Ski Lifts in Val Thorens

Val Thorens lift system throughout the valley is excellent with many high-speed large-capacity gondolas and chairs.

Val Thorens Ski Lifts

The lift system throughout the valley is excellent, Val Thorens in particular leads the way in high-speed large capacity gondolas and the recent edition of the Bouquetin gondola has really improved the links with Méribel.  The Cime Caron cable car is still a bottleneck, however, so if you want to venture into the Fourth Valley (Orelle), you’re generally better off crossing over at the Col De Rosael or the Col de Thorens.  And if you must use the Cime de Caron cable car,  get there early, before the hoardes from the Meribel and Courchevel valleys arrive.

Les Menuires and St Martin have also invested heavily recently with new chair lifts on Mont de la Chambre, the new base cable car from St Martin, the new 6-man Becca chair andthe Granges six-man chair, which really opens up the ski area between St Martin and Les Menuires to Val Thorens-based skiers..

Val Thorens Ski Passes

The two main types of ski pass valid either for Val Thorens – Orelle only or the whole Three Valleys ski area:

Val Thorens-Orelle Ski Pass

This ‘just’ covers the local area around Val Thorens including the Fourth Valley above Orelle. In total there are 150 km of runs. separated into 85 pistes (9 black, 30 red, 35 blue, 11 green)..

The 3 Vallees Ski Pass

This covers the whole of the Three Valleys, the largest lift connected ski area in the world, and includes all of Val Thorens-Orelle, Les Menuires, St Martin de Belleville, Méribel, La Tania, Brides les Bains et Courchevel. More than 600 km of runs separated into 337 pistes (35 black, 107 red, 140 blue, 55 green). 

Val Thorens Ski Passes for Beginners

For novice skiers and boarders, Castor and Pollux lifts (two twin covered 240m long magic carpets) in the Plein Sud sector, and Musaraigne and Campagnols lifts (two 200m long magic carpets) in the Peclet sector are free of charge as is the Roc drag lift. There is also a special half price pass for near beginners who are starting to improve. This covers the above free lifts plus  the Cairn gondola, 2 Lacs and the Caron cable car. You can buy it by the day of the half day.

Belleville Valley Ski Pass (discontinued)

Unfortunately, the Belleville Valley ski pass valid for all the the runs in Val Thorens (including Orelle), Les Menuires and Saint Martin de Belleville has been discontinued.