Courchevel () is a

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...

. It is a part of Les Trois Vallées, the largest linked ski areas in the world. Courchevel also refers to the towns of Courchevel 1300 (Le Praz), Courchevel 1550, Courchevel 1650 (Moriond), and Courchevel 1850, which are named for their

altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

s in metres. On 1 January 2017, Saint-Bon-Tarentaise (1100) merged into the new commune Courchevel. The resort centre of Courchevel is at 1,747 metres (5,732 ft). The name Courchevel 1850 was chosen for marketing reasons to compete with rival ski resort

Val d'Isère Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a Sov ...

. It is the Jardin Alpin area of Courchevel 1850 rather than the centre which is located at 1,850 metres (6,070 ft).

Location

Courchevel used to be part of the commune of

Saint-Bon-Tarentaise Saint-Bon-Tarentaise (; frp, Sènt-Bon) is a former commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Courchevel.La Perrière into the new commune of Courchevel. In spite of the name, the commune's administrative offices are not located in Courchevel, but still in the nearby village of Saint-Bon-Tarentaise. Courchevel is in the

Tarentaise Valley The Tarentaise Valley (french: Vallée de la Tarentaise, ; frp, Tarentèsa) is a valley of the Isère River in the heart of the French Alps, located in the Savoy region of France. The valley is named for the ancient town of ''Darantasia'', the ...

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

'',

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; ; frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; oc, Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; it, Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Au ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

. Courchevel is part of the Trois Vallées, which comprises the resorts of Courchevel, La Tania, Méribel, Les Menuires-Saint Martin, Val Thorens and Orelle.

History

The original resort was planned during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

with a study in 1942 by the

Vichy regime Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

and in a doctorate by the town planner

Laurent Chappis Laurent Chappis (8 May 1915 – 28 December 2013) was a French architect and town planner. He was born in Aix-les-Bains, France in May 1915. He created the French ski resort of Courchevel located in the Trois Vallées and in doing so practically w ...

. Chappis was a natural choice to direct the development of the resort in the immediate post war years. Courchevel 1850 was significant, as it was the first resort in France to be constructed from scratch, rather than based around an existing village.

Tarentaise Valley Skiing

Within the

you find the biggest concentration of world-class ski resorts in the world. Most well known neighbour systems are Paradiski (

Les Arcs Les Arcs () is a ski resort located in Savoie, France, in the Tarentaise Valley town of Bourg-Saint-Maurice. Initially created by Robert Blanc and Roger Godino, it is a part of the huge Paradiski system which is under ownership by Compagnie de ...

La Plagne La Plagne () is a French ski area in the alpine valley of the Tarentaise (Savoie). Since 2003, La Plagne and the neighbouring resort of Les Arcs form Paradiski's ski area. It is currently owned by Compagnie des Alpes. In 2014, La Plagne wa ...

) and

Espace Killy Espace may refer to: * ESPACE, a complexity class in computational complexity theory * Espace musique, a Canadian radio service *Espace 2, a Swiss radio station *Radio Espace, a French radio station *Espace Group, a French media company *Group Espa ...

(

and Tignes). A weekly

lift ticket A lift ticket or lift pass is an identifier usually attached to a skier's or snowboarder's outerwear that indicates they have paid and can ride on the ski lift(s) that transport people and equipment up or down a mountain. Types of lift ticket ...

in Courchevel/Les Trois Vallées gives you a choice to ski one day in each of the other two systems mentioned. There were once plans to interlink all systems and resorts to create the – by far – largest ski area in the world. However, that vision was ended with the creation of the Vanoise National Park.

1992 Winter Olympics

The Courchevel valley also includes the town of

La Tania La Tania is a ski resort in the Courchevel area of Les Trois Vallees at 1400m above sea level. It was developed for the Albertville Olympics of 1992 and is approximately a 25 minutes drive from Moûtiers Moûtiers (; Arpitan: ''Motiérs'') ...

, built as competitors accommodation for the

1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 February 1992 , closing = 23 February 1992 , opened_by = President François Mitterrand , cauldron ...

Albertville Albertville (; Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a subprefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. In 2018, the commune had ...

. Le Praz hosted the Olympic

ski jumping Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fina ...

and

Nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever Winter Olympics in 1924, while the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup ...

competitions for those games took place at

Tremplin du Praz Tremplin du Praz is a ski jumping hill at Le Praz in Courchevel, France. The complex consists of four hills: a large hill with construction point of K125 (HS137), a normal hill at K90 (HS96), and two training hills at K60 and K25. The complex ...

Le Praz Le Praz is a village located on a plateau at the foot of the forest in Courchevel, Savoie, France, at the foot of Dent du Villard and Grand Bec. It features the ski jumping hill Tremplin du Praz, built for the 1992 Winter Olympics and used ann ...

. There was a ski jump in Courchevel 1850 on the snowfront, which was removed recently due to safety precautions.

2019 Fire

Before dawn on 20 January 2019, a fire broke out in one of the buildings in the hamlet of Courchevel 1850, which houses seasonal workers of the resort, killing two and injuring at least 22. A local French newspaper reported that 130 firefighters responded to the incident.

2023 Alpine Ski World Championships

In May 2018, Courchevel was named a joint host of the 2023

FIS Alpine World Ski Championships The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships is an alpine skiing competition organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). History The inaugural world championships in alpine skiing were held in 1931. During the 1930s, the event was held annuall ...

with Méribel. It will be the first time since 2009 that France has hosted the FIS World Championships, when they took place in

. Races in Courchevel will finish in Courchevel Le Praz. A new super-leisure centre called L'Alpinium is under construction in Le Praz and will improve connections to Courchevel 1850 and provide more parking.

Resort

Courchevel is the most eastern resort of the Three Valleys, the biggest connected ski area in the world. It consists of four satellite villages: Courchevel Le Praz, Courchevel 1550, Courchevel 1650 and Courchevel 1850. Its highest resort, Courchevel 1850, is considered exclusive, attracting wealthy clientele including royal families. In the 2011–2012 season, Courchevel rebranded, changing the names of each of the four villages in a move away from the association with altitude. Courchevel 1850 is now known simply as Courchevel, Courchevel 1650 was renamed Courchevel Moriond; Courchevel 1550 is now called Courchevel Village and Courchevel 1330 was renamed Courchevel Le Praz. Courchevel has 11 luxury hotels with a 5-star ranking. In 2011 France introduced a 6th star ranking for hotels, named "palaces". Eight hotels in France have received this rating, of which two are in Courchevel's Jardin Alpin area. The resort has seven restaurants with

Michelin star The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

s, of which four have two stars, including Le Chabichou. It also hosts a variety of luxury shops including

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...

Hermès Hermès International S.A., or simply Hermès ( , ), is a French luxury design house established in 1837. It specializes in leather goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewelry, watches and ready-to-wear. Its logo, sinc ...

, Valentino, Loro Piana,

Prada Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding t ...

, Cartier,

Fendi Fendi () is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house producing fur, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, fragrances, eyewear, timepieces and accessories. Founded in Rome in 1925, Fendi is known for its fur, fur accessories, and leather goods. ...

Dior Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior (stylized DIOR), is a French luxury fashion house controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH, the world's largest luxury group. Dior itself holds 42.36% shar ...

and

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chane ...

. The majority of Courchevel's visitors are

Gulf Arabs The Arab states of the Persian Gulf refers to a group of Arab states which border the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. ...

and Russian all of whom are considered luxury clientele. Many Russians visit during New Year and Russian

Orthodox Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, i ...

on 7 January. As a result, the first two weeks of January are high season weeks in Courchevel. The resort's name is associated with the super-rich in Russia and Middle East . Courchevel has one of the largest bases for ski instructors and other seasonal workers due to the size of the three valleys area. Courchevel's couloirs are considered some of the most difficult black runs in the world. Courchevel's

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

is Park City, Utah in the United States, and it has a red-graded ski piste named "Park City".

Airport

Courchevel's airport has a very short and steeply sloped runway, with a length of and a gradient of 18.5%. The airport has a dangerous approach through deep valleys, which can only be performed by specially certified pilots. On landing there is no go-around procedure, as most of the world's airports have; there is merely a very steep hill which has seen a few accidents since the airport first opened. Larger propeller aircraft such as the

Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restar ...

and Dash 7 (carrying up to 50 people) have been regular users of the airport over the years, but have since been phased out of use and smaller

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing ...

s and helicopters are now the main users. The

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

program ''Most Extreme Airports'', ranks it as the 7th most dangerous airport in the world.'' Most Extreme Airports''; channel 5; October 14, 2010

Sister cities

* Park City,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

* Dabussy, France

References

External links

Official site of Courchevel Tourism Office

Official site of Les 3 Vallees

Cycling up to Courchevel-Altiport: data, profile, map, photos and description
{{Authority control Ski stations in France Sports venues in Savoie Tourist attractions in Savoie