 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The skiing around 1650 is great. The runs are much quiter than in some of the other resorts. That said, I would still get a Three Valleys lift pass as you wouldn't want to miss out on the rest of the fantastic skiing that ia available. Have a look at skinets.com, go to the Courchevel page and look at the FAQ page - it has some itineries for skiing all of the Three Valleys area using only blue runs. It is not to difficult to get from 1650 to 1850 - you can always use the free ski bus. As far as apres goes, I'm afraid I can't help as we stay over in La Tania. However, the ski bus runs until late in the evening so you can always go to 1850 for a night out if you wish.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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mf-racing, 1650 is mint. The reds off the top of the Signal chair are some of the quietest and best in the 3v. If you are happy on blues and reds and like to explore then get a 3v pass.
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Two of my favourite pistes of all time, from the top of Saulire: le Creux, and le Combe de Saulire. Both are wide, long and moderately steep reds. You will be able to break your land speed record on these two beauties, I know I must have hit 30mph+ on the Combe last January. Fantastic stuff! The food's also good at the restaurant at the top there (a bit pricey though, 28 euros for a steak frites).
Definitely get a Trois Vallees pass, you've got some fun to have above Mottaret on Mt. Vallon, plus over the next ridge into Val Thorens and up onto the glacier. Some great long-distance days to be had touring the valleys.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Hi,
I have stayed in 1850 a couple of times and we are booked in again for Jan 5th, we always make our way over to 1650 for a few days skiing - the slopes are quiet, good snow when else where is might be icy or packed, great links to 1850 on the bus. When we have made it over to 1650 we normally have lunch there, taking advantage of the cheaper prices.
I would consider taking advantage of the free ski bus and going up to 1850 for the night life - for 6 days solid we didn't get home any earlier than 4am, we absolutly loved it!!!!
Have fun - and fingers crossed that there is another massive dump in the next week or 2.
Chris
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The best way over is via the Chanrossa chair half way down the Creux. There is a red on the other side so if you want to avoid that, take the Roc Mugnier chair over at the bottom of the Creux.
As Frosty said the reds down from the top of the Signal chair are superb, especially the Chapelets when the conditions are good, and they ought to be now - I'll find out on Monday 
There's a decent restaurant at the bottom of the Signal (the chair not the drag), called le Casserole, I think.
If you're happy cruising blue runs, 1650 is heaven; especially on a sunny day.
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For a piste skier, I would say you have the keys to paradise. Agree with everything said so far. There is plenty of info available on this site re places to eat etc and you don't have to break the bank, though there are some very expensive places. It tends to be drinks and snacks that are pricey though.
Definitely get the 3V pass. The lift map might seem confusing, but in real life you will find everything links to perfection and you can cover vast distances on blues and reds. Even the 4th valley is not out of range. Enjoy.
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When we have stayed in 1650, we've been near the Three Valleys chair. From there the shortest route to 1850 in our experience is Three Valleys chair, ski/pole from there over to the Petites Bosses drag, down the Boulevard des Gravelles (a blue track but can get icy), drop down the last bit of Combe Roc Mugniers to Prameruel, take the Gravelles chair up to the top of the Altiport blue, and just follow that down and pick up the Bellecote green straight into the centre of 1850. If you're staying in the centre of 1650, the only variation on that is Ariondaz bubble and ski down to the Petites Bosses drag (either a green the long way round, or the bottom of the blue Ariondaz run). On the return from 1850, the shortest route for us has been Jardin Alpin bubble, green run down and across to the Altiport drag, left off the top of there down the blue Boulevard de Prameruel down to Prameruel where you pick up the Prameruel chair, left off the top of there then down to the Casserole resto, where you have a choice of picking up the blue Marquis run (with a small climb) or the blue Indiens immediately by the resto, at the bottom of Indiens you can choose the bottom part of Marquis to the centre of 1650 or Piste Bleu and a track off to the left if you are heading back to the area at the bottom of the 3V chair.
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brian
brian
Guest
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There's a little restaurant at the bottom of the Saulire cable car called Arc en Ciel (French for rainbow, it's got a rainbow on the sign). Great wee place and some of the best value food in the 3Vs. The Ours (bear) at the bottom of the piste in 1650 does a good pizza savoyarde (lard central).
To get to 1850 (assuming you don't want to do Chanrossa which is a big black bump run  ) take the roc mugnier red or gravelles blue (a cat track) down through the trees to the fruit junction. Then either short route via gravelles chair and easy green/blue runs down through the jardin alpin or longer route via some combination of aig du fruit, marmottes, suisses chairs to get you up to the top of saulire and long red or black pistes (combe saulire, suisses, "m", etc. imo some of the best piste skiing anywhere is in this sector).
Mottaret or Méribel are both reachable in one long run from the top of saulire. For a reasonably fast skier, Val T and back to 1650 in a morning is eminently doable so Méribel and back in a day should be a dawdle for anybody that can handle a red.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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There's a nice pizzeria in 1650 just a short walk from the snow front, called Petit Savoyarde I think. Great pizzas (and other options) and very reasonable prices. Because it's a couple of minutes walk from the piste it's often a bit quieter at lunchtime than the piste-side restaurants. If you want lessons New Generation ski school is well regarded.
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Some itineraries here, including one for 1650
It's from the Merinet site, so starts and ends in Meribel, but you can leave those bits out and pad out the middle a bit (or take a nice long lunch)
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You know it makes sense.
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walking back from 1850 to 1650 would be a bad idea - it is much further than it looks.
in 1550 there's a great restaurant called L'Oeil De Boeuf
grilled meat, mostly
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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bubble bar is a good watering hole and has good apres ski bands occasionally, second Le Petit Savoyarde...
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Poster: A snowHead
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I would agree that its worth having the Three Valleys pass but I have met good skiers who were quite content with the Courchevel area pass for a week's skiing. It is in itself quite a big area with a lot of variety. Don't forget the slopes above La Tania and the very pleasant green, blue and red runs right down to La Tania. Lots of good restaurants - the Bel Air is excellent value and is always busy (worth booking). There is another good (and less expensive) one just below the top station of the La Tania gondola. Enjoy!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
| From some reason I find it really hard reading the pist map |
I was having heaps of problems with the 3V piste map till somebody pointed out it is printed upside down (ie north is at the bottom). That's so counter-intuitive, it really threw me. Unless you want to spend several hundred pounds for a meal on your birthday, watch out for those Michelin stars.... that area has some seriously pricey caffs. Having only spent a week in 1650 I'm not an expert on the runs, especially having spent half of each day in ski school, but you won't have any problem finding great places to ski without scaring yourself or girlfriend silly. Of course, if you want to be scared silly, Courchevel can produce that too! You can go right up the top, have a fantastic view and a nice cruisy run all the way down. The week I spent there (January 2002) the snow was rubbish, but 1650 had the best snow in the 3 Valleys - in the view of our chalet mates, who were big mileage skiers and covered everywhere, including Val Thorens which, they said, was much stonier than 1650. You've chosen a great spot.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I stopped in Chalet La Floride in 1650 in 2004. Great skiing around this area. Restaurant called "L'Eterlou" was very good - I remember a fabulous Apple Sorbet with Calvados. Bel Air was a reasonable on piste restaurant but that was 3 years ago. From purely a sking perspective, you can't have chosen better, but I found that the village lacked a bit of atmosphere in the evenings, so stayed in the Chalet most nights ( it slept about 90 people so was more like a hotel). I seem to remember the Bubble bar that most of the Reps seemed to inhabit.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Not sure if this is considered hi-jacking but thought I'd use this thread anyway...
Does anyone have any particular advice about spending New Year's Eve in Courchevel, or any French alpine resort for that matter? I'm particularly concerned about finding somewhere to eat in the evening then finding somewhere comfortable (i.e. near a beer supply) come midnight. Do resorts put on events?
Cheers, Nohat
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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NYE is a big night out for the French - if you haven't booked already you may be disappointed. Lots of resorts put on fireworks and celebrate all night.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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mf-racing, I'm also in 1650 in January and celebrating my birthday. There betweend 13th and 20th, birthday on 18th. If you're out there on those dates pop in to Rocky's bar on your birthday and I'll buy you a drink. Rocky's is part of our hotel so I guess I'll be there most nights for part of the time.
Get the 3V pass, it's got tons of cruising.
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Hey there. Definitely go for a 3 valleys pass - it's great to cover all the resorts and theres so much variety that there's no problem getting between the resorts on blues and reds. If you cover the piste pretty quickly, you can ski the whole of Courchevel in just a few days so you should buy it. Val Thorens is especially great on a sunny day, although you'd need to be up on the first lifts to make the most of it. I didn't stay in 1650 but it's not very difficult to get over to 1850 and besides there's some lovely quiet runs in 1650, like 'Chapelets' and 'Roc Mugnier' unlike busier runs over in 1850. Hope this helps
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Happy New Year Everyone!
Thanks for all this fantastic information, just what i need! I've found a few more itineraries on this site, so thats pretty good!
Cymru am Byth - I'm flying on the 19th and my birthday in on the 18th as well, so i'll try to pop into Rockys (if i can find it!) and track you down for that drink!
One more question - I'm driving from Chambray Airport to 1650, what will the drive be like? Also will I need snow chains fro my hire car?
Woohoo, 2 weeks to go! 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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about an hour and a half from chambery, most hire cars will have snow tires or will come with chains but worth checking.
A new bar has opened up a couple doors down from rockys called le schuss and was popular with the scottish instructors....
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Anyone out in the 3Vs from the 5th that might be interested in a meet up? We're a group of 4 staying in La Tania. PM me if interested - always good to meet new snowHeads
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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just to add to the chorus...
Good choice with 1650. Best value in the Courchevel valley IMO and that means one of the best options in the Alps. Good links to 1850 and the whole 3V (definitely get the 3v pass, if you only ski the big red off Mont Vallon, combe de vallon, a few times then it will be worth it, but I think you should definitely look to ski over to St Martin de Belleville for lunch one day - great long cruisy reds/blues, pretty little village with good eating). The other thing is that there are some nice blues on the descent into Meribel (although better if its snowed recently as they can get hard).
There is fantastic blue run skiing on the slopes above 1650 and, as others have said, it is usually on good snow and away from the crowds. The links between 1650 and 1850 are better if you enjoy (rather than tolerate) red runs - so maybe leave them until your other half has her ski legs back. Bus works well as an alternative.
The trip across to Val Thorens and back is good fun but takes a while unless you are prepared to let it rip on the reds. Given your GF's preferences, it's probably not worth it unless the weather is really good and she's full of confidence after a good few days.
Enjoy,
J
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Incidentally, I was chatting with someone yesterday about the skiing in the 3Vs and he recommended a trip down to La Praz for Charlie's, rather a good restaurant by all accounts. Does anyone know it?
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Is Charlie's the "Bistro de Pras"? That place is legendary - rustic, informal and michelin stars. Pricy but on the basis of my one visit actually worth the money (you can spend more and get much less in 1850).
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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jedster, sounds like the place from your description. Located pretty much at the foot of the black (may end in a red) that drops into the village?
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Poster: A snowHead
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We were also supposed to ahve torrential snow throughout our stay on 22nd Dec. Sunshine only all week. Really might happen, but might not!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The torrential rain forecast for Sunday is now forecasting torrential rain. It is now only 3 days away and likely to be accurate. 
I'm hoping that the rain is at lower levels and will fall as snow on the upper slopes.
Amyone out there on Sunday that can report back.??
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Cymru am Byth, I am seeing heavy snow forecast at 1700M and 2200m on saturday with the freezing altitude around top stations on sunday. so sounds okay for higher up.
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skimottaret, What site? Mine is a general report for Courchevel, showing snow on Saturday and Sunday but part of Sunday (unfortunately the heaviest precipitation) reported as rain.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Cymru am Byth, ditto.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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skimottaret, that's the site I've been following. The rain/snow (blue/black) indicator with the adjacent 0 degrees C column is quite illuminating with nearly 8cms of rain up to 2500!
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Marcus, I have my fingers crossed it gets a bit colder and will be skiing high up this weekend
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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skimottaret, this'll be my 14th trip and whilst there were two where the snow was a bit sparse (last year being one), I've never had the experience of rain in a resort. Luck probably had to run out at some point I guess! There'll still be some excellent skiing to be had though
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FAQ
