—we were going to make it.

But then, disaster struck. Close to the end of Pas du Lac, the lift suddenly stopped working. For a full 15 minutes, we hung in the air, losing our positive spirit minute by minute. Luckily, we eventually started moving again and were greeted by sunny weather and empty slopes at Courchevel. We quickly ticked off the many villages of Courchevel before heading back to Méribel in snowy weather. Hope was restored—we were going to make it.

Finally, we started the long descent to Saint-Martin-de-Belleville on a piste that had truly seen better days. We jumped on the cable car, heading to the last chairlift: the Saint Martin Express. With 45 minutes to spare, we had done it.

To celebrate, we joined up with the rest of our fantastic group at Roc 7 and then returned to Le Bettex to enjoy some delicious raclette.

A day to never forget.

Yours truly,
The Red Lantern (Andreas) 

ESCAPADE 2025 – What’s this all 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 – doing it in a day was a bit tricky though!

It all started out as a late night “is it possible?” discussion – the history and our original route from 2006 are here

Originally punch cards had to be stamped at each check point until electronic passes arrived and then the use of a lift was recorded – now we use Apps such as Ski Tracks or Relive to prove our route.

Note that the Escapade is no longer officially promoted by Les 3 Vallees from Winter 2017 but we still record successful tracks for anyone who is interested in being in the sought after La Tania Escapade Hall of Fame

The original Escapade took 30 lifts, around 13000m vertical with 70km length and by 2016 reached 34 lifts, 17000m vertical (twice the height of Everest) and around 80km skiing (140km total distance). With the newer, longer, faster lifts we’re back down to 30 lifts and the age range for successful completion is from 8 to 76 years old! The latest ESCAPADE route

This is NOT a race

ALWAYS CONTROL YOUR SPEED. You do this entirely at your own risk, act responsibly, take full ownership for your own actions and all of those with you, respect other people (& the mountain), ski & ride within your limits, always obey the skiers & snowboarders code, observe all signs, pay attention to all notices, advice & instructions from Pisteurs, only ski off piste if fully equipped & knowledgeable, it’s not a race (you won’t be insured), think about the safety of others as well as yourself but above all, think of other people, take care, don’t wreck things for others & don’t even think of blaming anyone else if it all goes wrong…..

Changes through the years
2006 – First year and cards with hole punches stationed at lifties huts are used.
2008 – Electronic lift analysis is now used – no use hiking out the 4th Valley now!
2010 – The piste map did not include the top of the 4th Valley and the Col lift in Val Thorens.
2011 – The X-Wing Discovery was launched but only had 10 check points and doesn’t count!
2012 – Peclet included and Biollay / Vizelle used for Saulire access.
2015 – Foret used instead of La Tania gondola.
2016 – Mont Vallon is included for the first time plus the Montaulever drag lift.
2017 – Chapelets replaced by Petite Boss drag and La Tania’s Bouc Blanc chair replaces Tovets.
2018 – The new Roc de Tougne chair replaces the drag lift of the same name.
2019 – Legends replaces Roc de Fer and the Montaulever drag in Les Menuires has been removed.
2020 – Cime Caron now back in use.
2022 – New Pointe de la Masse and Orelle-Caron Gondolas (for example) could be used.
2023 – Using the new lifts, we ski all the resorts, all the perimeters and classic peaks – ESCAPADE 2023
2024 – No changes to 2023 route!
2025 – No changes to 2024 route!