Courchevel has announced it has spent a sizable chunk of the €140m the Three Valleys announced it would be spending on upgrading its ski area over the five years to 2019 over this summer. Towards €20m is being spent in the Courchevel Valley on some flashy new lifts, as well as a new piste and some low energy snowmaking.
Two new six-seater chairlifts will be in place for the coming winter.
The first six-person detachable chair lift has replaced both the Les Gravelles and L'Aiguille du Fruit chairlifts in the Creux area, improving the connection between Courchevel Moriond and Courchevel at a cost of €8m.
The new lift's capacity of 3,300 skiers/hour is higher than the two previous structures combined and the environmental impact has been reduced with 11 pylons instead of 30.
"We strive to protect the area in which we live and work," says Courchevel's ski area director Thomas Thor-Jensen. "That means having installations which consume less energy and are less restrictive on the land on which they stand."
The Park City piste has been redesigned in the same area where the detachable chair lift L'Aiguille du Fruit will open. The new layout makes it easier to reach and has seen it reclassified as a blue piste. It now starts from the top of the chair lift and goes down to the Altiport piste, providing exceptional views.
The resort has also replaced its four-person gondola lift Forêt with another six-person detachable chairlift at a cost of €9m. The new lift is more comfortable and faster as well as being able to transport 2,400 skiers per hour compared with 1,000 previously.
"The Forêt chairlift provides a better connection from the village of Courchevel Le Praz whilst highlighting the exceptional ski area in the forest and all the levels available in this area," says Thomas Thor-Jensen.
In terms of new snowmaking, eight new-generation snow machines have been installed on the new Park City piste at a cost of 300,000 Euros. State-of-the-art low energy equipment currently accounts for 55% of the fleet. Over the years, the proportion will only increase, the resort says.
Courchevel has always been one of Europe's leading snowmakers and currently has 578 snow guns covering 60% of the area,
"We focus on updating our fleet at the same time as expanding our snow machine network," says Thomas Thor-Jensen, "The newest models use less water, less electricity and less air."