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Les Trois Vallées

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Overview of Les Menuires and the Belleville valley
Overview of Les Menuires and the Belleville valley

Les Trois Vallées (French pronunciation: [le tʁwɑ vale]; "The Three Valleys") is a ski region in the Tarentaise Valley in the Savoie department of Southeastern France, to the south of the town of Moûtiers, partly in Vanoise National Park. Since 1971, it has been possible to ski the interlinked valleys using a single ski pass. Thus, Les Trois Vallées is the largest connected ski area in the world which is linked solely by ski lifts and slopes. It claims to have about 600 km (370 mi) of ski slopes, resulting in 18.5 km² of groomed runs, while an independent expert measured about 493 km. In addition, there are 120 km for cross-country skiing. Les Trois Vallées has 183 ski lifts, which can transport 260,000 skiers per hour. Other equipment owned by the operating companies include 2,300 snow cannons and 73 snow grooming machines operated by 160 snow groomers who work in shifts during the night. Other employees in the area include 424 ski patrollers and 3,000 ski instructors.As implied by its name, the area originally consisted of three valleys: Saint-Bon, Allues, and Belleville. The skiing area has since been extended into a 'fourth' valley, the Maurienne valley. It is adjacent to Val Thorens, but can also be accessed using a long gondola lift from Orelle. The following ski resorts are in Les Trois Vallées:

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Les Trois Vallées (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Les Trois Vallées
Albertville

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Wikipedia: Les Trois ValléesContinue reading on Wikipedia

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N 45.35 ° E 6.6 °
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73550 Albertville
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
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Overview of Les Menuires and the Belleville valley
Overview of Les Menuires and the Belleville valley
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Méribel
Méribel

Méribel (French pronunciation: [meʁibɛl]) is a ski resort in the Tarentaise Valley in the French Alps. Méribel refers to three neighbouring villages in the Les Allues commune of the Savoie department of France, near the town of Moûtiers (45.401°N 6.5655°E / 45.401; 6.5655), called Méribel Centre, Méribel-Mottaret and Méribel Village. The villages are within Vanoise National Park and a part of the Les Trois Vallées interlinked ski system. Méribel Les Allues is a ski resort that was developed adjacent to the traditional hamlet of Morel, with its centre situated at about 1400 metres above sea level. It was founded by a Scotsman, Major Peter Lindsay, who was looking for a new site for winter sports away from the ski resorts of Austria and Germany, because of the growing strength of the Nazi regime. In 1936, he visited the town of Les Allues for the first time. He then imagined how the town could become a ski resort. Firstly, he decided to create a property company in order to develop finances strong enough to build the resort. In 1938, the first lift was placed above Les Allues. A year later, he began the construction of the first chalets and hotels in the hamlet of Méribel. Three years later, the war would stop the development of the resort, but when it was over, development continued. Now a Colonel, Peter Lindsay used specialised architects, Paul Grillo (Grand Prix de Rome in 1937) and his partner Christian Durupt, so that all buildings would be in harmony with the Savoyard style, using wood and stone for the walls, with slanted slate roofs. In 1950, the Burgin-Saulire gondola was built to link the resort to Courchevel. Lindsay's family continue to hold a financial stake in the resort. Lindsay's ashes and those of his wife are scattered on the Burgin mountain. Méribel was a subsite and hosted some events of the 1992 Winter Olympics hosted by nearby Albertville. The resort host the ice hockey and the women's alpine skiing events. Until 2011, Méribel was the host to the Altitude Festival, with acts such as KT Tunstall, Marcus Brigstocke and Omid Dijalili performing in the bars and nightclubs around the resort. For 2011, it has been announced that the festival will be moved to Austria, with the organiser Richard Lett citing a reduction in support from the Méribel Tourist Office.The ski resort is part of the Trois Vallées ski area. The Three Valleys area comprises 180 lifts, 335 marked runs (over 600 kilometres) and over 130 km of cross-country tracks. The Three Valleys was expanded in 1996 to incorporate a fourth valley, though the area kept the name Trois Vallées. The area comprises the resorts of Courchevel, La Tania, Méribel, Les Menuires-Saint Martin, Val Thorens and Orelle.The resort comprises the sub-villages of: Méribel-Mottaret, at an altitude of 1,750 m towards the head of the Allues Valley—served by the Plattiers gondola which provides access to neighbouring resorts Les Menuires and Val Thorens; Raffort and La Gittaz, which are served by the Meribel Olympic Gondola; Chandon, which has free bus access to resort; and Méribel Village at 1,400 m on the road to Courchevel 1850 at the bottom of the Lapin piste and start of the Golf Chair to the popular beginners skiing area The Altiport.