Have you ever skied the largest ski region in the world? Have you been to a ski region where there are one hundred and eighty one lifts? Have you ever been to alps where three major ski resorts are combined into one? Have you ever been to a ski region that has over six hundred kilometres of skiable terrain? Have you ever been to a club where everyone wee’s on each other?

I have.

(except for the last question, that’s a quote from Old Gregg from the Mighty Boosh. To clarify I have NOT ever been to a club where people wee on each other).

This place was HUGE! Within this ski region are the bigger resorts; Courchevel, Meribel and Val Thorens. Among these resorts are smaller villages; La Tania, Brides-les-Bains, Les Menuires, St Martin de Belleville and Orelle.
All of these make up ‘Les Trois Vallées’, the BIGGEST ski region in the world.

When I clicked into my bindings the first day we went out, I have no idea why I didn’t believe Dad when he told me. It wasn’t until reaching the top of every piste, that in front there was another piste with chairlifts, that I started to realise he wasn’t telling porkies. The place didn’t look like it ever ended. Until it took us half the day just to get over the otherside of the mountain from Meribel to Courchevel. Meribel is the middle village of the three which meant that we had only traversed across half the bloody place. There was still from Meribel to Val Thorens to explore! Now THIS was my type of resort.

I said in the previous post that the views of the surrounding non skiable alps of Megéve were incredible. This had several up on that. These views, every single time without fail, were breathtaking in the real meaning of the word. Absolutely downright bloody breathtaking. The ambiance was surreal. Not one picture taken could make anybody who didn’t experience it first hand, feel the right feeling knowing that was home for the week. And the absolute best part was that just about everything we saw was skiable.

This place had much more of an English influence on it. There were loads of Brits and everybody spoke a dialect similar to ours.

Meribel is where we said ‘au revoir” to the new year and welcomed 2013. Although it didn’t happen quite like that. In bed by 10pm after watching the 630pm fireworks and having a feed. There were some parties happening around but considering there was a lack of mates to go out with, bed seemed like the better option. Not much of a fan of new years anyway, It’s way overrated and hyped up for just another night out.

By the end of the week, I felt pretty confident that we had covered about 70%-80% of the terrain. In reality we probably only covered about 20% of it maybe even less. Dad calculated that if we were to ski every lift, we’d have to get thirty lifts a day. It seemed impossible from the get go so we didn’t bother.

Absolutely loved Les Trois Vallées. Would be that good to go back with mates. If I did, I’d probably stay in Val Thorens as it seemed there were more DJ’s and partying on the snow there than anywhere else on the mountain. I will definitely go back to Les Trois Vallées if I can ever afford it. We did get pow but I can’t even begin to imagine how mental the place would be with more of it.

During my time here, the calendar ticked over to announce me being traveling for six months. That’s a feat within its own right and I’m proud of myself for lasting this long. May or may not have given myself a pat on the back.
Not long left now until I’m in Sydney. It feels weird to say that I’ll be back at home next week after being gone for so long. I’m real excited to be in summer, get fit and see my mates again. But still, I can’t wish the time away or I’ll get to the end of my life quicker than what I will have hoped!