Ski in Les Menuires

Skiing in Les Menuires

Les Menuires - Ski Resort in The Three Valleys, French Alps - 160km of Piste (1850m to 3200m)

Purpose-built altitude resort cursed by much disclaimed architecture but nicknamed 'The smile of the French Alps' by its owners. Well positioned on the Trois Vallées and livelier than many similar ski stations.

Les Menuires

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Les Menuires Ski Facts

Les Menuires Ski Facts

		Expert Skiers
		Intermediate Skiers
		Beginners
		Snowboarding
		Snow
		Apres-Ski
	7	Black Pistes (12km)
	26	Red Pistes (50km)
	33	Blue Pistes (89km)
	5	Green Pistes (9km)
160km		Downhill Pistes
28km		Cross Country Pistes
40		Ski Lifts
1350m		Max Vertical
3200m		Highest Lift
1850m		Lowest Piste
1850m		Resort Altitude

Les Menuires

The French ski resort of Les Menuires is part of the Three Valleys ski area with access to 600km of downhill skiing, with 497 individual pistes, served by 200 ski lifts. In addition to the skiing in Les Menuires itself (160km of pisted ski runs), the appropriate ski Lift Pass will allow you to ski or snowboard in the other Three Valleys ski resorts of Courchevel, La Tania, Méribel, Saint Martin de Belleville and Val Thorens.

The ski resort itself is above 1500m, so skiing or boarding back to the resort is usually possible. With pistes above 2500 metres, skiing and snowboarding is assured throughout the season.

Snowmaking :- Les Menuires is able to augment natural snow, on 65km of ski runs, with 418 Snow Cannons.

Ski Lift Capacity :- The 40 Ski Lifts of Les Menuires are able to uplift 50,000 skiers / snowboarders per hour.

There are three Airports within two hours drive, so ski weekends, snowboard breaks and short ski holidays to Les Menuires are perfectly feasible.

Skiing in Les Menuires

Les Menuires skiing radiates out in all directions from the resort and it's a tough choice to decide which way to head first thing in the morning. It may depend of course on which lift ticket option you've taken: there are at least five if you include the beginner's pass.

The St Martin and les Menuires pass opens up 160km (100 miles) of trails served by more than 33 modern lifts and costs about 30% less per week than the 3 Vallées ticket. For a bigger area and access to the altitude slopes the Belleville Valley only pass still offers more skiing than most resorts in the world, 300km (187 miles) of trails between Saint Martin all the way up to Val Thorens, served by more than 60 modern lifts. However it's only about 5% cheaper than the 3 Vallées pass (600km/350 miles of trails).

Les Menuires own skiing in the Belleville Valley is at one end of the Trois Vallées with lifts linking directly and quickly to the skiing of Meribel or over le Mont de la Chambre to Val Thorens or back down to Saint Martin de Belleville on long pistes. The resort is perhaps best known for its 'own' ski area somewhat away from the various 3 Vallées routes - Le Pointe de la Masse, where north facing slopes offer some of the circuits most challenging skiing, notably the off piste run down to the Lac de Lou.

Both Les Menuires and Saint Martin de Belleville offer a snow guarantee which enables skiers to reserve their holidays with the promise of satisfaction or your money back.

The Ecole de ski Français (ESF) at Les Menuires has done more than most European resorts to make a special effort for adult beginners, following the North American model of creating a 'beginners village' - an enclosed area of around 5000 square metres near the Preyerand area especially reserved for new skiers and designed to suit their needs. Beginners also have 6 free ski lifts around the resort alone and a special very low cost beginner's pass giving access to a reduced circuit of 11 key lifts throughout les Menuires. The Ecole de Ski Français (ESF) employs nearly 200 instructors in the resort who offer lessons for groups or private individuals in regular skiing, snowboarding, competition skiing and the new sport of skwal.

Snow shoe outings are guided by ski school instructors. For experts one day and half day off-piste tours of the Three Vallées are available and the Company of Guides, which is attached to the ski school, in the winter offers additional off piste courses and tuition, ski tours and glacier treks. The ESF has an international section especially set up to deal with foreign guests.

Snowboarding in Les Menuires

Les Menuires is highly rated by Snowboarders and there is a Snow Park.

Les Menuires Aprés Ski

Les Menuires is somewhat off the beaten track for après ski hedonists, but there are plenty of choices if you are not desperate for a wild time every night! The most popular establishments include le challenge, le naine, with the Leeberty disco the main late night spot.

Sledging and a quad bike or buggy circuit, snowmobiling and the cinemas are all available in the evening. The resort's sports centre is also available to 9pm with saunas, jacuzzi and Turkish bath.

At the top of the Roc des 3 Manches gondola, children and adults alike will also enjoy the 4km long Roc 'n' bob tobogganing slope. It has 450m of vertical descent and 22 bends providing a thrill ride at the heart of the Les Menuires!

Les Menuires Snow Reports by e-mail

For a Free 7-Day Snow Forecast for Les Menuires, including a Snow Report with current skiing conditions, just sign-up to our Ski Chat Forum and set Les Menuires as a favourite ski resort in your Profile.

Les Menuires in brief

Les Menuires Ski Resort is:
Excellent for Expert Skiers.
Excellent for Intermediate Skiers.
Very good for Beginners.
Very good for Snowboarding.
Opened : December 8, 2012
Closed : April 27, 2013
Opening Subject To Snow Conditions.

Les Menuires Snow Forecast

Snow Forecast for Les Menuires

Map of Les Menuires

Full Page Map of Les Menuires