FRANCE
From the highest point of the Trois Vallées — the top of the Bouchet chairlift at 10,958ft — I have three options to make it down. There’s the long descent to Val Thorens on a choice of blue or red pistes (or off-piste if I have the legs for it), or the thrill-seeking Tyrolienne, Europe’s highest zip-line that launches riders across a yawning 1,000ft void. Or I can simply ski down into the Orelle Valley. Having tried the first two options on previous
visits here I opt for Orelle, and hooning down the perfectly groomed Bouchet piste — a wide, open red that begs you to let rip — it’s clearly the right choice. It isn’t yet 10am, and I have the run almost to myself. When I eventually skid to a halt at Plan Bouchet, I reflect that I’ve arrived in what’s essentially the fourth of the Trois Vallées titular three valleys. Despite the fact there’s been a ski lift here
Clockwise from top left: Place du Village du Bonvillard in Orelles; La Cime Caron mountain, in Val Thorens; Tyrolienne zip line, Val Thorens; Chalet Monchu, one of Orelle’s affordable self-catering options
Previous pages: Chef-Lieu, at the heart of Orelles
providing access to the other three valleys since 1989, little Orelle hardly gets a look in. It doesn’t augment the Trois Vallées’ name and only features on its piste map as a small insertion in the top right-hand corner. But for the discerning skier on a budget, this forgotten fourth valley offers accommodation for a fraction of the cost of such pricey Trois Vallées resorts as Val Thorens and Courchevel, with the same access to the world’s biggest ski area. I had based myself way down at an altitude of 2,953ft, but thanks to Orelle’s recent €40m
(£35.8m) investment in a brand new 10-person gondola, I’m up above Val Thorens in mere minutes, at the staggering 10,499-foot summit of Cime Caron. Such are the views, there’s plenty of traffic from non-skiing panorama seekers, but also lots of options for onwards chairlifts and gondolas deep into the heart of the Trois Vallées. Given such heady fun, it’s a mystery that Orelle isn’t better known. But then it is a slightly confusing place, in that there isn’t an ‘Orelle’ as such — it’s an area made up of 10 traditional alpine villages, all stone architecture and winding streets, none of them actually called Orelle — just a region that straggles across steep slopes on the edge of the Vanoise National Park. Considering its location, Orelle is much
easier to access than the other Trois Vallées resorts. There are two train stations within less than 10-minute’s drive and both have direct rail access from Paris three times a day. Or if you choose to drive, the area’s villages are just a few minutes from the A43 autoroute, with Turin, Chambéry, Lyon, Geneva and Milan airports all within about two hour’s drive. I plumped for a stay at Residence Hameaux
des Eaux, basic self-catering accommodation set above the new gondola where a week’s stay costs around the same as a six-day Trois Vallées lift pass (€330/£286). There’s a shuttle bus to the gondola or free parking for drivers.
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