First of all, you’re pronouncing it wrong. Like all French words, pronunciation and accent are the difference between getting close, and a blank stare. Val Thorens (pronounced “val tor-ON,” silent h, silent s), also known as Val Tho or VT, sits at 2,300 meters in the French Alps at the head of the Belleville Valley in the Tarentaise, one of three valleys that make up Les 3 Vallées, the largest interconnected ski area in the world.
Created in the early 1970s as a purpose-built, high-altitude resort, it remains the highest ski village in Europe, with lift-served terrain rising above 3,200 meters near Cime de Caron and its architectural wonder of a tram.
Les 3 Vallées connects Val Thorens with Courchevel, Méribel, Les Menuires, Saint-Martin-de-Belleville, La Tania, Brides-les-Bains, and Orelle through an extensive network of lifts and pistes, allowing skiers to move between valleys entirely on snow. Buildings in VT are stacked into the valley walls like a brutalist amphitheater, designed to maximize slope access and withstand heavy snow loads, with the majority of terrain above 2,000 meters ensuring a season that typically runs from mid-November through early May (one of the longest in Europe).
Val Thorens itself offers roughly 150 kilometers of marked runs within its sector, with lift access climbing to approximately 3,200 meters and a vertical difference of about 1,500 meters from summit to base. Across the full Les 3 Vallées network, skiers access approximately 600 kilometers of interconnected slopes served by more than 180 lifts. The scale allows inter-valley travel on a single lift ticket, covering a delectable array of lodges, restaurants, summit houses and vistas, following the light, snow conditions, and weather across terrain that any where else in the world would constitute several standalone resorts.
Val Thorens was part of Les 3 Vallées’ original partnership with the Epic Pass, bringing access for Epic Pass holders to Europe’s largest lift‑linked ski area and connecting American skiers directly to the French Alps — a relationship that began in the 2013–14 season when Les 3 Vallées was first added to the pass.
OFF-PISTE TERRAIN AND REFUGIOS
From the Cime de Caron tram, a black run rolls away back toward endless peaks and a ridgeline marked by a yellow itinerary sign, signaling the shift from groomed terrain into what we might typically think of as backcountry or out-of-gate terrain, but on a grander scale.
My guide for the next 24 hours, arranged through OXYGENE ski and snowboard school, confidently led the route toward Lac du Lou. In the Alps, off-piste terrain obviously carries inherent hazards of avalanche exposure, variable snowpack, and in some areas glaciated features, and skiing with a certified guide is often critical for terrain interpretation and risk management. In Les 3 Vallées, itinerary routes are lift-accessed but ungroomed and unpatrolled; they remain mapped yet require independent assessment.
The descent toward Refugio du Lac du Lou, our destination for the night, drops more than 1,100 vertical meters, beginning on steep upper slopes where wind effect and crust demand attention before funneling into a rock-lined valley that opens above the frozen lake. We skin back up and do two laps with decent powder turns. Refuge du Lac du Lou sits at roughly 2,035 meters above a frozen lake and the dining room looks up valley toward Mont du Chat.
The lovely Jonathan and Marie from Chamonix operate the refuge during the winter season, and the building, restored in recent years, sleeps approximately 25 guests in shared dormitories and serves meals prepared with regional Savoie ingredients. Skiers stop for fondue and bread, or stay overnight carrying little more than avalanche gear and a toothbrush. The refuge operates within a broader alpine hut system dating back to the 19th century or older, built to support mountaineering and ski exploration. Unlike many American backcountry huts that are unstaffed and self-supported, staffed Alps refuges provide meals, bunks, and on-site guardians, making multi-day travel possible without hauling full loads. We stay up late drinking champagne, eating foie gras and playing guitar around the wood stove.
The return to in-bounds terrain the next morning follows some good skiing and a piste track reconnecting with the Plan de l’Eau lift, allowing nearly 2,000 vertical meters of combined off-piste and lift-served skiing in a single day. The ability to move between lift infrastructure and staffed huts without logistical reset defines what has always drawn me to skiing in Europe, and I’m riding one of the best natural high’s of my life as we ski down to the viewing party for the day’s FWT competition.
THE FREERIDE WORLD TOUR
Earlier in the week I also stayed at Fahrenheit 7 in Courchevel, one of the best appointed, most luxurious, and dialed ski hotels in the world, the same property brand in VT that hosted the athletes and the FWT welcome dinner Thursday evening. The welcome event drew riders, media, and organizers into a standing-room-only reception with an open bar while a wild violinist and percussionist performed into the evening, serving as a central gathering point ahead of a three-day competition window.
I also had the pleasure to dine at Alpen Art in Val Thorens, operated by the family involved in the resort’s early development in the 1970s. The daughter now manages the restaurant, having grown up in the village during its formative years. The space serves Savoyard cuisine alongside contemporary interpretations and functions as an artistic and culinary gathering place for athletes, guides, media, and visitors.
Friday I joined French freerider Zoé Delzoppo for a slope face inspection, watching her evaluate terrain features, snow texture, and cliff sequences with comfort that comes from a lifetime in consequential terrain. Later that afternoon Mammut and Recco hosted an avalanche safety workshop reviewing transceiver protocols and search strategy, grounding the spectacle of competition in mountain reality, and I had lunch with the founders Recco to learn more about where they came from and what’s to come.
Originally scheduled for Cime de Caron, the event shifted to Pointe de Thorens due to snow conditions, and it proved optimal for the crowds as well. Rising to roughly 3,200 meters on the resort’s dramatic eastern boundary, the venue features a natural drop into steep upper pitches approaching 50 degrees before transitioning into lower features that require precise speed control and bravery, with shallow coverage in places and exposed rock just beneath the surface. The 2025-26 alpine season opened inconsistently, with thinner coverage across parts of the Vanoise and early-season avalanche incidents underscoring the need for disciplined terrain assessment.
On competition day, clear weather and recent snowfall stabilized the face. Spectators skinned and rode lifts to designated viewing zones below the couloirs while athletes climbed the backside bootpack to the start. Mia Jones maintained her overall tour lead despite a fall high on course while dad Jeremy Jones looked on from below. French snowboarders Noémie Equy and Anna Martinez finished first and second in the women’s field. In the ski men’s category, New Zealand’s Ben Richards secured the win with a composed upper section and controlled airs through the lower features, followed by Americans Joey Leonardo and Ross Tester. No major injuries were reported but anyone who loses a ski automatically gets zero points.
Experiencing a staffed refugio one day and partying at an international freeride competition the next within a single lift network demonstrated for me how altitude, infrastructure, and cultural continuity intersect in this special place that I had been mispronouncing. More than 50 years after its construction, VT continues to operate as a high-elevation hub linking mind blowing terrain, adventure travel, world class cuisine, and competition within the larger framework of Les 3 Vallées and the global skiing and riding communities.
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Fly Fishing with Eleven Experiences
Coming Home with George Hincapie
Arapahoe Basin Saves the Ski Season
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