Val Thorens, Savoie
Situated at an altitude of 2,300 metres, Val Thorens is the highest winter sports resport in europe.
As part of the Three Valleys skiing area which stretches over more than 600 kilometres of runs, Val Thorens enables you to ski directly to other local resorts :
Courchevel - La Tania - Méribel - Les Ménuires - Saint Martin De Belleville - Orelle - Brides Les Bains.
History
A quite extraordinary gamble from a visionary engineer, the resort of Val Thorens sprung from the imagination of property developer, Pierre Schenbelen. Building Europe’s highest altitude ski resort was a staggeringly ambitious plan for its time and the developer worked unremittingly to amass the necessary funds and permits to get the project off the ground.
1971 : The first ski lifts were installed in the autumn.
At Christmas, Val Thorens was opened to the public.
1972 : Jean Béranger established the resort’s first Ski School together with the Sports Club and the Tourist Office.
1981-1982 : The construction of the world’s biggest cable car, culminating at an altitude of 3,200m, raised the resort’s renown to international level.
1995 : Erection of a 6-seater detachable chair lift, the world’s first to offer a double-loading system.
2007 : Installation of two "unmanned" state-of-the-art gondola lifts.
Today, thanks to considerable investment, Val Thorens boasts the most modern ski lift system in Europe.
The resort
An exceptional destination.
Val Thorens is a semi-pedestrianized resort meaning that, whilst through traffic is allowed, parking is limited to authorized zones. A free shuttle service enables guests to get around easily.
With about fifty restaurants, including a Michelin-starred establishment, Val Thorens provides plenty of choice for eating out.
Several years ago, the resort built the longest toboggan run in France: 6km (3.7 miles) long with an altitude drop of 700m.
It’s also home to a winter racing track which offers an initiation to ice-driving, and a snowpark stretching over 70,000 square metres.
As far as après-ski is concerned, Val Thorens has a long things-to-do list: there’s a large sports and leisure centre, a bowling alley, bars, pubs, night clubs and tearooms galore, plus games rooms and a whole lot more activities in store for holidaymakers..
Val Thorens is one of the world’s leading ski resorts!
