It has to be said that the Three Valleys area of France has to my favourite place to ski. It could have something to do with the fact it's the largest linked ski area in the world, or just that every time I've been, there has been a fantastic amount of snow. What ever the reason, I can't wait to get back.
Last time I went was the first time I'd stayed in Mottaret (referred to as Meribel & Mottaret). Each morning I was able to ski down the paths (as there was so much snow) and join the runs which took us straight down into the centre of Meribel. From there you could easily access Courchevel, La Tania, Val Thorens. However what you could also do was take the 2 minute walk to the lifts in Mottaret. This seemed like a particularly quite area so makes a great starting point or a great place to head for to grab a lift back up the mountain.
The runs over on the Meribel Mottaret side definitely seemed quieter and you also had access over to Val Thornes, although we never actually made it that far as the wind had shut the lifts each time we planned to go.
Head up to the top of La Tougnete for some particularly good black runs down. Not necessarily challenging, just great fun.
Getting There
I flew to Grenoble which is an exciting adventure, well...getting your luggage anyway!! It's absolutely fine if you just look at the fun side of it. Lots of planes, 2 carousels of luggage, hundreds of people and no idea which on your luggage is coming out of. Honestly it's as funny as it is chaotic!
Crystal provided us a great transfer across to the resort which took about 2 hours 30 mins.
Ski Hire
I hadn't planned anything before I went. Walk down into the centre of Mottaret (you can tell it's the centre as there is a supermarket). You'll find a selection of what look like small ski shops, but once you walk through the door you'll find they open up into large shops, or infact have a downstairs! I spent about £50 on a set of premium ski's and boots and they guys in the shop couldn't have been any more helpful.
Ski Lifts
There are so many choices for lifts both in the Meribel Mottaret area and across the entire Three Valley's we never had to queue for more than a few minutes.
Crystal Ski Guiding
I travelled with Crystal which meant I was able to tag along on their ski guiding service. It was a great opportunity to meet up with other skiers and to see other parts of the Three Valleys we hadn't seen before. It's a free service and one which I'd recommend to everyone. We were together from about 10 until 4, found a great place for lunch. There tends to be ski guiding services for different abilities.
Eating Out:
We had gone for a catered challet as there isn't a great deal to do in the evenings in Mottaret, however there are some great bars and a good size supermarket. If you want to go out for a meal then head down into Meribel.
What to watch out for:
I've very few criticisms of the area. The only warnings I'd give are probably the same anyone would say. The closer you get to Courchevel and the higher you get, the more expensive food and drink gets. It's worth heading down the mountain for lunch or just grabbing a small snack. However I would say eating on the mountain offers great views.
Taxis! I volunteered to pay for the taxi which was literately a 5 minute trip from our chalet in Mottaret to the centre of Meribel. WOW!!! £48. All I'd say is....get the bus!!!!
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