Courchevel & Les Trois Vallees histories

Courchevel History

In the early 1900's St. Bon was a farming village occasionally welcoming wealthy visitors from the neighbouring curiste town of Brides les Bains, eager to experience the charm of the mountains.

1925
The maire of St. Bon, Louis Curtet, decides to open a hotel all year round, the Lac Bleu. The clientele begins to increase, and a new career is born, that of ski instructor. The first qualified moniteur in the valley is Jean Pachod. By night he teaches local youths; future key figures, such as Jean Blanc, Régis Chevalier, Jean Sulice, Gustave Mugnier and Eugene Chardon.

1945
Savoie is dependant on income from hydroelectric power, made by the torrents of water flowing down from the mountains. However the nationalisation of the electricity industry means that the development of tourism is essential to save the local economy.

Jean Blanc starts work on the valleys first ski lift, the St. Agathe on the slopes of Moriond, destined to soon become Courchevel 1650. However there are many skeptics to this huge investment, and raising finance is difficult.

1946
Savoie acts. On the 3rd May, the Conseil Generale, headed by Mr. Pierre de la Gontrie, and the Commune of St. Bon decide to create a ski resort. An agreement is signed by the mayor, Francis Mugnier, and the land above the Plateau de Tovets is sold for a nominal fee. Not all locals were particularly pleased about signing over land that had been theirs for many generations. The site is to become the first ski resort in France to be built on virgin territory.

1947 Under the guidance of the resort architects Maurice Michaud and Laurent Chappis (left), who had met as POW's in Austria, work is started on the first buildings, and on the huge task of building a road up from le Praz. Chappis had originally planned to build a resort in Meribel as he had skied de randonee in the Allues valley before the war, but by the time they got to start on the project in 1945 they found that the English were already there. The first two ski lifts are the Touvets and Loze drag lifts. There is some disagreement about the name of the resort, as the original town of Courchevel (1550) is unhappy to give up its name nor for it's new neighbour to be called Super Courchevel. Chappis had wanted to call the resort Touvets after the name of the plateau but eventually the decision is taken to name each district by its altitude. In fact they baptised the resort 1850 to be 50meters higher than the then highest resort of Val d'Isere despite the fact that no point within the resort is higher than 1747meters.

1952
As the buildings developed so does the ski area. The Saulire cable car is built, linking Courchevel with its neighbouring resort Meribel, which itself is also under going rapid development.

Chappis was keen to build a resort that was in harmony with the environment - the original plan left every boulder and tree exactly where it was found. You can still find traces of his dream in the form the Chalet du Petit Navire (designed by Pradelle). The point was not to create a faux-Tyrollean architecture in the Savoie but to create small, modest chalets in harmony with the environment. However big money starts to arrive and the result was unrestricted development in contravention of planning regulations. Most of the original station has been bulldozed to make way for vast chalets and hotels with little space in between. Disillusioned, Pradelle and Chappis left the resort in 1959 to work on the Parc de la Vanoise.

1954
Emille Allais, the great french skiing champion, who had raced in the national ski team with Jean Blanc, is made Technical Director of the resort. It is perhaps his influence above all, that is to set the groundwork for Courchevel to eventually become one of the world's great ski resorts. While everyone was worrying about how to get tourists up the mountain, Emille's vision was to focus on how to maximise their pleasure in coming down. He invents and defines the role of a pisteur.

1955 - 1965
France encourages tourism with subsidised loans and private investors begin to see the potential.

1961
Thanks to Michael Ziegler, the first international mountain altiport is built, giving rapid access to the resort.

1966
The Le Praz bubble lift and the Jean Blanc olympic ski run are inaugurated. Leo Lacroix establishes a new record - the first time a skier has exceeded 100km per hour.

1972
The Croisette complex is built in the centre of the resort. It houses all the resorts services under one roof. Courchevel's 25 year project of construction is complete.....the legend continues.

1989
A new resort, La Tania, is created, between Courchevel and Meribel, and the 3 Valleys skiing area is extended even further.

1992
Courchevel hosts the ski jumping event of the Winter Olympic Games of Albertville.

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Les Trois Vallees

Birth : 1946
Altitude : 1300-1850

So you think you know the largest ski area in the world?

That you know the three valleys by heart? Over the seasons you have become a faithful visitor to the resorts that have held the title of largest interconnected ski area in the world for more than thirty years.

Nevertheless the Saint-Bon, Allues and Belleville valleys that are home to five large internationally renowned ski resorts offer so much more. Courchevel, Méribel, La Tania, Les Menuires and Val Thorens have a fabulous history and boast secret settings and charming spots for skiers and non-skiers alike. They are waiting to be discovered beyond the interconnected ski lift network and the wide-open marked-out runs.

The Savoyard region of the 3 Valleys was the first to invest in winter sports as a group.

The story started in 1925, became official in 1942 and fully materialized in 1973.

For more than 30 years the 3 Valleys have thrilled and enchanted skiers and mountain enthusiasts from all over the world. No ski area like this can be found anywhere else. Mother Nature has done a pretty good job in this part of the Savoie region : the best ski conditions and possibilities for developing ski slopes can be found here.

The development of the ski area was carried out at a steady pace in order to preserve its natural origins. Not only do the 3 Valleys offer the largest vertical drop and most kilometres of runs, but also a wide variety of resort styles and settings over an area of 1400 km2. Beyond it's size, this variety is most certainly where its strength lies and what makes it such a successful destination today.

Here 1400 km2 are fitted out for winter sports activities during the winter months and numerous other activities in the summer such as hiking, climbing, fishing and mountain biking. The Three Valleys have come a long way since 1925.

At that time several English businessmen and experienced skiers wanted to create a resort in France like those that already existed in Austria and the Swiss Grisons. In order to do so they asked Arnold Lunn, the most senior of the British skiers and inventor of the slalom, to go and explore the Saint-Bon valley. He organised a small expedition to methodically prospect the Dauphinoise and Savoyard Alps. His verdict of the 3 Valleys was as follows : "in Savoie there is an exceptional site that comprises three almost parallel valleys : Saint-Bon, Les Allues and Belleville. In spite of their different features, they lend themselves well to the development of large resorts.

The slopes are magnificent, very well positioned, the risks of avalanches are minimal, they are easy to locate and therefore easy to stop. "The legend of the 3 Valleys was born"

Up until 1970, each ski-lift provider was independent. Anyone wishing to ski all over the 3 Valleys had to buy lift tickets from various different companies : a skier-friendly system needed to be set up and the ideal solution would be a 3 Valleys pass.

In 1971, Joseph FONTANET, Minister and Mayor of Saint Martin de Belleville, Eugène BLANCHE, Maire for les Allues and Maurice MOREL, Maire of Saint-Bon, helped by the different Tourist Office Directors took the decision to promote the " 3 Vallées ". concept and label.
Their idea of creating a " 3 Valleys " ski-pass was warmly accepted by the lift companies and from the summer of 1971 a whole range of 3 Valleys ski-passes went on sale.

The first visitors to the area described it as natural treasure. It continues it's growth today in perfect harmony with the environment, which is what the real aim has always been. Establishing itself as a privileged ski and tourism destination, whilst developing less well equipped, unspoiled areas of the mountain is also a priority for the largest ski area in the world. From one extreme to another… On the edge of the traditional wide ski runs, the eastern side of the 3 Valleys ski area is waiting to be discovered : in the Saint-Bon valley and on the borders of the Courchevel ski area you will find sunny Moriond (1650). On an open hilltop its ski runs cover Alpine pastures that have been looked after for centuries. Great skiing can be had here right from the start of the season, even if there are only fifteen centimetres of snow. In this particular sector of the 3 Valleys, where the first ski lift of the area was built, many magnificent ski routes can be found : Chaplets, Chanrossa, Roc Merlet and for spring skiing le Vallon des Avals, le Petit Mont-Blanc and les Râteaux.

The Saint-Bon valley offers some of the most beautiful wooded sectors in the 3 Valleys, many of which are protected, along with perhaps the most interesting scenery in the whole of the Tarentaise. Here you will enjoy the last rays of the day’s sunshine. If you have to return to Val Thorens the daylight will accompany you along your journey back to the Belleville valley.