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What’s New in La Tania & The 3 Valleys 2021 – The Definitive Guide (Part 2 of 3)

 

Part 1: La Tania / Courchevel
Part 3: Val Thorens / Orelle / Les Menuire / St Martin

Part 2: Méribel / Mottaret

The two “New” entries on the Méribel Valley piste map for 2021

The run of the Bouquetin lift
Photo courtesy of Ski Fan

The first is the new Bouquetin chairlift above Mottaret replacing the old Plattières bubble (which were sold off in 3 minutes in April) with a bottom to top time of only 2 minutes 20 seconds giving direct access to Les Menuires / St Martin.

The new lift is a Poma high speed 6m/s, detachable 6-seater with 37 chairs, 721m long with 302m of vertical giving a capacity of 2600 skiers per hour. Non-skier compatible too.

The Bouquetin bottom station to the left with the Plan de Main top station on the right
Photo courtesy of Ski Fan
The top station with the Roc 2 and Granges chair visible
Photo courtesy of Ski Fan
Video of the construction of the new Bouquetin Chairlift

The second “New” is on the Piste des Animaux which was part of the Disney Frozen II promotion last year and has been reworked this year.

We walked around this during the summer and it was great fun identifying the animals from the signs with footprints, colours and sounds as clues, it does get quite competitive and there wasn’t a child in sight!

Situated in the Altiport sector this green slope is fun and educational, transforming young skiers into explorers in search of the animals that live in The 3 Valleys The Piste des Animaux is also accessible on foot via a
walking path that runs alongside it – it’s the perfect place for family time together!

World Cup 2023 in Méribel
Méribel hosts the ladies races in the 2023 World Cup and this now gets marked on the 2021 piste map.

The Roc de Fer has a new tunnel to allow access across the ski area while competitions are taking place. Not as over-engineered as the L’Eclipse one but a great improvement over the previous tunnel.

Roc de Fer skiers tunnel – 8.5m wide, 5m high and 50m long
Photo courtesy of Ski Fan

Les Cretes Restaurant
Situated about 400m along from the Tougnette / St Martin 2 summit near the Cherferie crossover on the way to Jerusalem has been knocked down and is no longer on the map – it is however being rebuilt (bigger and more modern) but won’t be ready for this Winter.

The new Cretes Restaurant under construction

Let’s hope it keeps the family run, friendly feel and they bring all that (interesting) junk hanging on the walls back…

New Footbridge
A new bridge has been constructed to allow almost direct access from the Raffort piste to the Olympe gondola at Le Raffort instead of having to go up and down flights of steps to reach it.

The new footbridge at Le Raffort

Last Winter so the new red Daguet piste connect to the blue Raffort piste so this is a welcome improvement to the infrastructure down there.

Click on the map for a larger image

Rhodos Gondola
Building notices have gone up regarding a new Rhodos gondola mid station as this valuable lift gets replaced in the next couple of years. Very useful for getting back to La Tania (via the Loze Express) or access to the Altiport beginners area. Always open a little bit later for getting to the Ronnie for Après too!

Rhodos gondola this Summer
The picnic hut this Summer near the Saulire mid station was maintained
View across to Mottaret and the new Bouquetin chairlift construction is just visible
The Elements family park will be refreshed once again this Winter

Torchlit descents from Saulire continue with a private gondola
lift ride up, a drink as you watch the sunset over the mountain, and then a torchlit ski descent accompanied by ski instructors on a run freshly groomed for your small group.

There’s also “First Tracks” with Les Pierres Plates restaurant where every Wednesday morning, a small group of lucky skiers will have the opportunity to admire a magnificent sunrise at 2738m, enjoy a
delicious breakfast before an exceptional ski descent on freshly groomed slopes all to themselves!

It’s the 30th anniversary of La Tueda Nature Reserve in the Vanoise National Park above Mottaret. Home to thousands of mountain species from Moss to freshwater Molluscs to Ibex Mountain Goats. It’s seen as a great success in protecting and nurturing the forest, floral, fauna and overall ecosystem.

The Folie Douce have confirmed that they will have music but there will be no dancing on the tables with more of a restaurant and cabaret lounge vibe – at least at the start of the season.

Down in Brides Les Bains there’s a new bar called Fabrik and Le Bis Trop has a new stage area where they plan live music 3 times a week.

Looks like we’ll have a new wine bar venue in Bozel too – more soon.

Covid Secure for Winter 2021
Ski Resorts in France during Winter 2021 will be following the procedures in this poster produced by France Montagnes – The French Ski Resorts Association.

Click on the image for the full size poster

Many thanks to Ski Fan for the photographs used – check his photo site and video site for lots more images across the 3 Valleys.

Part 1: La Tania / Courchevel

Part 2: Méribel / Mottaret

Part 3: Val Thorens / Orelle / Les Menuire / St Martin